truthout--2020-07-20--“How Are Our Students Going to Stay Safe?” Teachers Protest School Reopenings

As school districts across the country begin to decide what their plans will be in the fall — to reopen their doors amid the coronavirus pandemic ’ s continued rise , or to stick with a virtual learning curriculum that was utilized in the spring — many teachers and their unions are voicing support and demands for the latter option .
Hundreds of teachers in Arizona , many donning red t-shirts they had worn during a walkout in 2018 , protested in cities across the state this weekend in their cars , holding signs and speaking out in favor of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Gov .
Doug Ducey , however , signaled last week that he believes schools could reopen in his state , adding that he had no qualms about sending his own kids back in the fall .
But teachers in Arizona are advocating against that move , especially in the wake of a COVID-19-related death of a teacher who was part of an in-person summer school curriculum this year .
Kimberly Chavez Lopez Byrd , 61 , died on June 26 , after she contracted COVID-19 while teaching in a Gila County classroom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school program also contracted the disease , in spite of all three wearing gloves and masks , and regularly using hand sanitizer .
“ My main thing is if we can ’ t stay safe , how are our students going to stay safe ?
” Angela Skillings , one of the other teachers who was also infected , said to a local news affiliate .
Teachers in several other states are also demonstrating against reopening this fall .
Several teachers ’ unions in Wisconsin sent a letter to Gov .
Tony Evers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delay in reopening schools for in-person instruction come September , when teaching is set to commence .
“ The classroom is where every single educator wants to be this fall , but with no containment of Wisconsin COVID-19 cases , a virtual reopening for public schools is necessary , ” their letter to Evers read .
Teachers in Texas also protested at the state capitol building in Austin over the weekend , convening in a caravan of vehicles that circled the block .
They followed up that protest with a socially distant sit-in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We are desperate to return to school , but it must be safe for our children , our families , our educators , and all school personnel in Texas , ” protest organizers wrote on the Facebook event page .
And in Mississippi last week , teachers made several demands to lawmakers that they said should be met before classrooms can reopen .
Among them , they want a delay in reopening until September 1 , as well as for districts to adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Additionally , they want schools fully funded to ensure teachers don ’ t have to pay for their own personal protective equipment .
These protests , however , are not being met without opposition .
While many parents empathize or agree with teachers about the need to keep schools closed in the fall , others are noting the enormous difficulties that doing so would bring onto their own lives .
“ It has to be asked , what do the essential workers do ?
” parent Scott Allen said to The Tennesseean about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have to go work or the single dads , what do they do with their children ?
” Other parents noted that they ’ re not equipped to dedicate the time or energy they need to educate their kids .
In Palm Beach , Florida , parents even staged a protest against the idea of resuming virtual education .
“ I can ’ t do it .
I feel like I ’ m failing as a mother , and they ’ re failing as teachers , ” Jordan Westcott , a mother @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his own learning needs , told The Palm Beach Daily News .
“ When we were doing virtual school , each day would end in tears .
There ’ s no way I can do it.
” Concerns over how some students fare in online learning environments , particularly those in underserved communities , have led to questions about what can or should be done this fall ; whether schools should offer instruction online , or in-person , or take a hybrid approach .
Many students have fallen behind as a result of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ variety of reasons , including lack of access to technology and needed special instruction , and it ’ s highly possible that those same problems will persist if virtual learning continues .

As school districts across the country begin to decide what their plans will be in the fall — to reopen their doors amid the coronavirus pandemic’s continued rise, or to stick with a virtual learning curriculum that was utilized in the spring — many teachers and their unions are voicing support and demands for the latter option.
Hundreds of teachers in Arizona, many donning red t-shirts they had worn during a walkout in 2018, protested in cities across the state this weekend in their cars, holding signs and speaking out in favor of keeping schools virtual for the time being.
Gov. Doug Ducey, however, signaled last week that he believes schools could reopen in his state, adding that he had no qualms about sending his own kids back in the fall.
But teachers in Arizona are advocating against that move, especially in the wake of a COVID-19-related death of a teacher who was part of an in-person summer school curriculum this year.
Kimberly Chavez Lopez Byrd, 61, died on June 26, after she contracted COVID-19 while teaching in a Gila County classroom. Two other teachers in the summer school program also contracted the disease, in spite of all three wearing gloves and masks, and regularly using hand sanitizer.
“My main thing is if we can’t stay safe, how are our students going to stay safe?” Angela Skillings, one of the other teachers who was also infected, said to a local news affiliate.
Teachers in several other states are also demonstrating against reopening this fall. Several teachers’ unions in Wisconsin sent a letter to Gov. Tony Evers, urging him to announce a statewide delay in reopening schools for in-person instruction come September, when teaching is set to commence.
“The classroom is where every single educator wants to be this fall, but with no containment of Wisconsin COVID-19 cases, a virtual reopening for public schools is necessary,” their letter to Evers read.
Teachers in Texas also protested at the state capitol building in Austin over the weekend, convening in a caravan of vehicles that circled the block. They followed up that protest with a socially distant sit-in on the capitol lawn as well.
“We are desperate to return to school, but it must be safe for our children, our families, our educators, and all school personnel in Texas,” protest organizers wrote on the Facebook event page.
And in Mississippi last week, teachers made several demands to lawmakers that they said should be met before classrooms can reopen. Among them, they want a delay in reopening until September 1, as well as for districts to adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines before classes can resume. Additionally, they want schools fully funded to ensure teachers don’t have to pay for their own personal protective equipment.
These protests, however, are not being met without opposition. While many parents empathize or agree with teachers about the need to keep schools closed in the fall, others are noting the enormous difficulties that doing so would bring onto their own lives.
“It has to be asked, what do the essential workers do?” parent Scott Allen said to The Tennesseean about the issue. “The single moms who have to go work or the single dads, what do they do with their children?”
Other parents noted that they’re not equipped to dedicate the time or energy they need to educate their kids. In Palm Beach, Florida, parents even staged a protest against the idea of resuming virtual education.
“I can’t do it. I feel like I’m failing as a mother, and they’re failing as teachers,” Jordan Westcott, a mother whose son has a special plan for his own learning needs, told The Palm Beach Daily News. “When we were doing virtual school, each day would end in tears. There’s no way I can do it.”
Concerns over how some students fare in online learning environments, particularly those in underserved communities, have led to questions about what can or should be done this fall; whether schools should offer instruction online, or in-person, or take a hybrid approach. Many students have fallen behind as a result of schools closing this past spring for a variety of reasons, including lack of access to technology and needed special instruction, and it’s highly possible that those same problems will persist if virtual learning continues.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-07-20--The Most Dangerous President Ever Threatens Not to Leave Office, Again

Donald Trump sat for a one-hour Fox News interview with Chris Wallace on Sunday , and if you think this sentence is boring to read , try writing it for a living , again .
Trump doing Fox News is the news equivalent of “ Sun Rises in East ” ; the man hasn ’ t given an interview to a non-Fox station since God was in short pants , for a whole galaxy of deeply cowardly reasons .
Nothing ever comes of these safe-space chats , and I assumed Sunday would be no different .
First of all , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A pathetically small but slowly growing cohort of Republicans is finally pushing back on this wrecking ball presidency , and for an hour on Sunday , Wallace was their voice .
Trump , who clearly expected to be served a series of questions on his favorite color , was not prepared to get fact-checked on the fly once he started in with the boilerplate bullshit that is his daily meat and mead .
By the time it was over , Trump had delivered what may come to be seen as the worst @ @ @ @ @ @ @ date , and friends , that is truly saying something .
He was angry .
He was sweaty .
He was defensive , surprised at having to do more than merely unspool another long narrative on his seamless record of greatness .
“ Trump ’ s interview with Fox ’ s Chris Wallace was a painful affair from start to finish , ” reports The Washington Post .
“ Wallace is always a good and tough interviewer , unlike the Fox opinion hosts Trump frequents , and he is always prepared , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one point , Trump had to ask White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany while still on camera , “ Can you please get me the mortality rates ?
” because Wallace wasn ’ t going to let him get away with another of his “ Everything is the best ” riffs that serve as his stand-in for actual dialogue .
“ It ’ s not true , sir , ” Wallace pressed on the issue of rising COVID deaths nationwide .
“ We had — we had 900 deaths on a single day.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ got tagged for not knowing how much a gallon of milk cost ?
How very quaint that was .
Here was this wretch , perspiring through his pancake makeup , unable to immediately recall how many people had died under his watch .
Wallace , for his part , waited like an infinitely patient Siamese cat , tail twitching , until Trump was able to cough up the wrong numbers explained incorrectly .
Not long after , Trump called Wallace “ fake news.
” It was like that .
From the issue of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their flag ” — to Black Lives Matter — “ [ T ] he whole thing with cancel culture , we can ’ t cancel our whole history ” — Trump retreated to the safe ground of white nationalism and grievance politics .
Saving his most grotesque answers for the subject of COVID-19 disappearing , Trump said , “ Trump defends bungled handling of coronavirus with falsehoods and dubious claims ” reads a Washington Post headline on the interview .
That , right there , is professional patty-cake on an all-world level .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ hour with sweat sheeting down his face .
He was the guiltiest man in America , and it showed .
But it wasn ’ t until Trump said he would not accept the result of the upcoming presidential election that my ears really perked up .
“ When Wallace asked Trump whether he considers himself a ‘ good ’ or ‘ gracious ’ loser , the president replied that he doesn ’ t like to lose , ” reports the Post .
“ Then he added , ‘ You don ’ t know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election .
I really do.
’ ” Wallace pressed , “ Are you suggesting that you might not accept the results of the election ?
” Trump replied , “ No , I have to see.
” There is history here .
“ If all this sounds unduly paranoid to you , ” I wrote in March of 2019 , “ I invite you to close your eyes and think back on everything that has happened since that golden escalator ride nearly four long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you expect Donald Trump to win the presidency ?
At any point , even for a moment , has Donald Trump once put the best interests of the country before his own ?
Does a man who cages children to score points with his base have a moral center that can be trusted ?
Do you really think he is incapable of tearing the country to pieces in order to hold on to what he thinks belongs to him ?
” I am not alone in my concern .
“ The closer defeat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ throes of a deranged administration , ” writes David K. Shipler for Washington Monthly .
“ It lunges for levers of power and propaganda .
It undermines institutions that stand above politics .
It smears physicians who work for the public ’ s health .
It attempts to conceal pandemic data , Soviet-style .
It issues absurd decrees to local school boards to open in the fall or else .
It dispatches unidentified federal forces to kidnap peaceful protesters .
It flails out against measures to ease voting .
And these are only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if it is final — seems likely.
” There are , of course , remedies to such a last-gasp flail by Trump should he suffer defeat in November .
“ The American people will decide this election , ” the Biden campaign responded after Trump ’ s statement on Sunday .
“ And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.
” Fair enough , that , but the damage this man can do if he leaves claw marks in the door frames on the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far beyond his tenure .
Just ask Portland if you doubt it .
The rill of time between November and January will be one of the most dangerous phases this nation has ever passed through if he loses , and with an unchecked pandemic on top of it all .
The time to prepare is now .

Trump delivered what may come to be seen as the worst interview of his entire presidency to date on Sunday.
Donald Trump sat for a one-hour Fox News interview with Chris Wallace on Sunday, and if you think this sentence is boring to read, try writing it for a living, again. Trump doing Fox News is the news equivalent of “Sun Rises in East”; the man hasn’t given an interview to a non-Fox station since God was in short pants, for a whole galaxy of deeply cowardly reasons. Nothing ever comes of these safe-space chats, and I assumed Sunday would be no different.
I was wrong.
First of all, Chris Wallace came to play on Sunday. A pathetically small but slowly growing cohort of Republicans is finally pushing back on this wrecking ball presidency, and for an hour on Sunday, Wallace was their voice. Trump, who clearly expected to be served a series of questions on his favorite color, was not prepared to get fact-checked on the fly once he started in with the boilerplate bullshit that is his daily meat and mead. By the time it was over, Trump had delivered what may come to be seen as the worst media avail of his entire presidency to date, and friends, that is truly saying something.
He was angry. He was sweaty. He was defensive, surprised at having to do more than merely unspool another long narrative on his seamless record of greatness. “Trump’s interview with Fox’s Chris Wallace was a painful affair from start to finish,” reports The Washington Post. “Wallace is always a good and tough interviewer, unlike the Fox opinion hosts Trump frequents, and he is always prepared, but this was on another level.”
At one point, Trump had to ask White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany while still on camera, “Can you please get me the mortality rates?” because Wallace wasn’t going to let him get away with another of his “Everything is the best” riffs that serve as his stand-in for actual dialogue. “It’s not true, sir,” Wallace pressed on the issue of rising COVID deaths nationwide. “We had — we had 900 deaths on a single day.”
Remember when George H.W. Bush got tagged for not knowing how much a gallon of milk cost? How very quaint that was. Here was this wretch, perspiring through his pancake makeup, unable to immediately recall how many people had died under his watch. Wallace, for his part, waited like an infinitely patient Siamese cat, tail twitching, until Trump was able to cough up the wrong numbers explained incorrectly. Not long after, Trump called Wallace “fake news.” It was like that.
From the issue of the Confederate flag — “They love their flag” — to Black Lives Matter — “[T]he whole thing with cancel culture, we can’t cancel our whole history” — Trump retreated to the safe ground of white nationalism and grievance politics. Saving his most grotesque answers for the subject of COVID-19 disappearing, Trump said,
I will be right eventually. You know I said, “It’s going to disappear.” I’ll say it again. It’s going to disappear, and I’ll be right… You know why? Because I’ve been right probably more than anybody else.
“Trump defends bungled handling of coronavirus with falsehoods and dubious claims” reads a Washington Post headline on the interview. That, right there, is professional patty-cake on an all-world level. He lied and bullshitted Wallace for an hour with sweat sheeting down his face. He was the guiltiest man in America, and it showed.
He was angry. He was sweaty. He was defensive, surprised at having to do more than merely unspool another long narrative on his seamless record of greatness.
But it wasn’t until Trump said he would not accept the result of the upcoming presidential election that my ears really perked up. “When Wallace asked Trump whether he considers himself a ‘good’ or ‘gracious’ loser, the president replied that he doesn’t like to lose,” reports the Post. “Then he added, ‘You don’t know until you see. It depends. I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election. I really do.’” Wallace pressed, “Are you suggesting that you might not accept the results of the election?” Trump replied, “No, I have to see.”
There is history here. “If all this sounds unduly paranoid to you,” I wrote in March of 2019, “I invite you to close your eyes and think back on everything that has happened since that golden escalator ride nearly four long years ago. Ask yourself: Did you expect Donald Trump to win the presidency? At any point, even for a moment, has Donald Trump once put the best interests of the country before his own? Does a man who cages children to score points with his base have a moral center that can be trusted? Do you really think he is incapable of tearing the country to pieces in order to hold on to what he thinks belongs to him?”
I am not alone in my concern. “The closer defeat looms, the more desperate the death throes of a deranged administration,” writes David K. Shipler for Washington Monthly. “It lunges for levers of power and propaganda. It undermines institutions that stand above politics. It smears physicians who work for the public’s health. It attempts to conceal pandemic data, Soviet-style. It issues absurd decrees to local school boards to open in the fall or else. It dispatches unidentified federal forces to kidnap peaceful protesters. It flails out against measures to ease voting. And these are only the omens. A final spasm — if it is final — seems likely.”
The rill of time between November and January will be one of the most dangerous phases this nation has ever passed through.
There are, of course, remedies to such a last-gasp flail by Trump should he suffer defeat in November. “The American people will decide this election,” the Biden campaign responded after Trump’s statement on Sunday. “And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”
Fair enough, that, but the damage this man can do if he leaves claw marks in the door frames on the way out of the West Wing will last far beyond his tenure. Just ask Portland if you doubt it. The rill of time between November and January will be one of the most dangerous phases this nation has ever passed through if he loses, and with an unchecked pandemic on top of it all. The time to prepare is now.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-07-20--“I Felt Like I Was Going to Die”: The Late John Lewis on Selma’s “Bloody Sunday”

AMY GOODMAN : The nation is mourning the loss of civil rights icon , 17-term Democratic Congressmember John Lewis , whose legacy of freedom fighting and justice seeking stretched from the Jim Crow era to the Black Lives Matter movement .
Lewis died Friday at the age of 80 .
He was diagnosed in December with pancreatic cancer .
John Lewis was born in Alabama to sharecroppers .
He went on to become the youngest of the so-called Big Six who addressed the 1963 March on Washington , was ultimately elected in 1986 to be the congressional representative for his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he never left .
During the civil rights movement , Lewis marched side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King , helped found and served as chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , and helped organize the Freedom Rides .
He was arrested more than 40 times protesting segregation .
As a mentor to those who followed in his footsteps , Lewis was known for encouraging them to , quote , “ get in good trouble , necessary trouble.
” In an interview last month , Lewis said the video of George @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Minneapolis police was , quote , “ so painful , it made me cry , ” he said , and that he was inspired by how it had sparked a new movement to end racial injustice .
Congressmember Lewis made his final public appearance in June at the street near the White House that ’ s now named Black Lives Matter Plaza , where the words “ Black Lives Matter ” are painted in 35-foot yellow letters .
Former President Barack Obama said Saturday he hugged Lewis at his inauguration in 2009 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was only there because of the sacrifices he made.
” Meanwhile , President Trump waited more than 14 hours to tweet , after he had tweeted some 40 times , that he was , quote , “ saddened ” by Lewis ’ s death .
Flags have been lowered to half-staff at the Capitol and the White House , and in Atlanta , where Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms ordered the flags lowered to half-staff indefinitely .
Well , today we bring you an extended excerpt of my interview in 2012 with Congressmember @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studio alone here in New York City , after the release of his book , Across That Bridge : Life Lessons and a Vision for Change .
I began asking Congressmember John Lewis about the Selma to Montgomery march he helped lead in 1965 as a 25-year-old man , when he was almost beaten to death by police in what came to be called “ Bloody Sunday.
” REP. JOHN LEWIS : On March 7 , 1965 , a group of us attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery , Alabama , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to register to vote .
One young African American man had been shot and killed a few days earlier , in an adjoining county called Perry County — this is in the Black Belt of Alabama — the home county of Mrs. Martin Luther King Jr. , the home county of Mrs. Ralph Abernathy , the home county of Mrs. Andrew Young .
And because of what happened to him , we made a decision to march .
In Selma , Alabama , in 1965 , only 2.1 % of Blacks of voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only place you could attempt to register was to go down to the courthouse .
You had to pass a so-called literacy test .
And they would tell people over and over again that they didn ’ t or couldn ’ t pass the literacy test .
On one occasion , a man was asked to count the number of bubbles on a bar of soap .
On another occasion , a man was asked to count the number of jellybeans in a jar .
There were African American lawyers , doctors , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this so-called literacy test .
And we had to change that , so we sought to march .
And we got to the top of the bridge .
We saw a sea of blue — Alabama state troopers — and we continued to walk .
We came within hearing distance of the state troopers .
And a man identified himself and said , “ I ’ m Major John Cloud of the Alabama state troopers .
This is an unlawful march .
It will not be allowed to continue .
I give you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your church.
” And one of the young people walking with me , leading the march , a man by the name of Hosea Williams , who was on the staff of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , said , “ Major , give us a moment to kneel and pray.
” And the major said , “ Troopers , advance !
” And you saw these guys putting on their gas masks .
They came toward us , beating us with nightsticks and bullwhips , trampling us with horses .
I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trooper with a nightstick .
I had a concussion at the bridge .
My legs went out from under me .
I felt like I was going to die .
I thought I saw Death .
All these many years later , I don ’ t recall how I made it back across that bridge to the church .
But after I got back to the church , the church was full to capacity , more than 2,000 people on the outside trying to get in to protest what had happened on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say something to the audience .
And I stood up and said something like : “ I don ’ t understand it , how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam but can not send troops to Selma , Alabama , to protect people whose only desire is to register to vote.
” The next thing I knew , I had been admitted to the local hospital in Selma .
AMY GOODMAN : Explain that moment where you decided to move forward , because I don ’ t think the history we learn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gargantuan acts of bravery .
Talk about — I mean , you saw the weapons the police arrayed against you .
What propelled you forward , Congressmember Lewis ?
REP. JOHN LEWIS : Well , my mother , my father , my grandparents , my uncles and aunts , and people all around me had never registered to vote .
I had been working all across the South .
The state of Mississippi had a Black voting age population of more than 450,000 , and only about 16,000 were registered to vote .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ t have a choice .
I think we had been tracked down by what I call the spirit of history , and we couldn ’ t — we couldn ’ t turn back .
We had to go forward .
We became like trees planted by the rivers of water .
We were anchored .
And I thought we would die .
I first thought we would be arrested and go to jail , but I thought it was a real possibility that some of us would die on that bridge that day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thought it was the last protest for me .
But somehow and someway , you have to keep going .
You go to a hospital , you go to a doctor ’ s office , you get mended , and you get up and try it again .
AMY GOODMAN : So what was the next act you engaged in ?
REP. JOHN LEWIS : Well , we continued to organize , continued to try to get people registered .
We went to federal court , testified , to get an injunction against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ troopers .
And the federal court said that we had a right to march from Selma to Montgomery .
President Johnson spoke to the nation and condemned the violence in Selma , introduced the Voting Rights Act .
And that night , he made one of the most meaningful speeches that any American president had made in modern times on the whole question of civil rights and voting rights .
He condemned the violence over and over again , and near the end of the speech he said , “ And we shall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call it the “ We Shall Overcome ” speech .
I was sitting next to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as we listened to President Johnson .
I looked at Dr. King .
Tears came down his face .
He started crying .
And we all cried a little when we heard the president saying , “ We shall overcome.
” And Dr. King said , “ We will make it from Selma to Montgomery , and the Voting Rights Act will be passed.
” Two weeks later , more than 10,000 of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , started walking from Selma to Montgomery .
And by the time we made it to Montgomery five days later , there were almost 30,000 Black and white citizens — Protestant , Catholic , Jewish , men , women , young people .
It was like a holy march .
And the Congress debated the act , passed it , and on August 6 , 1965 , President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law .

AMY GOODMAN: The nation is mourning the loss of civil rights icon, 17-term Democratic Congressmember John Lewis, whose legacy of freedom fighting and justice seeking stretched from the Jim Crow era to the Black Lives Matter movement. Lewis died Friday at the age of 80. He was diagnosed in December with pancreatic cancer.
John Lewis was born in Alabama to sharecroppers. He went on to become the youngest of the so-called Big Six who addressed the 1963 March on Washington, was ultimately elected in 1986 to be the congressional representative for his home state of Georgia, a post he never left. During the civil rights movement, Lewis marched side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King, helped found and served as chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and helped organize the Freedom Rides. He was arrested more than 40 times protesting segregation.
As a mentor to those who followed in his footsteps, Lewis was known for encouraging them to, quote, “get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” In an interview last month, Lewis said the video of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police was, quote, “so painful, it made me cry,” he said, and that he was inspired by how it had sparked a new movement to end racial injustice. Congressmember Lewis made his final public appearance in June at the street near the White House that’s now named Black Lives Matter Plaza, where the words “Black Lives Matter” are painted in 35-foot yellow letters.
Former President Barack Obama said Saturday he hugged Lewis at his inauguration in 2009 and, quote, “told him I was only there because of the sacrifices he made.”
Meanwhile, President Trump waited more than 14 hours to tweet, after he had tweeted some 40 times, that he was, quote, “saddened” by Lewis’s death.
Flags have been lowered to half-staff at the Capitol and the White House, and in Atlanta, where Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms ordered the flags lowered to half-staff indefinitely.
Well, today we bring you an extended excerpt of my interview in 2012 with Congressmember John Lewis. He walked into our studio alone here in New York City, after the release of his book, Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change. I began asking Congressmember John Lewis about the Selma to Montgomery march he helped lead in 1965 as a 25-year-old man, when he was almost beaten to death by police in what came to be called “Bloody Sunday.”
REP. JOHN LEWIS: On March 7, 1965, a group of us attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to dramatize to the nation that people wanted to register to vote. One young African American man had been shot and killed a few days earlier, in an adjoining county called Perry County — this is in the Black Belt of Alabama — the home county of Mrs. Martin Luther King Jr., the home county of Mrs. Ralph Abernathy, the home county of Mrs. Andrew Young. And because of what happened to him, we made a decision to march.
In Selma, Alabama, in 1965, only 2.1% of Blacks of voting age were registered to vote. The only place you could attempt to register was to go down to the courthouse. You had to pass a so-called literacy test. And they would tell people over and over again that they didn’t or couldn’t pass the literacy test. On one occasion, a man was asked to count the number of bubbles on a bar of soap. On another occasion, a man was asked to count the number of jellybeans in a jar. There were African American lawyers, doctors, teachers, housewives, college professors flunking this so-called literacy test. And we had to change that, so we sought to march.
And we got to the top of the bridge. We saw a sea of blue — Alabama state troopers — and we continued to walk. We came within hearing distance of the state troopers. And a man identified himself and said, “I’m Major John Cloud of the Alabama state troopers. This is an unlawful march. It will not be allowed to continue. I give you three minutes to disperse and return to your church.” And one of the young people walking with me, leading the march, a man by the name of Hosea Williams, who was on the staff of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said, “Major, give us a moment to kneel and pray.” And the major said, “Troopers, advance!” And you saw these guys putting on their gas masks. They came toward us, beating us with nightsticks and bullwhips, trampling us with horses.
I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a nightstick. I had a concussion at the bridge. My legs went out from under me. I felt like I was going to die. I thought I saw Death. All these many years later, I don’t recall how I made it back across that bridge to the church. But after I got back to the church, the church was full to capacity, more than 2,000 people on the outside trying to get in to protest what had happened on the bridge. And someone asked me to say something to the audience. And I stood up and said something like: “I don’t understand it, how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam but cannot send troops to Selma, Alabama, to protect people whose only desire is to register to vote.” The next thing I knew, I had been admitted to the local hospital in Selma.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain that moment where you decided to move forward, because I don’t think the history we learn records those small acts that are actually gargantuan acts of bravery. Talk about — I mean, you saw the weapons the police arrayed against you. What propelled you forward, Congressmember Lewis?
REP. JOHN LEWIS: Well, my mother, my father, my grandparents, my uncles and aunts, and people all around me had never registered to vote. I had been working all across the South. The state of Mississippi had a Black voting age population of more than 450,000, and only about 16,000 were registered to vote. On that day, we didn’t have a choice. I think we had been tracked down by what I call the spirit of history, and we couldn’t — we couldn’t turn back. We had to go forward. We became like trees planted by the rivers of water. We were anchored. And I thought we would die. I first thought we would be arrested and go to jail, but I thought it was a real possibility that some of us would die on that bridge that day, after the confrontation occurred. I thought it was the last protest for me. But somehow and someway, you have to keep going. You go to a hospital, you go to a doctor’s office, you get mended, and you get up and try it again.
AMY GOODMAN: So what was the next act you engaged in?
REP. JOHN LEWIS: Well, we continued to organize, continued to try to get people registered. We went to federal court, testified, to get an injunction against Governor George Wallace and the Alabama state troopers. And the federal court said that we had a right to march from Selma to Montgomery. President Johnson spoke to the nation and condemned the violence in Selma, introduced the Voting Rights Act. And that night, he made one of the most meaningful speeches that any American president had made in modern times on the whole question of civil rights and voting rights. He condemned the violence over and over again, and near the end of the speech he said, “And we shall overcome. We shall overcome.” We call it the “We Shall Overcome” speech.
I was sitting next to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as we listened to President Johnson. I looked at Dr. King. Tears came down his face. He started crying. And we all cried a little when we heard the president saying, “We shall overcome.” And Dr. King said, “We will make it from Selma to Montgomery, and the Voting Rights Act will be passed.” Two weeks later, more than 10,000 of us, people from all over America, started walking from Selma to Montgomery. And by the time we made it to Montgomery five days later, there were almost 30,000 Black and white citizens — Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, men, women, young people. It was like a holy march. And the Congress debated the act, passed it, and on August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law.


truthout--2020-07-20--Veteran Black Panther: Links Between Capitalism and Racism Are in Plain Sight

The Black Panther Party ( BPP ) , originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense , was co-founded in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in Oakland , California .
Motivated by outrage against police abuse in Black and Brown neighborhoods , Seale and Newton compiled a Ten-Point Program for their new organization .
Representing the vanguard of the revolution throughout the 60s and 70s , the BPP was immortalized for its iconic , powerful imagery of armed Black men and women dressed in leather and berets , determined to protect communities from vigilante and institutional forms of white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community was only one tactic in the BPP revolutionary strategy , which included free breakfast for school children , health clinic programs , and a sophisticated educational agenda with teach-ins and an official media organ — The Black Panther newspaper .
In the following interview , Truthout speaks with Emory Douglas , artist , designer , producer of The Black Panther newspaper , and minister of culture for the BPP from 1967 until The Black Panther ceased publication in the early ‘ 80s .
Douglas ’ s iconic artwork and design were a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ successful messaging and outreach , which inspired revolutionaries in the United States and the world .
Douglas speaks of the history of The Black Panther newspaper as a tool of empowerment , the aims and techniques of his artwork and design , and how these relate to current mediums employed during present uprisings .
Yoav Litvin : Co-founder and Minister of Defense of the BPP Huey Newton said : “ When the slave kills the slave master it acts as a cleansing process .
Because then a man is ‘ born ’ and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been your goals with your art ?
Does it serve to kill the slave master , transform him , or both ?
Emory Douglas : My art is intended to connect to an audience , to the masses .
It appeals to victims of oppression , with a focus on brothers and sisters in Black communities , but not exclusively .
The Black Panther was a community newspaper , which told the story from our perspective .
It focused on a class of people who were not necessarily readers , but rather learned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , captions , artwork and photos reflected the gist of the drawn-out articles and therefore appealed to those who were not able to or going to read them .
My art for The Black Panther combined various mediums to help convey our messaging .
These included pen and ink original drawings collaged with photography and inexpensive graphic arts methodologies — mimeographs , photostats , prefabricated press oh types and screentones , along with offset printing for the newspaper .
The artwork and newspaper got the attention of police early on .
A man @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me at the BPP communal housing space showing interest in my art .
I knew he was police because the number was unlisted .
Later on that week , the same person called the BPP central headquarters office asking to speak to me and I had comrades listen to the conversation on another phone line while the police pretended to be an art dealer interested in my work .
He told me he would make me rich and that they wanted me to meet them at the hotel they were staying at in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was not interested , he became frustrated and I hung up the phone .
My art also served to support BPP programs such as the free breakfast for schoolchildren .
A gallery in Los Angeles which focused on social justice issues exhibited my poster art and we used the show to raise funds .
How did you arrive at the panther and the pig as positive and negative representations ?
The image of the black panther was first adopted by the Lowndes County Freedom Organization ( LCFO ) in Alabama in 1966 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law .
The black panther was conceived as a response to the Alabama Democratic Party symbol of a white rooster , which stood for white supremacy .
Huey Newton used to say that the black panther was an animal that would not attack unless it felt in danger and only then it defended itself .
Eldridge Cleaver , who later became the BPP ’ s minister of information , was in contact with members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) who were involved in the campaign in Alabama , such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kwame Ture ] , as part of his regular travel to Atlanta , Georgia , at the time .
Because of Huey Newton and Bobby Seal ’ s great respect for SNCC they asked Eldridge to seek their official permission to continue using the black panther as a symbol for the BPP .
Stokely Carmichael approved .
Both Bobby Seale and Huey became familiar with Eldridge Cleaver ’ s writings while in prison .
Huey and Bobby first met Eldridge Cleaver when he worked as a writer/reporter for Ramparts Magazine .
However , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could only be around the BPP in that official capacity , otherwise he would have been in violation of his parole and sent back to prison .
They were eventually able to recruit him as a journalist for The Black Panther newspaper .
We defined the pig ( police ) as “ a low natured beast that has no regard for law , justice , or the rights of people ; a creature that bites the hand that feeds it ; a foul , depraved traducer , usually found masquerading as the victim @ @ @ @ @ @ @ images portraying the pigs encountering provocative retributions in reaction to state-sponsored violence were quickly picked up around the world , transcending the African-American community and becoming international symbols that defined the oppressor by its victims .
Though associated with police , images of pigs represented fascists in general to many in the Black community and beyond .
At the same time , the images evoked feelings of humor , disgust and a form of violent reckoning with injustice associated with fascist elements .
Talk about the media landscape back in the days of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What does it demonstrate regarding differences in struggles ?
In the late ‘ 60s and ‘ 70s , there were many community media operations that reported on the adverse conditions throughout the U.S .
The Black Panther newspaper was published weekly and had a print run of 100,000 with a 400,000 readership around the world at its peak .
People globally were interested in the uncensored , factual , hard-hitting and provocative approach to the information .
Today anyone with access can get information in real time or whenever desired on the internet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the COVID-19 pandemic while sheltering in place .
In contrast to today , the BPP relied on direct , physical connections to people in our communities , learning first hand of their concerns and needs from our 49 chapters and branches .
That said , the instant ability to record and transmit information and images affords new opportunities to view and connect with police brutality and other injustices as they occur .
The easy accessibility to information forces all sectors of society to reckon with the sort of racism historically reserved to Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The connections between racist oppression and capitalism are now in plain sight .
Could you share a story from the active period of the BPP , which showed the power and impact of your art ?
Police officers became psychologically affected by our representations of them as pigs .
In 1974 , we could see this psychological impact ; police from Oakland and San Francisco got together and started an annual football match between law enforcement agencies called the “ Pig Bowl ” in an attempt to defend their image , with funds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of all ages politely and accurately continued to use the term .
It served to emphasize the gulf in trust between our communities and law enforcement .
Today in certain state jurisdictions calling police officers “ pigs ” is a misdemeanor .
As a radical revolutionary organization , the BPP forced the mainstream political system to deal with basic quality-of-life concerns within the Black community .
One such effect was a beginning of a process of inclusion into the capitalist system , including law enforcement , that has historically excluded us .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s demand for community control of police , which required that law enforcement who patrolled our communities lived in our communities and would thus be held accountable for their actions and abuse .
Talk about the retaliation of the state against the BPP from your standpoint as minister of culture .
The Police , FBI , CIA , and other government agencies targeted the BPP , assassinating members and imprisoning many others .
See Fred Hampton ’ s assassination in Chicago , the 16- hour-long shootout with police in L.A. , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who Huey and Bobby mentored and got permission from his family to join the BPP when he was 15 years of age , the case of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal who was the deputy minister of information of the Philadelphia chapter of the BPP when he was just 15 years of age and is still a political prisoner along with many other BPP freedom fighters .
In addition to direct assaults , these organizations targeted our community work and programs , including The Black Panther newspaper , which the government also claimed represented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States .
Many of these efforts involved COINTELPRO ( Counterintelligence Program ) , an FBI program which spent tens of millions of dollars to discredit and destroy the BPP by any means necessary .
They had a special unit within the FBI called “ Racial Matters ” and you had to dislike Black people in order to be part of it .
We found out the printer of our newspapers would let the FBI come in and read content before it was printed .
We would send comrades to the press to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the press , making sure it was all there .
There were a few times [ when ] texts were missing and we ’ d have to stop the presses , reinsert material and reprint .
How do you see the events in the streets since George Floyd ’ s murder ?
Have efforts at reform failed ?
The murder of George Floyd was the spark that started the prairie fire .
COVID-19 exposed the government ’ s indifference to the people ’ s needs .
The blatant racism and corruption of past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toxic and flammable environment in which a large segment of the American population has reached a tipping point .
Yes , reform has certainly failed .
Reform is just another word for pacification .
It is a method of appeasement of certain classes within oppressed communities .
How did your artwork for the BPP relate to revolutionary struggles abroad ?
My art featured visual imagery on a range of anti-imperialist struggles and revolutionary movements here and around the world .
In the masthead of The Black Panther , we often featured revolutionary leaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the international wing of the BPP in Algeria continued fostering relationships with many revolutionary movements .
By 1969 , Bobby Seale had attended the international conference against the Vietnam war in Canada .
I recall when Bobby Seale and comrade Elbert “ Big Man ” Howard used to travel to Scandinavia to talk with U.S. draft resistors who ’ d sold our papers .
I became aware that some Cuban artists were reading our paper and had repurposed a few of my artworks from inside the BPP newspaper and from several political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them into beautiful political posters .
They sent them all over the world in solidarity with the third world people ’ s struggles .
When we decided to stop production in the early ‘ 80s , we gave our printing equipment to representatives of one of the African liberation movements .
I ’ ve had many exhibits around the world .
For example , in Chiapas , Mexico , several Zapatista women collectives made embroideries of my artwork .
In 2011 , I collaborated with Australian Aboriginal artists on several occasions , both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve also had exhibitions in Bogota , Columbia ; São Paulo , Brazil ; and Auckland , New Zealand , to name several .
Before the current travel restrictions , I traveled a lot doing art related talks about the history behind my art for the BPP and some of my more recent works .
I also recently collaborated with Spike Lee on his new movie , Da 5 Bloods .
I have been engaged in Palestine solidarity work for a while .
I contributed to an Oakland Artists Palestine Solidarity mural @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as part of a delegation , which included former U.S.-held political prisoners and social prisoners , prison abolitionists , trade unionists and university professors .
Ours was the first U.S. delegation to Palestine to focus specifically on political imprisonment and solidarity between Palestinian and U.S. prisoners .
Our delegation also focused on recent labor struggles in Palestine for bread and dignity , and on the struggles of Palestinian intellectuals to assert the rightful claims of Indigenous Palestinians to their land , culture and history .
We visited the Ibdaa Arts Center in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Center in El Bireh and saw , painted on interior walls , murals that defied the Israeli occupation ban on resistance art on public walls .
The author would like to express his gratitude to the Malcolm X Movement .

The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was co-founded in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in Oakland, California. Motivated by outrage against police abuse in Black and Brown neighborhoods, Seale and Newton compiled a Ten-Point Program for their new organization.
Representing the vanguard of the revolution throughout the 60s and 70s, the BPP was immortalized for its iconic, powerful imagery of armed Black men and women dressed in leather and berets, determined to protect communities from vigilante and institutional forms of white supremacy.
However, safeguarding the Black community was only one tactic in the BPP revolutionary strategy, which included free breakfast for school children, health clinic programs, and a sophisticated educational agenda with teach-ins and an official media organ — The Black Panther newspaper.
In the following interview, Truthout speaks with Emory Douglas, artist, designer, producer of The Black Panther newspaper, and minister of culture for the BPP from 1967 until The Black Panther ceased publication in the early ‘80s. Douglas’s iconic artwork and design were a centerpiece of the BPP’s highly successful messaging and outreach, which inspired revolutionaries in the United States and the world. Douglas speaks of the history of The Black Panther newspaper as a tool of empowerment, the aims and techniques of his artwork and design, and how these relate to current mediums employed during present uprisings.
Yoav Litvin: Co-founder and Minister of Defense of the BPP Huey Newton said: “When the slave kills the slave master it acts as a cleansing process. Because then a man is ‘born’ and an oppressor is gone.” What have been your goals with your art? Does it serve to kill the slave master, transform him, or both?
Emory Douglas: My art is intended to connect to an audience, to the masses. It appeals to victims of oppression, with a focus on brothers and sisters in Black communities, but not exclusively.
The Black Panther was a community newspaper, which told the story from our perspective. It focused on a class of people who were not necessarily readers, but rather learned through observation and participation. The headlines, captions, artwork and photos reflected the gist of the drawn-out articles and therefore appealed to those who were not able to or going to read them.
Courtesy of Emory Douglas / Art Resource, NY
My art for The Black Panther combined various mediums to help convey our messaging. These included pen and ink original drawings collaged with photography and inexpensive graphic arts methodologies — mimeographs, photostats, prefabricated press oh types and screentones, along with offset printing for the newspaper.
The artwork and newspaper got the attention of police early on. A man claiming to be an art dealer called me at the BPP communal housing space showing interest in my art. I knew he was police because the number was unlisted. Later on that week, the same person called the BPP central headquarters office asking to speak to me and I had comrades listen to the conversation on another phone line while the police pretended to be an art dealer interested in my work. He told me he would make me rich and that they wanted me to meet them at the hotel they were staying at in San Francisco. I told him twice I was not interested, he became frustrated and I hung up the phone.
Stephen Shames
My art also served to support BPP programs such as the free breakfast for schoolchildren. A gallery in Los Angeles which focused on social justice issues exhibited my poster art and we used the show to raise funds.
How did you arrive at the panther and the pig as positive and negative representations?
The image of the black panther was first adopted by the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) in Alabama in 1966 after the 1965 Voting Rights Act became law. The black panther was conceived as a response to the Alabama Democratic Party symbol of a white rooster, which stood for white supremacy.
Courtesy of Emory Douglas / Art Resource, NY
Huey Newton used to say that the black panther was an animal that would not attack unless it felt in danger and only then it defended itself.
Eldridge Cleaver, who later became the BPP’s minister of information, was in contact with members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) who were involved in the campaign in Alabama, such as Stokely Carmichael [later known as Kwame Ture], as part of his regular travel to Atlanta, Georgia, at the time.
Because of Huey Newton and Bobby Seale’s great respect for SNCC they asked Eldridge to seek their official permission to continue using the black panther as a symbol for the BPP. Stokely Carmichael approved.
Both Bobby Seale and Huey became familiar with Eldridge Cleaver’s writings while in prison.
Huey and Bobby first met Eldridge Cleaver when he worked as a writer/reporter for Ramparts Magazine. However, because he was on parole, he could only be around the BPP in that official capacity, otherwise he would have been in violation of his parole and sent back to prison. They were eventually able to recruit him as a journalist for The Black Panther newspaper.
We defined the pig (police) as “a low natured beast that has no regard for law, justice, or the rights of people; a creature that bites the hand that feeds it; a foul, depraved traducer, usually found masquerading as the victim of an unprovoked attack.”
The many images portraying the pigs encountering provocative retributions in reaction to state-sponsored violence were quickly picked up around the world, transcending the African-American community and becoming international symbols that defined the oppressor by its victims.
Though associated with police, images of pigs represented fascists in general to many in the Black community and beyond. At the same time, the images evoked feelings of humor, disgust and a form of violent reckoning with injustice associated with fascist elements.
Talk about the media landscape back in the days of The Black Panther compared to today. What does it demonstrate regarding differences in struggles?
In the late ‘60s and ‘70s, there were many community media operations that reported on the adverse conditions throughout the U.S.
Stephen Shames
The Black Panther newspaper was published weekly and had a print run of 100,000 with a 400,000 readership around the world at its peak. People globally were interested in the uncensored, factual, hard-hitting and provocative approach to the information.
Today anyone with access can get information in real time or whenever desired on the internet. This becomes even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic while sheltering in place.
In contrast to today, the BPP relied on direct, physical connections to people in our communities, learning first hand of their concerns and needs from our 49 chapters and branches.
That said, the instant ability to record and transmit information and images affords new opportunities to view and connect with police brutality and other injustices as they occur. The easy accessibility to information forces all sectors of society to reckon with the sort of racism historically reserved to Black, Brown and Native American communities.
The connections between racist oppression and capitalism are now in plain sight.
Could you share a story from the active period of the BPP, which showed the power and impact of your art?
Police officers became psychologically affected by our representations of them as pigs.
In 1974, we could see this psychological impact; police from Oakland and San Francisco got together and started an annual football match between law enforcement agencies called the “Pig Bowl” in an attempt to defend their image, with funds raised toward charity.
However, people of all ages politely and accurately continued to use the term. It served to emphasize the gulf in trust between our communities and law enforcement. Today in certain state jurisdictions calling police officers “pigs” is a misdemeanor.
As a radical revolutionary organization, the BPP forced the mainstream political system to deal with basic quality-of-life concerns within the Black community. One such effect was a beginning of a process of inclusion into the capitalist system, including law enforcement, that has historically excluded us.
Stephen Shames
In my art, I reflected the party’s demand for community control of police, which required that law enforcement who patrolled our communities lived in our communities and would thus be held accountable for their actions and abuse.
Talk about the retaliation of the state against the BPP from your standpoint as minister of culture.
The Police, FBI, CIA, and other government agencies targeted the BPP, assassinating members and imprisoning many others. See Fred Hampton’s assassination in Chicago, the 16- hour-long shootout with police in L.A., the murder of 17-year-old Lil’ Bobby Hutton who Huey and Bobby mentored and got permission from his family to join the BPP when he was 15 years of age, the case of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal who was the deputy minister of information of the Philadelphia chapter of the BPP when he was just 15 years of age and is still a political prisoner along with many other BPP freedom fighters.
In addition to direct assaults, these organizations targeted our community work and programs, including The Black Panther newspaper, which the government also claimed represented an internal threat to security of the United States.
Many of these efforts involved COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Program), an FBI program which spent tens of millions of dollars to discredit and destroy the BPP by any means necessary. They had a special unit within the FBI called “Racial Matters” and you had to dislike Black people in order to be part of it.
We found out the printer of our newspapers would let the FBI come in and read content before it was printed. We would send comrades to the press to read the paper as it came off the press, making sure it was all there. There were a few times [when] texts were missing and we’d have to stop the presses, reinsert material and reprint.
Billy X Jennings; itsabouttimebpp.com
How do you see the events in the streets since George Floyd’s murder? Have efforts at reform failed?
The murder of George Floyd was the spark that started the prairie fire. COVID-19 exposed the government’s indifference to the people’s needs. The blatant racism and corruption of past and present U.S. administrations have created a toxic and flammable environment in which a large segment of the American population has reached a tipping point.
Yes, reform has certainly failed. Reform is just another word for pacification. It is a method of appeasement of certain classes within oppressed communities.
How did your artwork for the BPP relate to revolutionary struggles abroad?
My art featured visual imagery on a range of anti-imperialist struggles and revolutionary movements here and around the world.
In the masthead of The Black Panther, we often featured revolutionary leaders from around the world. Eldridge Cleaver at the international wing of the BPP in Algeria continued fostering relationships with many revolutionary movements.
By 1969, Bobby Seale had attended the international conference against the Vietnam war in Canada. I recall when Bobby Seale and comrade Elbert “Big Man” Howard used to travel to Scandinavia to talk with U.S. draft resistors who’d sold our papers.
I became aware that some Cuban artists were reading our paper and had repurposed a few of my artworks from inside the BPP newspaper and from several political posters I had created, and transformed them into beautiful political posters. They sent them all over the world in solidarity with the third world people’s struggles.
When we decided to stop production in the early ‘80s, we gave our printing equipment to representatives of one of the African liberation movements.
Talk about your current projects.
Jos Wheeler
I’ve had many exhibits around the world. For example, in Chiapas, Mexico, several Zapatista women collectives made embroideries of my artwork. In 2011, I collaborated with Australian Aboriginal artists on several occasions, both in Australia and in Amsterdam. I’ve also had exhibitions in Bogota, Columbia; São Paulo, Brazil; and Auckland, New Zealand, to name several.
Before the current travel restrictions, I traveled a lot doing art related talks about the history behind my art for the BPP and some of my more recent works. I also recently collaborated with Spike Lee on his new movie, Da 5 Bloods.
I have been engaged in Palestine solidarity work for a while. I contributed to an Oakland Artists Palestine Solidarity mural and in 2016, I visited Palestine as part of a delegation, which included former U.S.-held political prisoners and social prisoners, prison abolitionists, trade unionists and university professors. Ours was the first U.S. delegation to Palestine to focus specifically on political imprisonment and solidarity between Palestinian and U.S. prisoners. Our delegation also focused on recent labor struggles in Palestine for bread and dignity, and on the struggles of Palestinian intellectuals to assert the rightful claims of Indigenous Palestinians to their land, culture and history.
We visited the Ibdaa Arts Center in the Dheisheh refugee camp and the Popular Arts Center in El Bireh and saw, painted on interior walls, murals that defied the Israeli occupation ban on resistance art on public walls.
The author would like to express his gratitude to the Malcolm X Movement.
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truthout--2020-07-20--Why We’re Striking for Black Lives: It’s Time for a Reckoning

On April 3 , 1968 , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood up at the Mason Temple in Memphis and spoke in support of the city ’ s 1,300 sanitation workers .
The workers were on strike to fight for the ability to unionize , put better safety standards in place , and their right to a livable wage .
They had stopped work , partially in response to the deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker , who had been crushed to death by a garbage truck while on the job .
On that day , on the eve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ We ’ ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end .
Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point , in Memphis .
We ’ ve got to see it through .
And when we have our march , you need to be there… Be concerned about your brother .
You may not be on strike .
But either we go up together , or we go down together.
” Today , workers across the country are planning to leave their posts , together .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ so many of us , what could motivate people to strike , or walk out of work ?
The current pandemic of COVID-19 and the generational pandemic of violence against Black lives have brought some truths into sharp relief .
As tens of millions of people have worked without personal protective equipment or paid sick time , it has become clear to us all : Workers , those we have recently taken to calling “ essential , ” are the cornerstone of our social and economic well-being .
These are disproportionately Black and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and further into an economic depression , it ’ s become clear that for so many communities , it is time to take action that pushes elected officials and CEOs to dismantle racism and white supremacy in the workplace .
Our fights for racial , economic , health care , gender , climate and immigration justice are all connected .
We are connected , as well .
In the spring we saw action after action to demand personal protective equipment ( PPE ) in the midst of a global pandemic .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all over the country to defend Black lives .
We can ’ t stop .
On July 20 , tens of thousands of workers will take action .
The strike comes in the middle of a summer focused on building political power .
At the end of August , the Black National Convention will channel the energy from the streets into a meeting place for hundreds of thousands of Black folks and our allies to build Black political power and make a plan to shape the national agenda .
Our aim is clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ races to exercise our power together , we are linking our racial and economic justice demands .
We are demonstrating the power of people who organize and join together in unions .
We are the backbone of this country , and we are calling for a reckoning .
What are we calling for , as we strike ?
We are calling for justice for Black communities , with an unequivocal declaration that Black Lives Matter .
This is the first step in winning justice for all workers .
All these issues , from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criminal justice reform , must start by listening to Black workers and leaders .
We are calling on elected officials and candidates at every level to use their executive , legislative and regulatory authority to begin to rewrite the rules and reimagine our economy and democracy .
We need fair and safe voting in-person and by mail so everyone can fully participate in our democracy .
As we continue to address the COVID-19 pandemic , we must protect the health and safety of all workers , returning people to work and into public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well-managed plan designed with workers and community stakeholders .
We are calling on corporations to take immediate action to dismantle racism , white supremacy and economic exploitation wherever it exists , including in our workplaces .
This includes corporations raising wages , allowing workers to form unions , providing health care , sick leave and expanded health care coverage to people who are uninsured or have lost coverage as the result of losing their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic , child care support and more .
And finally : Every worker must have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no matter where they work .
Every worker in America must have the freedom that comes from economic security and equity in opportunity .
The time of ignoring the deadly impacts of structural racism in America ’ s economy and democracy is over .
We are striking and walking out together , as people of different backgrounds and races , to challenge greedy and corrupt corporate power , and all the elected officials who side with corporations over their own constituents .
We are demanding solutions from government that center communities of color @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every family is healthy , safe and secure , no matter our race , our immigration status , our job or where we live .

On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood up at the Mason Temple in Memphis and spoke in support of the city’s 1,300 sanitation workers. The workers were on strike to fight for the ability to unionize, put better safety standards in place, and their right to a livable wage. They had stopped work, partially in response to the deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker, who had been crushed to death by a garbage truck while on the job.
On that day, on the eve of his assassination, Dr. King said, “We’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point, in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there… Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.”
Today, workers across the country are planning to leave their posts, together.
In this moment of economic precarity for so many of us, what could motivate people to strike, or walk out of work?
Exasperation, and a desire for reckoning.
The current pandemic of COVID-19 and the generational pandemic of violence against Black lives have brought some truths into sharp relief. As tens of millions of people have worked without personal protective equipment or paid sick time, it has become clear to us all: Workers, those we have recently taken to calling “essential,” are the cornerstone of our social and economic well-being. These are disproportionately Black and brown workers. As we enter further and further into an economic depression, it’s become clear that for so many communities, it is time to take action that pushes elected officials and CEOs to dismantle racism and white supremacy in the workplace. Our fights for racial, economic, health care, gender, climate and immigration justice are all connected. We are connected, as well.
So today, we #StrikeForBlackLives.
In the spring we saw action after action to demand personal protective equipment (PPE) in the midst of a global pandemic. In the summer, unprecedented uprisings and protests happened all over the country to defend Black lives. We can’t stop. On July 20, tens of thousands of workers will take action. The strike comes in the middle of a summer focused on building political power. At the end of August, the Black National Convention will channel the energy from the streets into a meeting place for hundreds of thousands of Black folks and our allies to build Black political power and make a plan to shape the national agenda.
Our aim is clear: By bringing together workers of all races to exercise our power together, we are linking our racial and economic justice demands. We are demonstrating the power of people who organize and join together in unions. We are the backbone of this country, and we are calling for a reckoning.
What are we calling for, as we strike?
We are calling for justice for Black communities, with an unequivocal declaration that Black Lives Matter. This is the first step in winning justice for all workers. All these issues, from economic rights to education, housing and criminal justice reform, must start by listening to Black workers and leaders.
We are calling on elected officials and candidates at every level to use their executive, legislative and regulatory authority to begin to rewrite the rules and reimagine our economy and democracy. We need fair and safe voting in-person and by mail so everyone can fully participate in our democracy. As we continue to address the COVID-19 pandemic, we must protect the health and safety of all workers, returning people to work and into public spaces with a rational, safe, well-managed plan designed with workers and community stakeholders.
We are calling on corporations to take immediate action to dismantle racism, white supremacy and economic exploitation wherever it exists, including in our workplaces. This includes corporations raising wages, allowing workers to form unions, providing health care, sick leave and expanded health care coverage to people who are uninsured or have lost coverage as the result of losing their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, child care support and more.
And finally: Every worker must have the opportunity to form a union, no matter where they work. Every worker in America must have the freedom that comes from economic security and equity in opportunity.
The time of ignoring the deadly impacts of structural racism in America’s economy and democracy is over. We are striking and walking out together, as people of different backgrounds and races, to challenge greedy and corrupt corporate power, and all the elected officials who side with corporations over their own constituents. We are demanding solutions from government that center communities of color and dismantle racist policies to make sure every family is healthy, safe and secure, no matter our race, our immigration status, our job or where we live.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-07-20--To Honor John Lewis, Democrats Demand McConnell Stop Blocking Voting Rights Act

Democratic lawmakers in Congress are calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to end his years-long obstruction of a bill that would restore the Voting Rights Act , a push that those in favor of the bill say would honor the late Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis , who passed away on Friday at age 80 .
Some also suggested that the bill be renamed after Lewis .
“ John Lewis risked his life for the right to vote .
Truly honoring his legacy means passing the Voting Rights Act , ” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ( D-Rhode Island ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( D-Vermont ) also called for the bill to be allowed on the Senate floor .
“ As author and chief sponsor of the Senate bill I will be reintroducing # VRAA this week , naming it for John Lewis , my longtime partner on this , ” he tweeted out .
“ To honor John Lewis ’ life and legacy , I ’ m calling on Mitch McConnell to immediately bring the Voting Rights Advancement Act to the Senate floor for a vote and the Senate should name it the John Lewis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sen. Kamala Harris ( D-California ) said .
House Majority Whip Rep. John Clyburn ( D-South Carolina ) also called for the bill to be allowed on the floor for a vote .
And speaking on CNN ’ s “ State of the Union ” program on Sunday , Clyburn voiced his support for the bill to be renamed in honor of his late colleague .
“ It should be the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020 .
That ’ s the way to do it , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ deeds are lasting.
” Lewis was among the leaders who led a march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma , Alabama , in 1965 .
The march was meant to draw attention to the need to protect voting rights of Black Americans .
State troopers attacked demonstrators at the protest , with Lewis himself receiving a cracked skull from a trooper who hit him to the ground with a nightstick .
The Civil Rights hero has returned to the site annually in remembrance of what happened there in 1965 .
On NBC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Clyburn also called for the bridge to be renamed in Lewis ’ s honor .
“ Edmund Pettus was a grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan .
Take his name off that bridge and replace it with a good man , John Lewis , the personification of the goodness of America , rather than to honor someone who disrespected individual freedoms , ” Clyburn said .
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a law intended to block state efforts at implementing discriminatory voting practices that limited the rights of Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Federal officials were also dispatched to states where intimidation or other attempts to limit voting were the norm .
In 2013 , the Supreme Court ruled that key aspects of the act were not needed any longer .
Critics of that ruling noted , however , that successes observed by the conservative justices were happening precisely because the law was working .
Tossing those aspects of the law aside when they had worked as they were intended to was “ like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bader Ginsburg noted .
Since the law was blocked , efforts in Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act have stalled , with McConnell being one of the main obstacles to its passage .
In 2019 , after the Democratic-led House passed a bill that would restore the act , McConnell refused to even allow the bill to reach the Senate floor , saying at the time that he gets “ to decide what we vote on.
” “ What is the problem we ’ re trying to solve here ?
People are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added , defending his decision to block its passage .
Yet , there are a number of examples where the bill could have worked to stop discriminatory actions in voting , including possibly preventing the closing of polling places in precincts where a majority of voters are Black , and restricting racist gerrymandered maps or voter ID laws that have been passed by state governments since the Supreme Court ’ s decision was rendered .
In 2013 , Lewis himself opined on the Court ’ s decision to gut the law .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for trying to register to vote , ” he wrote .
“ They have no friends who gave their lives for the right to vote .
I want to say to them , ‘ Come and walk in my shoes . '
”

Efforts in Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act have stalled, while some suggest the bill be renamed after Lewis.
Democratic lawmakers in Congress are calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to end his years-long obstruction of a bill that would restore the Voting Rights Act, a push that those in favor of the bill say would honor the late Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis, who passed away on Friday at age 80.
Some also suggested that the bill be renamed after Lewis.
“John Lewis risked his life for the right to vote. Truly honoring his legacy means passing the Voting Rights Act,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) wrote on Twitter.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) also called for the bill to be allowed on the Senate floor.
“As author and chief sponsor of the Senate bill I will be reintroducing #VRAA this week, naming it for John Lewis, my longtime partner on this,” he tweeted out.
“To honor John Lewis’ life and legacy, I’m calling on Mitch McConnell to immediately bring the Voting Rights Advancement Act to the Senate floor for a vote and the Senate should name it the John Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020,” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) said.
House Majority Whip Rep. John Clyburn (D-South Carolina) also called for the bill to be allowed on the floor for a vote. And speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday, Clyburn voiced his support for the bill to be renamed in honor of his late colleague.
“It should be the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020. That’s the way to do it,” he said. “Words may be powerful, but deeds are lasting.”
Lewis was among the leaders who led a march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. The march was meant to draw attention to the need to protect voting rights of Black Americans. State troopers attacked demonstrators at the protest, with Lewis himself receiving a cracked skull from a trooper who hit him to the ground with a nightstick. The Civil Rights hero has returned to the site annually in remembrance of what happened there in 1965.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Clyburn also called for the bridge to be renamed in Lewis’s honor.
“Edmund Pettus was a grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Take his name off that bridge and replace it with a good man, John Lewis, the personification of the goodness of America, rather than to honor someone who disrespected individual freedoms,” Clyburn said.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a law intended to block state efforts at implementing discriminatory voting practices that limited the rights of Black voters to take part in democratic elections. Federal officials were also dispatched to states where intimidation or other attempts to limit voting were the norm.
In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that key aspects of the act were not needed any longer. Critics of that ruling noted, however, that successes observed by the conservative justices were happening precisely because the law was working.
Tossing those aspects of the law aside when they had worked as they were intended to was “like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet,” dissenting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted.
Since the law was blocked, efforts in Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act have stalled, with McConnell being one of the main obstacles to its passage. In 2019, after the Democratic-led House passed a bill that would restore the act, McConnell refused to even allow the bill to reach the Senate floor, saying at the time that he gets “to decide what we vote on.”
“What is the problem we’re trying to solve here? People are flooding to the polls,” he added, defending his decision to block its passage.
Yet, there are a number of examples where the bill could have worked to stop discriminatory actions in voting, including possibly preventing the closing of polling places in precincts where a majority of voters are Black, and restricting racist gerrymandered maps or voter ID laws that have been passed by state governments since the Supreme Court’s decision was rendered.
In 2013, Lewis himself opined on the Court’s decision to gut the law. “Those justices were never beaten or jailed for trying to register to vote,” he wrote. “They have no friends who gave their lives for the right to vote. I want to say to them, ‘Come and walk in my shoes.'”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-07-20--Navy Veteran Speaks Out After Being Attacked by Secret Police in Portland

The U.S. Navy veteran who was brutally attacked by unidentified federal police in Portland , Oregon over the weekend is speaking out about the incident—a video of which has gone viral online—and explained that he traveled to the site of local protests to get some answers directly from the personnel in the secretive units after becoming outraged over their deployment by the Trump administration .
“ I was enraged simply because I did not think they were taking their oath of office seriously or they were compromising their oath of office , ” Christopher David , a 53-year-old disabled veteran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , told The Independent in an interview .
“ So I actually went down because I wanted to talk to them about it.
” The assault caught on film by local journalist Zane Sparling—and as of this writing viewed more than 9.6 million times on social media—shows David withstanding several blows from one officer before another pepper sprays him in the face from close range .
According to The Oregonian , it was the first such protest David had attended in his life .
As the newspaper reports : David was home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ straight night of protests in the city , getting angrier by the moment when he learned that unidentified federal officers had been sent to Portland by President Donald Trump to deal with local protestors .
He decided to take the bus downtown to talk with the officers .
David , who graduated from the U.S .
Naval Academy , wore his Navy sweatshirt and Navy wrestling hat , thinking they ’ d respect him because of he was a veteran .
“ I stood my ground at that point and just stayed there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just started wailing on me with batons , and I let them , ” David told The Independent .
“ I probably could ’ ve taken a lot more baton blows if they had not sprayed pepper spray all over my eyes.
” Explaining the incident to The Oregonian , David said after several hours of listening to speeches but not seeing the federal police units that had spurred him to attended , he was just about to get on a bus to leave the protest area late Saturday night when the officers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment a bunch of guys came out of the courthouse and ran into the street , ” David explained .
“ I was in the park and watched these guys body blast the protestors .
I walked over and stood there in the street .
I wanted to ask them about the oath they took .
Everyone was screaming .
No one heard me .
Then one of the officers hit me hit me and kept hitting me .
It didn ’ t seem like any of them were trained for this.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former wrestler who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs about 280 pounds he did not feel intimidated by the officers .
“ The video makes me look even bigger than I am , ” he confessed .
“ Those officers were small .
They seemed scared .
They had no tactics , just seemed like a gang .
”

The video, with over 10 million views, shows the veteran withstanding several blows and pepper spray from close range.
The U.S. Navy veteran who was brutally attacked by unidentified federal police in Portland, Oregon over the weekend is speaking out about the incident—a video of which has gone viral online—and explained that he traveled to the site of local protests to get some answers directly from the personnel in the secretive units after becoming outraged over their deployment by the Trump administration.
“I was enraged simply because I did not think they were taking their oath of office seriously or they were compromising their oath of office,” Christopher David, a 53-year-old disabled veteran who served in the Navy for eight years, told The Independent in an interview. “So I actually went down because I wanted to talk to them about it.”
The assault caught on film by local journalist Zane Sparling—and as of this writing viewed more than 9.6 million times on social media—shows David withstanding several blows from one officer before another pepper sprays him in the face from close range.
Watch:
According to The Oregonian, it was the first such protest David had attended in his life. As the newspaper reports:
David was home watching television on Saturday, the 52nd straight night of protests in the city, getting angrier by the moment when he learned that unidentified federal officers had been sent to Portland by President Donald Trump to deal with local protestors. He decided to take the bus downtown to talk with the officers. David, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, wore his Navy sweatshirt and Navy wrestling hat, thinking they’d respect him because of he was a veteran.
“I thought the clothing would be a shield,” he said. “Turns out it had zero effect. They didn’t care.”
“I stood my ground at that point and just stayed there … I did nothing provocative. They just started wailing on me with batons, and I let them,” David told The Independent. “I probably could’ve taken a lot more baton blows if they had not sprayed pepper spray all over my eyes.”
Explaining the incident to The Oregonian, David said after several hours of listening to speeches but not seeing the federal police units that had spurred him to attended, he was just about to get on a bus to leave the protest area late Saturday night when the officers suddenly appeared.
“Literally at that moment a bunch of guys came out of the courthouse and ran into the street,” David explained. “I was in the park and watched these guys body blast the protestors. I walked over and stood there in the street. I wanted to ask them about the oath they took. Everyone was screaming. No one heard me. Then one of the officers hit me hit me and kept hitting me. It didn’t seem like any of them were trained for this.”
David told the newspaper that as a former wrestler who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs about 280 pounds he did not feel intimidated by the officers.
“The video makes me look even bigger than I am,” he confessed. “Those officers were small. They seemed scared. They had no tactics, just seemed like a gang.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.