Politics
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Malia Obama Seen at Dakota Access Pipeline Protest at Sundance
America’s former first daughter (fight me) is apparently keeping busy now that her dad has stepped down from the presidency. Malia Obama marked her first week as a “normal” person by attending an event supporting the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah,…
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Retrial Delayed for Ex SC Cop Who Fatally Shot Walter Scott
Justice appears to have been delayed once more. On Tuesday a judge decided to postpone the retrial of former North Charleston, S.C., Police Officer Michael Slager, who is facing murder charges in the shooting death of 50-year-old Walter Scott during a 2015 traffic stop, Reuters reports. The trial is now expected to be delayed until…
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Former Mich. Cop Who Brutally Beat Black Motorist to Be Released From Prison
A former Inkster, Mich., police officer who was convicted after being captured on dashcam video repeatedly punching a black motorist during a traffic stop nearly two years ago is scheduled to be released from prison sometime this week, the Detroit Free Press reports. William Melendez was sentenced to spend 13 months to 10 years in…
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Protests Mark Trump’s Inauguration Ceremony
Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday was marked by spirited protests by those who still feel that Trump is #NotMyPresident. According to ABC News, the spirited protests unfolded mostly peacefully at several security checkpoints near the U.S. Capitol as demonstrators held signs with messages such as, “Resist Trump Climate Justice Now,” “Let Freedom Ring” and “Free Palestine.”…
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Environmental Racism Is a Special and Urgent Concern
The focus of environmental justice has been the preservation of ecologies and spaces largely uninhabited by people of color. There is grave consideration for the preservation of national parks, but not for the preservation of black life and space. The ideas of justice and environment refer to the surrounding conditions of living things, yet the…
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Dad of Alfred Olango Files Lawsuit Against El Cajon, Calif., Cops in Son’s Death
The father of Alfred Olango, Richard Olango Abuka, filed a civil rights lawsuit in San Diego federal court earlier this week, accusing El Cajon, Calif., police of using excessive, deadly force against his son, who was shot and killed during an encounter last year, the San Diego Union Tribune reports. According to the report, the…
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Wells Fargo Rejects Baltimore Teacher’s ‘Black Lives Matter’ Debit Card
Like many others who bank at Wells Fargo, a Baltimore schoolteacher wanted to design her bank card with something she felt was important. But when that “thing” turned out to be Black Lives Matter, the bank balked. Rachel Nash, 29, sought to take her bank up on its offer to personalize her debit card and…
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El Cajon, Calif., Cop Who Fatally Shot Alfred Olango Won't Face Criminal Charges
The El Cajon, Calif., police officer who gunned down an unarmed black man who was apparently having a mental breakdown will not face criminal charges, the San Diego County (Calif.) District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. “The law recognizes police officers are often forced to make split-second decisions in circumstances that…
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Read the Scathing 1986 Letter Coretta Scott King Wrote Opposing Sessions’ Federal Nomination
Updated Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, 1:02 a.m. EST: Elizabeth Warren attempted to read Coretta Scott King’s letter about Jeff Sessions on the Senate floor; but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) silenced her. Earlier: Coretta Scott King’s scathing letter in which she urged Congress to block the 1986 nomination of Jeff Sessions for a federal judgeship…
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Protests Erupt During Attorney General Confirmation Hearing for Jeff Sessions
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) could barely get through the opening lines of his speech during his confirmation hearing Tuesday before protests erupted. Two men dressed as Ku Klux Klan members greeted Sessions before the confirmation began, the Daily News reports. The two fake Klansmen were quickly escorted out as one of the men exclaimed, “You…