Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist, Fahren James, age 39, filed a lawsuit against Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Michael Moore and the Los Angeles Police Department, for an alleged assault by unidentified Los Angeles police officers.
Top National Stories of 2020
Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held a discussion on Friday with members of the Black press about the social injustice in America in wake of George Floyd’s murder by the hands of former police officers. Abdul-Jabbar spoke with Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper managing editor Brandon Brooks and NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent Stacy M. Brown.
In this day and age, society has built a system and a niche economy within the world of social media. One that produces everyday influencers and brings everyone closer to their favorite celebrities. This same structure is now a change agent in the fight for Black Lives.
Throughout the year’s social media has put a voice to the unheard bringing to light case after case of police brutality. Since the death of Trayvon Martin, there hasn’t been a year without multiple horrific stories and videos of a Black life being taken. With the help of celebrities and the millions of users on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, the names of the thousands and counting Black victims live on. However, justice is yet to be served in its totality.
Wendy’s Window
The video footage of George Floyd being murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has outraged people throughout and beyond the United States. During this tragedy, countless athletes brazenly showed their disdain for the existence of racism in various ways.
All 50 of the United States have seen protests and more than 10,000 people have been arrested, cities have enacted curfews and several states and the District of Columbia have called up the National Guard following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that Derek Chauvin, the officer accused of causing the death of George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes, has been charged with second-degree murder and three other former officers who were on the scene – Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao – have been charged with aiding and abetting murder.
A new multi-cultural America spoke out and stood up against over 400 years systematic racism against African Americans and in response to the killing of George Floyd; included in the long list of Blacks murdered by the hands of police officers or entitled citizens.
Four officers were fired a day after George Floyd’s death, a stunning and swift move by the Minneapolis chief with the mayor’s full backing. But despite their dismissal, whether the incident will be considered criminal, or even excessive force, is a more complicated question that will likely take months to investigate.
The officers were dismissed soon after a bystander’s video taken outside a south Minneapolis grocery store Monday night showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and stopped moving. Floyd’s death prompted protests Tuesday, with thousands taking to the streets at the intersection where he died.