Category Archives: Black Lives Matter

Sudbury -

Two Sudbury women are being honoured as part of YWCA Sudburys 15th annual Women of Distinction award ceremony Jan. 21.

Raanaa Brown, the 25-year-oldco-founder of Black Lives Matter Sudbury, is one of them. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Concordia University and said there's still a lot of work ahead.

"Were gonna write a whole dissertation on art and activism and the black community in Canada," said Brown. "Theres so many new and incredible things happening theres just not a lot of folks documenting it.

Being recognized by the YWCA is a great honour, she said.

"To be recognized for the work Im doing in the community Im just so thankful for all of this, Brown said.

The ceremony celebrates women who have influenced women and girls as a role model, mentor or through direct accomplishments in many different fields.

We are so resilient and we are strong and we have so much capability and power within us," she said.

"There are so many beautiful women in my life who have motivated me and given me the strength to get this far and all I hope in turn is that I can motivate and give strength to women, as well, along my journey.

Arthmise Camirand-Peterson, long-time volunteer and creator of the New Sudbury Historical Society, will be recognized in the community action category. She spent five years collecting information and wrote a book called 'New Sudbury, Not as New as You Think.'

Arthemise Camirand-Peterson has won a Women of Distinction Award. Nov. 17/21 (Lyndsay Aelick/CTV Northern Ontario)

"Knowing that it had never been, you know, documented, I thought, oh this is good, I love doing this research," said Camirand-Peterson.

As president of the New Sudbury Community Action Network, she was a driving force behind projects such as the welcoming street sign toppers across the area, whose art was created by local students after learning about New Sudburys farming history.

She also helped resurrect the Ridgecrest Park Association, and together with city staff began the work of installing new equipment, a splash pad, updating the field house, landscaping and ensuring the park was accessible to all.

Angela Vendette will be recognized for her work as a radiation therapist at the Northeast Cancer Centre, as well as her volunteer work with the Sudbury Minor Hockey Association.

Lisa Long, executive director of the Samaritan Centre, will be awarded in the COVID-19 Hero category. Michelle Ross will be recognized for her role as an elder and Life Group director at All Nations Church, as well as her extensive volunteering.

Rene Fuchs will be awarded in the Social Justice category for her work as a fluently bilingual family and criminal defence lawyer with Legal Aid Ontario. And Stella Holloway will be recognized in the Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology category for her work in the mining industry.

The awards will be handed out virtually on Jan. 21.

Tickets are available for $45 on Eventbrite until Dec. 31, after which they will be more expensive.

Funds raised from the gala go toward YWCA Sudburys youth programming, specifically the Power of Being a Girl and Boys for Real Conferences. The conferences are delivered to Grade 7 and Grade 8 students from local schools and aim to help them develop leadership and critical thinking skills and provide a safe place to discuss relevant topics.

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2021 Sudbury Women of Distinction awards announced | CTV News - CTV Toronto

The conservative majority on Newbergs school board tripled down last week on its controversial policy to ban so-called political symbols like the Pride Flag and Black Lives Matter from classrooms and campuses.

The board voted 4 to 3 to oust the popular superintendent who helped steer the exurban district to financial stability in recent years.

Its the latest surprising step from a school board of elected volunteers, but Newberg isnt alone. Its part of a broader movement.

On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, we hear from Ryan Clarke and Eder Campuzano. Ryan just joined The Oregonian/OregonLive last week and broke countless stories about the controversial policy this summer as a reporter for the Newberg Graphic. Eder covers Portland Public Schools and education for The Oregonian/OregonLive.

We talked about last weeks remarkable meeting, what students of color and LGBTQ+ students are saying, where the story may go from here and how Newberg fits into the larger American narrative today.

Heres the full episode:

Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

Subscribe to Beat Check on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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The latest from Newbergs school board and what it means: Beat Check podcast - oregonlive.com

Raneem Hamad did not think she would make it out of the protests of summer 2020 alive.

We really thought our lives were in danger, she said.

The last time the Iowa Freedom Riders hosted a protest was September 2020.

Hamad, a founder of the Iowa Freedom Riders, attributed the pause in protests to safety, after Gov. Kim Reynolds passed the Back the Blue act on June 17 laws that provided extra protection for police and more limitations for protesters.

Hamad said as a Black woman in a leadership role, she felt like she had a target on her back. She said she would come home from protests to find police stationed outside her home.

Id come home back from the protests and there was just a cop car waiting outside my house, she recalled. It just drives away once I start looking at him and taking pictures of the license plate. Cops would follow my car everywhere I drove downtown.

The fear Hamad felt began long before the first vigil to honor Floyds death in May 2020. To this day, she said she still cannot completely watch the horrific video.

She said she and Mohamed were with friends when the news of Floyds death broke.

Hamad remembered feeling anger but also numbness, and she asked herself why things like this continued to happen with no consequences.

I feel like every other emotion I had already felt before, I already went through before, she said. Anger was all I had.

All the anger Hamad and others felt was channeled into the protests and gatherings. However, she said, the creation of the Iowa Freedom Riders was organic.

Its beautiful and remarkable and it says something that a lot of the leaders of this movement were primarily Black women, young Black women, she said. That in itself says a lot. Black women, we bear the brunt of a lot of the work, the transformational change in our communities.

Looking back over the last year, she said the biggest shock to her was the disconnect between Black youth and older Black leadership in Iowa City.

She said it was difficult to hear patronizing comments, whether from city council leaders or older Black activists, about the Iowa Freedom Riders lack of knowledge when the groups leaders would suggest changes to local government or police policies.

Of the many requests the Iowa Freedom Riders advocated for in their list of demands to the city council, abolition defunding and dismantling the police system and diverting resources from the police to local community organizations were two main goals.

I was consistently dealing with this, like Your ideas arent good because you dont know anything. You dont know how the government works or how the city works, Hamad said. Weve lived in Iowa City all our lives, we grew up in this system, we know how sh happens inside day in and day out.

One of the most significant challenges she faced, she said, was feeling as though there was a lack of support from Black leadership.

The sad thing is I started my journey into activism with Royceann Porter, Hamad said. Porter is a Johnson County Supervisor and founder of the Black Voices Project. She kind of helped me get into this stuff, and just realizing that, you know, theres a saying that we have, that Not all skin folk are kinfolk. So not every Black person is actually going to be truly, truly for Black causes at all times.

The Daily Iowan reached out to Porter for comment, but she declined.

Hamad was one of the original supporters of the citys Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission a commission created to address racial disparities within the city that came out of a 17-point racial justice resolution passed by the city.

Passed in June 2020 after weeks of protest, the resolution was touted as a landmark for the city, outlining its commitment to addressing police disparities and racial inequity in the city.

Eventually, she became a commissioner herself, but Hamad said she is happy she resigned after issues arose between the commission and the council and among the commissioners themselves.

I tried so hard to get so many community stakeholders to work together to make this something that was transformational in our community, she said. Its kind of sad the leadership in our community doesnt trust the people of Iowa City that what they want is good for them.

At the end of all of this, Hamad said what she came to understand is that change is incremental. She said Mohameds idea of building power within the people is something she chooses to focus on moving forward.

The existence of the Peoples Truth and Reckoning Commission, a community-driven committee created by the Iowa Freedom Riders in April to address racial injustice in response to perceived failures of the citys Truth and Reconciliation Commission, spoke volumes to Hamad on how the community can come together for support.

All we would do is just come together in a park and talk about our issues in that moment and brainstorm ideas of how to solve them, she said. And somehow, that was doing more and effecting more change in our community.

The group paused the committee in July, saying in a statement the meetings had veered off from their original goal and become a place for white people to come and discuss their issues.

Summer 2020 took a huge emotional toll on Hamad, she said.

Looking back, would I put myself through that again? she said, tearing up. The answer is yes, I would do it all again. I really love my community I love fighting for my community and every single Black person in Iowa City deserves a better life than what we have now.

While Hamad distrusts city institutions to enact bold change, she hasnt given up on the people.

I think our people power can do so much, and it has done so much, she said. Weve changed the conversation, weve changed the dialogue, and that in itself is powerful.

She added that she discovered how to know when to step back and focus on what is best for her.

Learning sometimes to call it quits and put my energy toward other things, and making sure that me, as a Black woman in this world, I am doing OK and I am being successful, whether its emotionally, physically, or mentally, Hamad said. That in itself is fighting the good fight.

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Iowa City community leaders look back at how their activism has evolved over a year after Black Lives Matter protests - UI The Daily Iowan

By the time he was 30, Ashley Banjo had spent nearly a decade in the public eye. Having pipped Susan Boyle to the Britains Got Talent (BGT) title with his dance group Diversity in 2009, he completed seven UK arena tours before transitioning back to television, with a slew of judging gigs on television dance shows, including Dancing on Ice, Got to Dance and Dance Dance Dance.

Nothing, however, could have prepared him for the backlash that followed Diversitys appearance on BGT last September. The performance featured backing dancers in riot gear and the image of a white man standing on Banjos neck, a reference to the murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd, and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests that followed.

To date, it has racked up more than 30,000 complaints to the media regulator Ofcom, earning a spot as one of the top five most complained about moments in UK TV history.

People were very quick to label it the Black Lives Matter performance but I wasnt trying to make a political statement, says Banjo, 33. I wasnt trying to cause reform or change policy, I was just bringing the conversation to a place that is natural for me: a stage. Without the BLM element, he says, it wouldnt have been too political or too sad, or not right for light entertainment. What was wrong is that I brought in Black Lives Matter.

In doing so, he pushed his troupe into unfamiliar, politically charged terrain, and unleashed a torrent of online threats and abuse. As the face of the operation, Banjo became a particular target. On social media, he says, racial slurs were just sitting there untamed in stark contrast to the platforms crackdown on Covid-19 misinformation or women who even hint at showing a nipple.

Banjo holds less resentment against people who expressed disapproval respectfully, including those who complained to Ofcom. Listen, theres a lot of ignorance but I dont think the 30,000 people are racist, he says. Thats such a sweeping generalisation. Probably a lot of those people are racist. But theres a lot of people who felt uncomfortable, or who didnt even see it and complained because their mate in the pub was complaining. Ive had personal conversations with people who have apologised when they realised where they might have gone wrong.

He also received encouragement from a few people he wouldnt normally hear from following the BGT performance: Elton John contacted him, as did the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They called when everything was going on, just to check in and offer their support. [Meghan and Harry] understood racism in Britain and what it felt like to have a certain level of backlash In the sea of negativity, it was a huge help.

I meet Banjo on a boat, moored outside an east London studio, where he is being photographed. Weary after a day of trying on outfits, he is now wearing the biggest item of clothing I have ever seen: a fluffy, grey fleece that drowns his heavyweight boxer physique. His dad actually was a heavyweight boxer: Its much harder to dance when youre big, says Banjo, who is 6ft 6in. I was naturally born to be a boxer but dad wasnt having it he said I could put my face to better use.

Banjo was born in Leytonstone, east London, but grew up in Essex. His Nigerian father, Funso, originally moved to Scotland to attend boarding school before settling in Forest Gate, while his mother, Dani, a dance teacher, was born and raised in Ilford. I was in a buggy in the corner of the studio from when I was born, he says. I was a little kid seeing my mum at the front, putting everyone through stretches, being the sergeant major. She has always been that figure in my life, he says of the woman who not only trained him as a dancer, but is still his manager.

At 14, Banjo started teaching dance himself. We were an old-school circus family, he beams. He met his wife, Francesca Abbott, two years later, teaching at his familys Rainham studio. She also now works for Diversity Dance, the management company behind the troupe. As a 20-year-old, knowing that if your ideas arent good enough, your brother, your mum, your wife dont eat, thats a life-shaping responsibility, he says. It was also a responsibility he felt most intensely during the pandemic. Unable to tour, and with a one-year-old and a newborn baby to look after, he says he fell into a dark hole. You cant see any of your family, your businesses and jobs are crumbling around you. It was tough.

As a child, he attended private school in Billericay, Essex, where he was academically successful and also head boy. But, he says, he grew up straddling two worlds: being the only Black kid [at school] before spending his evenings at the dance school where everybodys making ends meet you mix that with being mixed-race, he says. My mums white, my nans white, my wifes white, one of my kids has blue eyes, blond hair. You dont like to think about it because they are my family, but we are not the same.

At school, he experienced his fair share of bullying (I was a young, mixed-race boy who danced and didnt play football) but because he was so much bigger than everyone else, the intimidation was never physical. He remembers an incident where a white pupil approached him bragging about beating up Black and Asian people at the weekend, like as a hobby. If he ever wanted to react violently, his boxer fathers warnings would ring loud in his ears: People might think he was like, Give him the right hook but my dad was the opposite. He always taught us to turn the other cheek.

Banjo says he formed Diversity by accident. In the mid-2000s, the only boy dancing on screen was Billy Elliot and so, feeling embarrassed, he and the other boys at his Rainham dance school would retreat into a backroom to practise their own cool routines. Two years later, they won BGT. It was all organic; Ive never held an audition, he says.

But in 2009, inexperience wasnt the only thing between them and the BGT title: Susan Boyle had already been in The Simpsons, he explains. She was world-famous at that point, which took the pressure off. Diversity, however, won the public vote, leaving a young Banjo to face the disappointed media scrum waiting to greet Boyle. There was press there from around the world: America, Asia it was her crowning moment. From the beginning, the first question was: Why you? But I remember sitting there, thinking: This is going to change my life completely. Banjo took time off from his degree (in physics and biology) to compete on BGT and, 12 years later, has yet to return to it. In a way, I hope I dont but I would also love the chance to finish my degree, he says.

Last summer, Banjo returned to BGT as a judge when Simon Cowell broke his back after falling off an electric bike. The competition is sometimes viewed as one of the softer reality shows, with only three performances demanded of participants in total, but Banjo acknowledges that many of the issues around the exploitation of vulnerable contestants and the lack of psychological support available, both on set and after filming, remain. Youre still exposing ordinary people to the public Diversity have been blessed. Its very rare that big groups win those things; normally, youre on your own. It sounds so dramatic, but it can honestly destroy you. Thats the only way to describe it.

Did he feel any trepidation about working for Cowell, given the recent allegations of bullying and racism on the set of Americas Got Talent, which NBC has denied? Personally, no, he says. Im a sceptic of woke culture to the point where its cancel culture and the speed of allegation is 100 times quicker than the speed of investigation. Its very dangerous to be able to point a finger and change someones life.

His latest project is an hour-long ITV documentary, Ashley Banjo: Britain in Black and White. There will be a lot of assumptions, but I didnt want to poke the hornets nest, he says. Indeed, the show is not quite the journey into the dark heart of British prejudices that you might expect. Rather, he was driven to make the programme after people saying to me, Ive never really thought about racism before or I didnt really know it existed.Im learning too, but I have a platform which means that I can do it with people watching, he says.

His commitment to promoting Black history is also something of a personal crusade: I want to get to a point when it is no longer [considered] Black history, he says. I want this to be stuff that people just learn. In the documentary, this, specifically, is the New Cross fire in 1981, in which 13 young people died in a house fire at a 16th birthday party. No one has ever been charged in connection with the fire, but the slogan 13 dead, nothing said became a rallying cry for political action in part due to the work of activists such as the writer and editor Leila Hassan Howe. Meeting Leila was one of the most educational, eye-opening experiences of my life, says Banjo. The sheer hate was so overt back in the day, to the point where people were being murdered in fires. Were only talking about a generation ago; it cant just evaporate.

Its Banjos name in the title, but the documentary is almost a two-hander with the historian David Olusoga, whose production company, Uplands TV, was involved in making it. I wanted to educate and inspire, says Banjo. But I wanted to come from a place of knowledge and historical context, not finger-pointing and assumption, which is why he was keen to share the screen with the academic.

We wanted to do something about now, and about how the past and the present have combined in this moment were living through, says Olusoga. This is Ashleys story but it was also a moment that millions of people followed and were affected by ... Ashley understands the unique place he occupies in British culture. I think a lot of people are going to see a different side to him in this film.

It clearly irks Banjo that his contentious appearance on BGT has become known as the BLM performance. Weve never given it a title, but I would call it The Great Realisation because thats what happened to me personally. If he had known how much backlash the piece would provoke, would he have tempered his approach? I still would have done it, he says. But I would have been scared.

I didnt intend to be an activist, but somehow here I am, he says. Ive learned to believe in my own choices.

Ashley Banjo: Britain in Black and White, 19 October at 9pm on ITV and ITVHub.

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Ashley Banjo on Black Lives Matter, backlash and reality TV: Im a sceptic of cancel culture - The Guardian

Israel just marked a grim milestone with the killing of 44-year-old Salim Hasarma from the northern village of Ba'ana, the 100th Arab Israeli citizen lost to community violence in 2021 alone. The number of deaths continues to climb.

Why is community violence such an issue?

Violence has been a problem in the Arab community for decades. Unlike in Jewish neighborhoods for example, in Netanya, where Israeli authorities intervened to stop local crime the police have been accused of turning a blind eye to Arab-on-Arab crime.

In addition to police apathy toward the Arab community, lawmakers have also been slow to act. Not only have the authorities failed to investigate killings and bring perpetrators to justice, they have also failed to stem the flow of illegal weapons.

However, the real driving factor behind this epidemic is the high unemployment rate among Israel's Arab community. With some 40 percent of Israels young Arab citizens jobless, the lack of opportunities pushes some into crime and gangs. Easy access to illegal weapons further compounds the situation.

What has the state done?

Only recently has the government started to seriously discuss steps to stem the violence. Israels cabinet has voted to expand police powers to fight crime, including giving police the right to search homes without a warrant. However, this broad expansion of powers would apply only in Arab communities, not Jewish communities.

There have been talks as well about involving Israels Shin Bet security service, which is chiefly used for intelligence and anti-terrorism purposes. Critics say both proposals would undermine the rights of Arab citizens, encourage further enforcement based on ethnic background and reinforce already existing prejudices that portray Arabs as a security risk.

How is the Black Lives Matter movement different from Arab Lives Matter?

Black Lives Matter was founded in the aftermath of the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer. The movement aims to bring attention to and eradicate police brutality and systemic violence inflicted on Black communities.

Arab Lives Matter, while also aiming to bring attention to systemic racism, aims to raise public awareness of community violence not at the hands of the police, but due to police inaction.

While the movement says more policing will not solve the core problems, it calls for police action, including taking steps to strengthen relations between the Arab community and law enforcement.

What steps are community leaders and activists calling for in order to effectively reduce violence?

In order to effectively tackle the problem, community leaders and law enforcement must work together to build trust and mutual understanding. More thorough probes into killings that have already taken place, as well as tightening restrictions to make illegal weapons less accessible, would make it more difficult for gangs to thrive.

Ultimately, the biggest obstacle is the governments attitude toward the Arab community as a whole. In addition to placing equal value on the safety of Israels Arab citizens, more investment in the community is necessary. The government must create equal opportunities for education and employment in the Arab community.

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Why is #ArabLivesMatter trending and how is it different from Black Lives Matter? - Haaretz

England and West Indies will be taking the knee to show their support for the fight against racism before they face each other in their T20 World Cup 2021 opening match in Dubai on Saturday. England players had also lent their support to the Black Lives Matter movement in the home series against West Indies last year. (More Cricket News)

ENG vs WI PREVIEW | LIVE STREAMING

Asked why England would be taking the knee along with the West Indies and not in other games, skipper Eoin Morgan said all players feel strongly about the cause. No, I think theres two different points to that. Tomorrow well join the West Indies in taking a knee to show our support in the fight against racism, Morgan said in the pre-match media interaction.

The second part of it is weve always felt that we need something that within our squad and our side that we feel a part of making a change, both locally and nationally and potentially globally."

Explaining the reason behind the move, Morgan said, Our moment of unity we have had at home for quite a period of time has been our piece of cultural development, education, raising awareness within that space, as well, and it's worked for us, and it's progressing nicely and guys are engaged and want to do more.

Unfortunately during this tournament, we're not able to do that. If we could do that every game, we would. But yeah, we're more than happy to take a knee tomorrow. England had a heartbreak against the West Indies in 2016 final held in India. Morgan insisted they are not carrying any scars from that game.

I think some of the biggest disappointments in any career are more learnings than scars. If there were scars we would have lost a lot of players that wouldn't have progressed like they have done over the last four or five years throughout their careers, he said.

I think the development of the side has, I suppose, reinforced that any time we've come up against a side that has beaten us in whatever fashion they have, we've always looked to learn and progress and become a better side.

Morgan, who led England to the 2019 ODI World Cup title, was also asked about emulating former India skipper M S Dhoni who guided his team to both T20 and World Cup trophies. Under Dhoni, India also won the 2013 Champions Trophy.

I think as much as it would to everybody else within the squad. I think the passion and determination or ambition within the squad is quite big, and that grows year on year, so would obviously be a special achievement.

We know how grueling World Cups can be and how hard they can be, not only to go through to latter stages but how gruelling group stage games are and the ebb and flow of a tournament, as well, added Morgan.

Excerpt from:

ENG v WI, T20 World Cup 2021: Black Lives Matter, Teams To Take The Knee - Outlook India

Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse mayoral candidates Ben Walsh and Khalid Bey both said they would amplify the voices of the Black Lives Matter movement if elected as the citys next leader.

Their comments came during a forum on public safety hosted by WCNY. Moderated by David Lombardo, host of the stations Capitol Pressroom, the forum featured all three candidates for mayor: Democrat Bey, Republican Janet Burman and independent Walsh, the incumbent.

Questions mostly derived from a six-part documentary that the station aired earlier this month on policing and police reform.

Walsh called the Black Lives Matter movement critically important to such reform and touted his actions while protesters took to the streets of Syracuse last year, saying he met one-on-one with both activists and police officers.

Weve heard loud and clear from thousands of citizens in the community that they felt that they were not being heard, that they felt that they were not being valued, and thats unacceptable, Walsh said, adding that he wants the city to be a leader in this area.

Burman was less direct, focusing on ways to address the concerns of those involved in the BLM movement without saying she would amplify the cause. She called for a community policing method, with the same officers assigned to smaller precincts, to improve trust between the public and the police.

But Bey, who also advocated for community policing, said BLMs goal is one that deserves attention.

I think were headed in a horrible direction when the preservation of life is going to be political, Bey said. We have to do our best to ensure that everybody is protected.

He compared the difference in videos circulating on the internet of armed white people being arrested safely while unarmed Black people have been shot or otherwise harmed.

One such video shows a now-infamous arrest on Grace Street in May 2019. In the video, a driver is pulled from his car and an officer punches him in the head two or three times. The driver had been stopped for loud music.

Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner defended the officers actions as the necessary result of a suspect who refused a lawful order to leave his vehicle and continued to resist after being pulled from the drivers seat. He said the officers hadnt violated the departments use of force policy a policy that was revised shortly after the incident and has been updated again since.

Bey said he thought the mayor and police chiefs changes to the use of force policy actually made it worse.

Before, our only concern was a closed fist to the face, and we thought that created opportunity for too many injuries, Bey said. But its now been changed to include a host of other things that police officers could potentially do that I think creates a greater chance for injury to citizens.

Bey didnt elaborate on what other actions officers are now permitted to take under the policy.

Walsh defended the policy changes, saying constant review and revision is necessary. He also pointed to de-escalation training provided to officers under his administration as a way to stop the need for use of force in some cases.

Bail reform

Violent crime has emerged as a defining topic of the mayoral race, with the candidates sparring over the statistics. According to data from the Syracuse Police Department, violent crime is up 4% over the same time last year, and homicides are on pace with 2020s record-breaking number. Overall crime is down 12%.

Bey and Burman say violent crime in Syracuse has exploded under the Walsh administration.

The spike in violence has created an environment where so many people feel our city is approaching lawlessness, Bey said.

Walsh said the trend is concerning. He pointed to national trends showing an increase in violent crime across the country since the start of Covid.

But candidates disagreed over whether the rise in violent crime in Syracuse is related to the hot-button issue of bail reform.

In New York, bail reform mandates the automatic release of most people arrested and charged with non-violent crimes. Raise the Age legislation is targeted at juveniles and encourages that more young people even some charged with violent crimes be sent to Family Court instead of criminal court.

Buckner and Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick have both spoken out about the reform measures, linking them to the premature release of violent criminals.

Burman said she thinks younger kids are getting involved in crime because of Raise the Age and that bail reform has handicapped law enforcements ability to keep the community safe.

I think its important that the mayor act as advocate for our citizens and speak up and speak to our legislative representatives about the consequences that these laws have unleashed in our community, Burman said.

Walsh said the intent of the laws is right: We should not be criminalizing poverty; it shouldnt matter how much money you have. That shouldnt determine whether or not you have to stay in jail.

Children make mistakes and deserve second chances, Walsh said. He pointed to his own privilege as a reason hed been given the benefit of the doubt when he made errors in his youth.

Bey said its clear that nonviolent crimes should be treated differently than violent crimes.

He pointed to the cost of housing someone in the Onondaga County Justice Center as a reason to keep fewer nonviolent criminals in jail overnight.

We can do much better by simply empowering and employing people, spending our money that way, Bey said.

The candidates will meet again Wednesday when Syracuse.com hosts at a debate at 6 p.m. View that debate live on this site.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Call or text Megan Craig at 315-925-7137, email her at mcraig@syracuse.com or send a direct message on Twitter @megcraig1.

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Khalid Bey and Ben Walsh say they would amplify voices of Black Lives Matter if elected - syracuse.com

In a noble gesture to support the Black Lives Matter, the Indian players took the knee moments before their high-octane T20 World Cup 2021 Super 12 clash against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. (More Cricket News)

IND vs PAK Live Streaming

On Saturday, England cricketers along with their West Indies counterparts took the knee. Sent into bat first, Indian openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma went in the middle before the latter spoke with the rival captain Babar Azam whether they will take the knee or not.

It was no problem for Pakistan skipper Babar as Rahul and Rohit took the knee while the rest of the Indian team did the same just outside the boundary line. Meanwhile, Pakistan players chose to keep their hands on their chest and not knee down.

England players had lent their support to the Black Lives Matter movement in the home series against West Indies last year.

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Black Live Matter: Players Take The Knee Ahead Of IND vs PAK T20 World Cup Tie - Outlook India

In the eight years Ive worked in the music industry, career highs have been offset by instances of racism. Ive often been confused with other Black people who work in the industry at events, meetings and panels at a gig one evening, it happened three separate times.

For the first part of my career, I worked in the independent sector, which is not known for its diversity. My isolation as one of the few Black people working in this area was often explained away by my white counterparts: Ive been told that Black people just dont listen to alternative music, but this doesnt explain why white people are overrepresented when working in Black music. When I am asked about my perspectives, Im often then required to do the heavy lifting, as though structural racism is a problem that Black people should fix rather than the white perpetrators of it. When I was starting out in the industry younger, more insecure about my race and attempting to get my bearings in a sea of white faces, my attempts to assimilate were often overwhelmed by a sense of otherness.

A recent study by Black Lives in Music concluded that the majority of Black music industry professionals in the UK experience racism, from racist language to instances of microaggression. The report distinguished between the experiences of music creators and music executives and found that their experiences differed, with 63% of creators witnessed direct or indirect racism rising among professionals to 73%.

These findings will be largely unsurprising for Black people like me working in music. Im not trying to paint a picture of an industry that is always knowingly aggressive and violent. For the most part I enjoy my job, and though there may not be overt incidents of racism every single day, it is persistent and its widely felt by Black people working in music. This piles up, causing mental fatigue that minimises our ability to work at full capacity. A lot of that racism is implied or unsaid. While consciously most white people in the industry may not intend to be racist, instances of unconscious bias and other insidious forms of racism have prolonged effects on us not just on our ability to succeed in our work, but on our mental health. Indeed, 36% of music executives believed that their mental health declined due to the racism they faced. An industry committing to anti-racism must be more aware of this.

The differing experiences of music creators and executives highlighted in the report speaks to an unsettling hierarchy. Black people and especially Black men who are creators experience a relative form of privilege that Black people working behind the scenes in music dont have. Black creators are more often shielded from the worst forms of racism that others experience: since the artists are the ones making everyone money, white people are more likely to be deferential.

Would it be wrong to ask that these artists use their relative power to elevate us all? The report still shows that the effect of racism on creators is still high, so ultimately its on white folk to enact changes, but its interesting to note that many of the race equality initiatives set up in the wake of Blackout Tuesday, the call for the music industry to halt for a day in protest at the killing of George Floyd, were started by Black women, the demographic that the report found to suffer most from mental health issues and to be the most underpaid. The implications of this are enormous. If we want a music industry that is as diverse as its talent, we need to create an environment that isnt hostile to its most undervalued workers.

Last week I hosted a panel at Wild Paths Festival called Anti-racism in the Music Industry One Year On. An audience member noted that anti-racism movements have existed in the music industry long before Blackout Tuesday how then do we know that recent efforts will actually produce lasting change? All of us on stage found it difficult to pinpoint exactly why this time felt different. We all agreed that it was partly because George Floyds murder, the Blackout Tuesday initiative and the waves of Black Lives Matter protests made the urgent issues they raised unavoidable during the isolation of the pandemic. Its hard to know if there will be long-lasting change, and findings like the Black Lives in Music report make it hard for Black people in the industry to be optimistic.

But I get the sense that at no other point in the music industrys history have Black people been able to speak directly to wider audiences about their experiences, particularly in the racism theyve had to endure while making the music they love. Reports like Black Lives in Music are a step further to a greater understanding of those lives, and the work that needs to be done. Now its up to white people to help us implement the change the music industry desperately needs.

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Black music artists should call out racism within our industry. Theyve got the power - The Guardian

A year ago, on Oct. 20, social media was splattered with the blood of Nigerians. Demonstrators had gathered at Lagoss Lekki toll gate to protest the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a violent and abusive arm of the police. Then we saw the live stream of Obianuju Catherine Udeh, better known as DJ Switch, when day turned to night and Nigeria gunned down its own citizens for peacefully protesting police brutality.

Not long before, the West had faced its own reckoning with police violence and racism, as Black Lives Matter protests spread globally following the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.

But the idea that anti-Black racism was only an issue for nations with White dominance was shattered by the reality of the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria. For me, a Nigerian American woman who in 2013 had helped popularize Black Lives Matter and build a network for activists, it was clear that the struggle for justice for Black people was global, and it starts with our right to free speech.

Black activism is not new, and Africans have been mobilizing for justice for generations. Corruption and the violent suppression of dissent in many Black nations remain one of the many vestiges of colonialism. The tentacles of Western influence continue to allow injustice to prevail. The British military has trained Nigerian forces, and the United States has sold the country millions in arms. The laws around policing are colonial in nature, and efforts at reform had failed before the Lekki massacre.

However, when Nigerians mobilized last year during their independence month and used their bodies to create a new narrative about what was possible for their country, something profound shifted. They had spoken out before (many of us are familiar with the activism and music of Fela Kuti), but this time, with #EndSARS, we saw a unified voice. This was what captured the attention of the diaspora and allies around the world.

Crowds of hundreds of thousands of Nigerians ignorant of class, tribe, gender, religion or sexual orientation showed a harmony not seen in decades. They danced and chanted together. Seeing Africans mobilizing in 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, was deeply moving and inspiring. Then it was deeply heartbreaking.

Many lives were lost at Lekki. We dont know exactly how many or who exactly within President Muhammadu Buharis government, and within the Lagos states leadership, should be held responsible. But the power of #EndSARS never dissipated.

Nigerian people are still speaking out. Their resilience following the chants Soro soke, or speak louder became clear after the repression. The #EndSARS movement understood that the victims and perpetrators are deeply intertwined, and they wanted to see changes to society that reflected the harmony that the demonstrations showed us was possible.

In solidarity, we used the BLM social media platforms to share updates and content to ensure the diaspora understood what was happening. At Diaspora Rising we took it a step further and kept eyes on #EndSARS for International Human Rights Day. On Dec. 10, we mobilized 60 prominent Black leaders and allies (60 because Nigeria celebrated its 60th year of independence) to call on Buhari to stop the abuse of his citizens for having the audacity to speak out.

Buhari and his government have attempted to lie and even gaslight the hundreds of families who lost loved ones during last years uprisings. Many prominent activists have lost their livelihoods, and others have been forced to flee. Twitter which played a crucial role in the demonstrations is now banned in the country.

But people have found other means to keep speaking loudly soro soke. On Oct. 8, I watched Burna Boy perform in Los Angeles. The Nigerian artists song, 20:10:20, about the Lekki massacre, moved the crowd. We give them many chances/dem fail my people/And when we cry for justice/Them kill my people, he sang. He then called for a moment of silence to honor the lives of those who were taken. In Nigeria, organizations, including Amnesty International and Enough Is Enough Nigeria, are now officially collaborating to ensure well-documented injustices do not go unaddressed. And on Wednesday, many mobilized at public spaces and with car memorial processions, declaring that they will not be silenced. What felt like a devastating and irredeemable blow to the human rights movement a year ago now looks like the beginning for a new Nigeria, and its diaspora, which is now watching closely.

Theres a lot of work ahead. Violence at the hands of the Nigerian government continues, in a nation where only 1 percent of the population is fully vaccinated against covid-19 (the entire continent is only 5 percent fully vaccinated). We must keep working alongside our Nigerian and African siblings for justice in their lands. As Malcolm X once said, As long as we think that we should get Mississippi straightened out before we worry about the Congo, youll never get Mississippi straightened out. There is enough compassion and connection between our vibrant cultures that we are compelled to remain committed to justice in every context.

Ay0 Tometi is a co-creator of Black Lives Matter and founder of Diaspora Rising.

See the article here:

A year after #EndSARS in Nigeria, we must remain committed to the global quest for justice for Black people - The Philadelphia Tribune