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Protests

A protester holds a Black Lives Matter sign in front of the White House.

Why the Black Lives Matter movement doesn’t want a singular leader

By Commentaries/Opinions

“We don’t need someone in the Senate or House to try to build their political career off of this moment.” By Laura Barrón-López — In 2015, thousands of Black activists gathered in Ohio for the first national Black Lives Matter convention to consider where the movement would direct its energy. Attendees in the crowd held up red construction paper to signal “no” to a handful of narrow options, like focusing…

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African nations call for racism debate at UN Human Rights Council

African nations call for racism debate at UN Human Rights Council

By News & Current Affairs

By DW — A letter signed by all 54 African nations requested the UN Human Rights Council to urgently debate racism and police violence as protests over George Floyd’s death grow around the world. African countries on Friday called on the United Nation Human Rights Council to urgently debate racism and police impunity, amid growing protests over George Floyd’s death in the United States and other parts of the world. Burkina Faso’s…

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The grand buildings of Bordeaux, France, were financed, in part, by the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The city has moved to address that past.

George Floyd’s Killing Forces Wider Debate on France’s Slave-Trading Past

By Editors' Choice

Rather than tear down statues, some argue that the past should not be obliterated, but remembered and explained. By Norimitsu Onishi, The New York Times — BORDEAUX, France — At a bend in the river, a succession of stately stone buildings, each more imposing than the last, stretches along the left bank. Their elegant 18th-century facades had helped Bordeaux, already famous for its wineries, become a UNESCO World Heritage site.…

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Protesters chant “Say His Name — George Floyd!” near a memorial for George Floyd in Minneapolis on June 2.

Poll: Black Americans outraged by George Floyd’s death, but optimistic about change after nationwide protests

By News & Current Affairs

More than a third of black Americans say there was an occasion when they feared being hurt by a police officer. By Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, The Washington Post — Jackie Beckley believes the video of the final moments of George Floyd’s life may finally help white friends and colleagues understand what she has labored to tell them about her experience as a black woman:…

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Protesters cross the Brooklyn Bridge on June 19, 2020 – Juneteenth – in the United States’ third straight week of protest.

George Floyd protests aren’t just anti-racist – they are anti-authoritarian

By Commentaries/Opinions

By Lilian Bobea — The massive protests that erupted across the United States – and beyond – after the police killing of George Floyd are billed as anti-racist mobilizations, and that they are. Demonstrators are denouncing police violence in minority communities and demanding that officers who abuse their power be held accountable. But I see something more in this wave of American protests, too. As a sociologist specializing in Latin America’s human rights movements and…

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Reginald Johnson participates in the Memphis Justice & Equality Prayer Walk from the National Civil Rights Museum on Saturday, June 13, 2020, in Memphis, Tenn. This event is one of several that have taken place across the Memphis area in reaction to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

What does Memphis do next? Church leaders call for nationwide slave reparations

By News & Current Affairs, Reparations

Whether a better life follows from these weeks of street protests depends on what happens next. White and Black Memphis — and for that matter, all of America — faces the question: What do we do now? By Ted Evanoff, Commercial Appeal — On a hot June afternoon in Memphis, Eddie Jones stepped along the sidewalk and into the ranks of some 200 people standing outside the historic Lorraine Motel. Jones,…

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