freedom

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

The Chief Counsel For The Protest Movement, Fred Gray To Get Medal Of Freedom For His Civil Rights Work

Over the past seven decades, longtime Alabama civil rights lawyer Fred Gray represented Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and the victims of the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment, in which the U.S. Public Health Service refused for decades to provide readily available treatment to Black men who had the disease. Gray played important roles in landmark Supreme Court decisions that outlawed segregated public transit and affirmed the strategy of the Montgomery bus boycott organizers. He protected the freedom of association guaranteed by the First Amendment by preventing Alabama officials from obtaining the NAACP’s membership list. He argued in the Supreme Court a case on racial gerrymandering that redefined the city boundaries to exclude 400 Black people – but no white people – from the ...

Juneteenth: To Thousands Of Blacks Unable To Make Bail Freedom’s Promise Is Still Denied

17Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Juneteenth: To Thousands Of Blacks Unable To Make Bail Freedom’s Promise Is Still Denied

June 19 marks Juneteenth, a celebration of the de facto end of slavery in the United States. For hundreds of thousands of African-Americans stuck in pretrial detention – accused but not convicted of a crime, and unable to leave because of bail – that promise remains unfulfilled. And coming immediately after Father’s Day, it’s also a reminder of the loss associated with the forced separation of families. On a very personal level, I know how this separation feels. Every Father’s Day since 2011, I’ve been reminded of the unexpected death of my dad at the age of 48. But also on a professional level, as a criminologist who has been researching mass incarceration for the past decade, I understand the disproportionate impact it’s had on African-Americans, destabilizing black families in the pro...

‘Defending Freedom’ In Ukraine: But At What Cost? Higher Food And Gas Prices And An Increased Risk Of Recession

28Feb

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS

‘Defending Freedom’ In Ukraine: But At What Cost? Higher Food And Gas Prices And An Increased Risk Of Recession

Americans may be tempted to view the war in Ukraine as an unfortunate, but far away, crisis. As an economist, I know the world is too connected for the U.S. to go unaffected. On Feb. 22, 2022, President Joe Biden warned Americans that a Russian invasion of Ukraine – and U.S. efforts to thwart or punish it – would come with a price tag. “Defending freedom will have costs, for us as well and here at home,” Biden said. “We need to be honest about that.” His statement came one day before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on targets throughout Ukraine, including western parts of the country. Now that war has broken out, the biggest costs for the U.S. will likely be in higher prices – on top of what is already the fastest pace of inflation in 40 years. How much worse inflati...

Strange Allies In The Fight To Protect Press Freedom: Project Veritas And The Mainstream Media

3Apr

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IMPACT

Strange Allies In The Fight To Protect Press Freedom: Project Veritas And The Mainstream Media

Jane E Kirtley, University of Minnesota An FBI raid on Project Veritas leader James O'Keefe’s home in early November 2021 has sparked an unusual demonstration of support from the very establishment media that O'Keefe has spent his career targeting and trashing. The raid was conducted on the suspicion that O’Keefe and former Project Veritas staffers were implicated in the theft of President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley’s diary before the 2020 election. The Department of Justice said the cellphones sought in the raid would reveal evidence of aiding and abetting the transport of stolen property worth $5,000 or more across state lines, and of failure to report the theft to law enforcement in violation of federal law. Project Veritas says that the phones contain attorney-client privileged inf...

Britney Spears Lost Her Reproductive Freedom, Tragically Her Case Is Not Unique

25Jun

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CELEBRITIES

Britney Spears Lost Her Reproductive Freedom, Tragically Her Case Is Not Unique

From the founding of this nation through the modern day, women and members of marginalized communities have faced forced sterilization and other reproductive coercion. Jennifer Gerson, Barbara Rodriguez Originally published by The 19th When Britney Spears revealed on Wednesday that being under conservatorship had denied her the right to have her IUD removed and have another child, her words set off shockwaves of horrified disbelief. “I deserve to have the same rights as anybody does, by having a child, a family, any of those things, and more so,” Spears said in Wednesday’s testimony to the judge. But reproductive coercion is hardly unique to Spears: It’s a systemic component of an American system, both legal and cultural, that disproportionately impacts women and marginalized communit...

How Media Freedom Led To Conviction In His Killer’s Trial – The Other George Floyd Story

4Apr

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IN OTHER NEWS

How Media Freedom Led To Conviction In His Killer’s Trial – The Other George Floyd Story

When 17-year-old Darnella Frazier started recording video of Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin murdering George Floyd, she initiated a series of historic events that led to Chauvin’s conviction. But for all the discussion of technology following her actions – how cellphones enable video recording of police abuse and how social media encourages instantaneous mass distribution – the key factor in George Floyd’s name becoming globally famous may not be Frazier’s cellphone. It may not even be social media. It was the culture and tradition of U.S. civil liberties and media freedom that played an essential role in protecting Frazier’s ability to record and retain possession of the video, and the capability of commercial corporations to publish it. Had the same events transpired in China, Sa...

A July 4th With Much Greater Freedom From COVID-19: 4 Steps To Reaching Biden’s Goal

19Mar

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COVID-19

A July 4th With Much Greater Freedom From COVID-19: 4 Steps To Reaching Biden’s Goal

President Joe Biden set a goal for the U.S. to have COVID-19 under enough control by summer that Americans can celebrate July 4th with family and friends, at least in small gatherings. Important in achieving this goal is another presidential request: that all U.S. adults be made eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations by May 1. We are public health deans who lead a variety of COVID-19 response efforts and are involved in public policy discussions. At a time when the nation is weary of hearing “no, you can’t,” we believe that thinking in terms of harm reduction – offering safer but not necessarily risk-free alternatives – is crucial. Harm reduction strategies are in use all around you. Seat belts and air bags are perhaps the most widespread harm reduction strategy for a leading cause of death ...

Freedom Of The Press: Why Lawsuits Against The Media May Not Hurt

3Apr

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BUSINESS

Freedom Of The Press: Why Lawsuits Against The Media May Not Hurt

Free speech advocates have long believed that suing a news organization threatens free speech. Democracy needs a press to be free to report, without fear or favor, the facts as it sees them. But two recent legal actions against news organizations indicate that the First Amendment provides sufficient free speech protection, even when punishing lawsuits are filed against the press. Falsehoods have flooded public discourse in recent years through outlets including talk radio, cable TV channels and social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit and Instagram. The proliferation of these falsehoods has seemingly normalized the practice of spreading lies. Earlier this year Smartmatic, a little-known voter technology firm, sued cable channel Fox News for US$2.7 billion alleging defamat...

5Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CELEBRITY NEWS

Harry Belafonte and ‘The Long Road to Freedom’

On the anniversary of the March on Washington, we revisit an interview with the musician and civil rights activist about his anthology of Black music. Harry Belafonte, singer, recording artist, actor, and producer, has been called “the consummate entertainer.” His album Calypso was the first LP in the history of the music industry to sell more than 1 million copies, and he’s won an Emmy Award and a Tony Award. But his successes as an artist have never eclipsed his passion for justice and civil rights. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. He is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and was one of the co-hosts of the 1990 World Summit for Children. He also hosted South African President Nelson Mandela during his U.S. ...