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Commerce, Texas, Police Chief and School Board Trustee Resign Amid Backlash Over Racist Road Rage Incident
Updated Tuesday, June 27, 2017, 1:35 p.m. EDT: Commerce Independent School District trustee Michael Beane resigned Tuesday morning, CBS DFW reports. Carmen Ponder’s attorney, Lee Merritt, told The Root: “Neither Beane nor Crews accept responsibility for their actions, nor the pain they caused Ms. Ponder, but they have been sure to paint themselves as victims…
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Carlton Lee, Mike Brown Sr.’s Pastor, Dies From Heart Attack at 34
The Rev. Carlton Lee, 34, National Action Network’s Ferguson, Mo., chapter president, died Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack, sources close to the family confirmed to The Root Tuesday afternoon after NAN’s founder and president, the Rev. Al Sharpton, shared the sad news on Twitter. Lee, the pastor of Flood Christian Church in Ferguson,…
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‘You Can Kill a Man, but You Can’t Kill an Idea’: Remembering Medgar Evers on the 54th Anniversary of His Assassination
On June 12, 1963, white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith assassinated Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers in the driveway of his Jackson, Miss., home. Evers’ wife, Myrlie Evers-Williams, and their three children, Darrell, Reena and James, were all inside when they heard the shotgun blast. The children were 9, 8 and 3 years old,…
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#JXNRising: Chokwe Antar Lumumba Wins Jackson, Miss., Mayoral Race
Chokwe Antar Lumumba, 34—son of the late Jackson, Miss., Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and community activist Nubia Lumumba—is the new mayor-elect of Jackson, Miss., beating Republican challenger Jason Wells in a landslide victory. The Jackson Free Press reports: With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Lumumba had 23,175 votes, or 93 percent. Republican Wells had 900…
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At Least 21 People Killed in Boko Haram Terrorist Attacks, Villages Destroyed: Report
Terrorist group Boko Haram attacked villages near Chibok, Nigeria, last week, leaving at least 21 people dead. The attacks reportedly happened last Sunday and Wednesday in the villages of Kaya and a Borno community near Gumsri, TheCable reports. “People did not hear about the killings because the village is not accessible. It is located inside…
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Folsom Prison Hunger Strike Continues, Rally This Weekend in Support
The hunger strike at Folsom State Prison continues to go strong, with supporters planning a rally to take place this Sunday, June 4, in front of the notorious prison, located 20 miles outside of Sacramento, Calif. Folsom, also known as “Old Folsom,” is the second-oldest state prison in California, behind San Quentin. People incarcerated in…
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Lezley McSpadden, Mike Brown’s Mother, Graduates From High School Same Day as Her Daughter
Lezley McSpadden, 37, mother of Michael Brown Jr. and the Ferguson movement, graduated from high school on May 26, 21 years after she left school during her junior year to care for her son. McSpadden earned her diploma through the Jennings School District’s new adult high school program, STLToday.com reports: The program started after McSpadden…
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Dontre Hamilton: Milwaukee Council Approves $2,300,000 Settlement for Son of Mentally Ill Man Killed by Cop
The Milwaukee Common Council has approved a $2.3 million settlement for the young son of Dontre Hamilton, the 31-year-old black man who, on April 30, 2014, had been sleeping on a park bench when, after a brief encounter, then-Milwaukee Police Officer Christopher E. Manney shot him 14 times, claiming self-defense. Red Arrow Park, where Hamilton…
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Princeton Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Cancels Public Appearances Amid Fox News-Fueled Death Threats
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton and a 2016 The Root 100 honoree, has been forced to cancel all public appearances as death threats continue to roll in in response to her May 20 commencement address at Hampshire College, a private liberal arts college in Amherst,…
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Inglewood, Calif., Cops Who Killed Sleeping Couple in Parked Car Are Off the Force
A group of Inglewood, Calif., police officers who fatally shot a young couple while they sat in a parked car are no longer on the force. Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts made the announcement Tuesday but did not specify whether the officers were fired or allowed to resign without being held accountable for their actions,…
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