Black Lives Matter protests live updates: George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, CHAZ Seattle
Black Lives Matter protests: latest news - 20 June
Lakers owner calls for unity against racism
(Reuters) LA Lakers owner Jeannie Buss said on Friday, the Juneteenth holiday, that she is no longer willing to ignore hate and called on white people to come together and acknowledge the racism that exists in the United States.
Juneteenth commemorates the U.S. abolition of slavery under President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, belatedly announced by Union army General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, after the Civil War ended.
Thousands marched through U.S. cities on Friday, capping nearly four weeks of protests and national soul-searching sparked by the death of a Black man, George Floyd, under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Colorado passes landmark police reform bill
(Reuters) Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Friday signed into law a bill to remove the shield of legal immunity that has long protected police officers from civil suits for on-the-job misconduct, a measure civil libertarians hailed as landmark legislation.
The Colorado state legislature passed the sweeping police accountability bill last week in the wake of nationwide protests over unfair treatment of racial minorities by law enforcement, sparked by the death of George Floyd under the knee of a white Minneapolis policeman last month.
Polis, a first-term Democrat, took the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, celebrating the abolition of slavery in the United States, to formally enact the law.
The black-white wealth gap
A thread by Ezra Klein on how the gap in wealth between black and white is not only bad...but it's getting worse.
Black MLS players create a coalition on Juneteenth
They announced the formation of Freedom Day for Black Americans in the MLS, better known as Juneteenth, and the coalition has over 70 black players in the league.
Breonna Taylor: officer fired after Louisville fatal shooting
Breonna Taylor officer fired
Hankison in recent weeks also has been accused of other crimes including sexual assault and reckless conduct.
Dutch police break up rowdy rallies at colonial-era statue
Police on horseback on Friday evening charged rival protesters gathered near the statue of a 17th century colonial-era Dutch officer that became the target of anti-racism demonstrators in the Netherlands.
Five people were detained during unrest after small groups from each side refused to disperse, authorities said. There were no reports of injuries. Protesters scattered in groups in neighbourhoods in the town of Hoorn, about 45 kilometres (30 miles) north of Amsterdam, as riot police moved in with vans, footage showed.
Systemic financial support bias
Of over $80 billion in venture funding per year, only one percent goes to Black entrepreneurs, and even less than that for Black female founders.
Statues removed of former owners of Twins, Redskins for racist ties
Statues of Calvin Griffith and George Preston Marshall have been removed from the grounds of Target Field and RFK Stadium.
For Black Tulsans, Trump's visit evokes painful legacy of 1921 massacre
Thirteen jars filled with ash and dirt and bone rest in the basement of Tulsa's Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church, an unsettled repose for the victims of a nearly century-old massacre that still haunts the Black residents of Oklahoma's second-largest city.
There are no graves for Eliza Talbot, Ed Adams or 11 others. Their bodies were lost, along with hundreds, when a white mob killed and burned its way through the city's Greenwood neighborhood in 1921, at the time one of the largest and wealthiest Black communities in the United States.
To the dismay of community leaders and residents, and just weeks after a May 31 vigil to mark the massacre's 99th anniversary, President Donald Trump plans his first campaign rally since March mere blocks away from Greenwood on Saturday.
The rally will occur a day after Juneteenth which commemorates when a Union general went to Texas in 1865 and announced the Emancipation Proclamation had freed enslaved people, more than two years after it was issued in 1863.
"Trump's presence will cast a huge shadow over these events," said Rev. Robert Turner of the Vernon A.M.E. church, which was rebuilt after it was burned down during the 1921 attack.
"The president is supported by racists, by neo-Confederates. I fear this rally will attract all those people to our city." Trump, who has said his supporters "love Black people," moved the rally to June 20 from its original Juneteenth date, tweeting that the change was "out of respect for ... this important occasion and all that it represents."
George Floyd mural (Brussels)
In the past month, murals and graffiti paying tribute to Floyd have cropped up across the world, the latest creation being this from Belgian-Congolese street artist NovaDead, whose real name is Julien Crevaels in the Belgian capital.
Senior official resigns, cites Trump response on race
(Reuters) A senior African-American U.S. State Department official has resigned because of President Donald Trump's handling of racial tensions, saying his actions "cut sharply against my core values and convictions," the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, submitted her resignation on Thursday, according to the newspaper.
Juneteenth 2020
The celebration of the end of slavery this year will take on a much more multi-racial appearance with protests, rallies and get-togethers planned all across the USA.
Taco Bell appear to backtrack on BLM merchandise
The fast food chain has issued a statement after the firing of Denzel Skinner in Youngstown.
Paris police bans three protests, including U.S. Embassy demonstration
(Reuters) The Paris police authority said it had decided to ban three protests scheduled for Saturday, including a demonstration in front of the U.S. Embassy, due to fears of public disorder and Covid-19 risks.
The police added in a statement on Friday that its decision to ban one of the protests was in light of recent gang violence between ethnic communities in Dijon and Nice.
Last Saturday, protesters at an anti-racism rally in central Paris clashed with police, as a wave of anger continued to sweep the world following the death in the United States of African American George Floyd.
People participate in neighborhood planning on June 18, 2020 in Minnesota, Minneapolis. Residents of Minnesotas community gathered at the intersection of 38th and George Floyd Ave to talk through next steps, and plans, in honoring George Floyd, who was killed while in Minneapolis Police custody on May, 25, 2020. Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP
DACA: What is DACA and how did the Supreme Court vote to block Trump?
DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was introduced by Obama in 2012 and protects young immigrants from deportation from the United States.
Taco Bell employee fired for BLM face mask
Denzel Skinner was fired after 8 years on the job as a shift leader at a Taco Bell in Youngstown, Ohio after he refused to take off his BLM face covering.
He was told by a supervisor he couldn't wear the face cover but he was adamant Taco Bell's policy says nothing about face covers with messages on them. The one stipulation -- face coverings had to be clean. Skinner explained in a Facebook Live video that he wore the face cover because the surgical masks provided by the joint to employees proved inadequate in warm conditions.
Juneteenth Day celebration: What is it and why is it celebrated on 19 June?
Juneteenth is an unofficial holiday in the United States which has been celebrated every 19 June by the African-American community since 1866.
Black Lives Matter protests, live updates: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests sparked in the US and across the world by the killing of George Floyd in police custody late last month.
We'll endeavour to bring you the latest developments as they unfold.