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#DerickWiley: Grand Jury Returns ‘True Bill’ Against Officer in Lyndo Jones Shooting
A Texas grand jury has returned a true bill indictment against now former Mesquite, Texas, Police Officer Derick Wiley in the Nov. 8 shooting of 31-year-old Lyndo Jones (pdf), The Root has exclusively learned from Jones’ attorney, S. Lee Merritt. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office is expected to make the announcement Wednesday afternoon, at…
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‘Moral Revival of America’: Modern-Day Poor People’s Campaign Launched
When tens of thousands of people converge on statehouses across the nation and the U.S. Capitol in May 2018, it will be to further the work of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Poor People’s Campaign that Marian Wright Edelman, Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King Jr. and so many other freedom fighters organized 50 years ago.…
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Long Live the Chairman: On This Day in 1969, the FBI and Chicago Police Assassinated Black Panther Fred Hampton
Dec. 4, 1969—48 years ago today—police officers from the Cook County, Ill., State Attorney’s Office, in collusion with the FBI, assassinated Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and Black Panther Party leader Mark Clark. Hampton and Clark were 21 and 22 years old, respectively. At approximately 4:45 a.m., 14…
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Byron McBride Indicted on Capital Murder Charges in Slaying of 6-Year-Old Kingston Frazier
A Mississippi grand jury on Wednesday indicted Byron McBride, 19, on charges of capital murder and possession of a stolen car in the May 18 slaying of 6-year-old Kingston Frazier, WJTV-TV reports. As The Root previously reported, on May 18, Ebony Archie, Kingston’s mother, left her Toyota Camry running with Kingston inside while she briefly…
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#DerickWiley: Mesquite, Texas, Police Officer Fired, Will Face Grand Jury in Lyndo Jones Shooting
Updated Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, 11:19 p.m. EST: Mesquite Police Chief Charles Cato released a statement late Wednesday night announcing the termination of police officer Derick Wiley. Read Cato’s statement below: Earlier today, I received the results and recommendations of our internal affairs panel concerning the November 8th officer involved shooting. Based upon the facts and…
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Black Lives Matter Kicks Off The Provocateurs Series at California African American Museum
Nina Simone once said that “an artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” “At this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when every day is a matter of survival, I don’t think you can help but be involved,” Simone said. It makes sense, then, that the Black Lives Matter Global Network…
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‘Sometimes I Just Don’t Wanna Be Here Anymore’: On Black Children and Suicide
A scarred brown palm flew in the air. A squeaky preteen voice followed: “Can you tell me how to cope with suicidal thoughts? Because sometimes I just don’t wanna be here anymore.” I was sitting in front of a class of middle schoolers who were reading my book, Raw Wounds, when a student asked that…
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#JusticeForJason: Wis. DOJ Claims Jason Pero, 14, Called 911, Described Himself, Before Deputy Fatally Shot Him
Updated Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, 2:19 a.m. EST: On Saturday the Wisconsin Department of Justice released the initial findings of its investigation into the fatal police shooting of 14-year-old Jason Pero of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe, which occurred Nov. 8. The Wisconsin DOJ claims that Jason called 911 at approximately…
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Reproductive Justice for Black Women, Latinas, More Critical Than Ever
For the past three years, the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, or COLOR, along with dozens of partners, has hosted a Halloween-themed social media conversation on Twitter about the frightening facts and the disparate outcomes in health, wealth, safety and well-being that reproductive-justice warriors like Sister Song have been fighting to address…
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The Curious Case of Donna Brazile and Liberal Refusal to Admit So-Called Democracy Is Rigged
Donna Brazile, a veteran Democratic strategist and former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, has come under intense fire in the wake of her explosive claims that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton—and her deep pockets—unethically influenced the 2016 primary election against Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). According to an excerpt from Brazile’s forthcoming…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
