Saturday, December 21

Tag: protest

Podcast — How Powerful Sounds Of Protest Amplify Resistance
No Comments
Journalism

Podcast — How Powerful Sounds Of Protest Amplify Resistance

When you think of a protest, one that fills the streets, do you remember the visuals of what you saw? Visually striking images are often circulated by news media — like the one we’ve used for this article. But can you also close your eyes and remember the sounds that surrounded you For me, sound has always resonated — it’s sometimes what I remember, long after the streets are empty and quiet again. Maybe it’s the sound of a chant “No Justice No Peace” or “I Can’t Breathe” at a Black Lives Matter protest. Or a theatre shaking from feet stomping after a speech by a brown queer rights activist. I can still hear that. I also remember the sound of Toronto police horses clopping on concrete during the 1992 protest against police brutality. Everyday sounds are important too. The normal so...
Read More
The Chief Counsel For The Protest Movement, Fred Gray To Get Medal Of Freedom For His Civil Rights Work
No 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 ...
Read More
The History Of ‘Coming Out,’ From Secret Gay Code To Popular Political Protest
No Comments
LGBTQ

The History Of ‘Coming Out,’ From Secret Gay Code To Popular Political Protest

You probably know what it means to “come out” as gay. You may even have heard the expression used in relation to other kinds of identity, such as being undocumented. But do you know where the term comes from? Or that its meaning has changed over time? In my new book, “Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are,” I explore the history of this term, from the earliest days of the gay rights movement, to today, when it has been adopted by other movements. Selective sharing In the late 19th and early 20th century, gay subculture thrived in many large American cities. Gay men spoke of “coming out” into gay society – borrowing the term from debutante society, where elite young women came out into high society. A 1931 news article in the Baltimore Afro-American referred to “the coming out of new debut...
Read More
Here’s What To Consider First If You Want To Document A Protest
No Comments
Journalism

Here’s What To Consider First If You Want To Document A Protest

Seasoned community journalists have some words of wisdom before you decide to livestream your next protest. Often working with just their phones, community journalists can shine light on movements, expose police brutality, and help protect activists from getting “disappeared” by an authoritarian government. At the same time, the wrong tweet—or especially livestream—can leave people in the street exposed to increased police surveillance. From “snatch and grab” arrests in unmarked vans, to raids on the homes of perceived organizers, activists have good reason to be concerned. From Portland, Oregon, to Philadelphia, law enforcement acknowledge using livestreams and other social media to gather evidence. As activists begin to face serious charges from the most recent wave of protests, there’...
Read More
Through protest and resistance, Lumbees seek to reconcile past with present
No Comments
IN OTHER NEWS

Through protest and resistance, Lumbees seek to reconcile past with present

It may not have seemed unusual when a protest in support of Black lives and against police brutality moved through the town of Pembroke, North Carolina, in late June and faced off with counterprotesters. Lumbee Reverend Dr. Mike Cummings, center with his back to the camera, prays for protesters in Pembroke, North Carolina. Krista Davis, CC BY-ND But it was unusual because of who was involved – on both sides. The march was organized by several students from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, the state’s historically American Indian university. Today, UNC Pembroke is recognized as one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the South. According to one witness, “the people who participated were very diverse” and included African American and Native American students. The ...
Read More
There are many leaders of today’s protest movement – just like the civil rights movement
No Comments
POLITICS, SOCIAL JUSTICE

There are many leaders of today’s protest movement – just like the civil rights movement

The recent wave of protests against police brutality and systemic racism has inspired numerous comparisons with the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Commentators frequently depict the charismatic leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in sharp contrast with the decentralized and seemingly leaderless nature of the current movement. Despite the efforts of activists and historians to correct this “leaderless” image, the notion persists. Such comparisons reflect the cultural memory – not the actual history – of the struggle for Black equality. Heroic struggle led by charismatic men Through collective remembering and forgetting, societies build narratives of the past to create a shared identity – what scholars refer to as cultural memory. The civil rights movement is...
Read More
Will colleges embrace Black student activists In this era of protest over racism?
No Comments
EDUCATION

Will colleges embrace Black student activists In this era of protest over racism?

In 2018, sociologist Ted Thornhill found that Black students who profess an interest in fighting racism were less likely to get a response from college admission officers than other Black students when inquiring about whether they would be a good fit for a particular college. In light of the nationwide anti-racism protests sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, when a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes, The Conversation reached out to Thornhill for his thoughts on whether Black activist students might be more welcome on campus now than before. The Q&A, edited for brevity, is below: Do you expect wider acceptance of Black activism on college campuses? Will some number of colleges and universities that did not embrace Black student ...
Read More
Rival Protest Groups Clash Outside Anti-Defamation League
No Comments
SOCIAL JUSTICE

Rival Protest Groups Clash Outside Anti-Defamation League

Protesters from Black Lives Matter and White Lives Matter trade shouts and angry rhetoric during protest, Police stand between both groups.HOUSTON, TX -- Members of the White Lives Matter movement protested outside the Anti-Defamation League on Saturday, and were met by counter-protests from Black Lives Matter. "They labeled us a hate group, they didn't label the Black Lives Matter a hate group,” White Lives Matter member Scott lacy told KHOU-11. “That's why we are here today, to protest the Anti-Defamation League." The White Lives Matter movement claims the Anti-Defamation League has failed to label Black Lives Matter a hate group despite what they call the support and promotion of violence against white people. Police stood between both groups to keep the peace, which were also separa...
Read More