PBS News: June 4 – 9, 2020, PBS NewsHour Presents ‘Race Matters: America in Crisis’, and #WashWeekPBS Extra – How will nationwide protests affect the 2020 election?
CNN: Senate GOP dodges over Trump’s baseless Buffalo protester tweet
The New York Times: The Morning, June 5 & 8, 2020
Amanpour and Company: Antifa – Terrorist Group or Trump Scapegoat?
TEDx Talks: Black murder is normal | Michael Smith | TEDxJacksonville
Doctor Mike Hansen: Lung Doctor Analyzes George Floyd Autopsy Report (MEDICAL EXPLANATION)
TED Talks: Baratunde Thurston How to deconstruct racism one headline at a time
Colossal: From Minneapolis to Syria, Artists Are Honoring George Floyd Through Murals and Public Artworks, A Bold Black Lives Matter Statement Transforms a Street Leading to the White House in Washington D.C., and A 20,000-Square-Foot Tribute to Healthcare Workers Emerges at Queens Museum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyUnC1lsX3o
PBS NewsHour full episode, June 9, 2020
Fundraiser
Jun 9, 2020 PBS NewsHour
Tuesday on the NewsHour, George Floyd is laid to rest in Houston, but protests against police violence — and demands for change — go on. Plus: Race relations in the U.S. military, the experiences of black journalists covering protests of racism, Republicans attack the integrity of voting by mail, how Vietnam has contained the coronavirus and the pandemic’s effect on the global film industry. Support your local PBS station here: https://pbs.org/donate WATCH TODAY’S SEGMENTS ‘He’s gonna change the world’: George Floyd laid to rest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8mQ_… News Wrap: UN General Assembly won’t convene in September https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv0Eo… Why military hasn’t made more progress on overcoming racism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NUaN… Coverage of protests illuminates journalism’s race problem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzuYM… The truth about vote-by-mail and fraud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkSRJ… How Vietnam’s authoritarian government contained COVID-19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RjDq… How pandemic has put film industry in ‘state of paralysis’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvhr_… Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdUcdRlBQBI
PBS NewsHour full episode, June 8, 2020
Jun 8, 2020 PBS NewsHour
Monday on the NewsHour, protests of police violence against black Americans continue to echo across the U.S., prompting calls for major policy changes. Plus: What defunding the police would mean, Sen. Cory Booker on police reform, risks for mail carriers and delivery workers amid the pandemic, how dangerous are mass protests for virus spread and Politics Monday with Amy Walter and Tamara Keith. Support your local PBS station here: https://pbs.org/donate WATCH TODAY’S SEGMENTS 2 weeks after Floyd’s death, Americans are still protesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM2tE… News Wrap: New York City begins gradual reopening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEvt-… 2 views on the future of American policing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFN2g… Cory Booker on how the U.S. should reform policing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_aOA… Pandemic boosts labor, risks for mail and delivery workers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f85kV… A ‘risk-based decision’ about protesting during a pandemic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPME8… Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on protest political pressure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCPXW… Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc5QlRAq9JI
PBS NewsHour Weekend full episode June 7, 2020
Jun 7, 2020 PBS NewsHour
On this edition for Sunday, June 7, demands for justice for George Floyd’s killing and calls for police reform grow as massive protests continue across the U.S. and the world. Also, San Francisco considers a resolution to prohibit hiring police officers with a misconduct record. Hari Sreenivasan anchors from New York. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V09YWPxVZr0&pbjreload=101
PBS NewsHour Weekend full episode June 6, 2020
Jun 6, 2020 PBS NewsHour
On this edition for Saturday, June 6, a memorial service was held for George Floyd in the North Carolina town where he was born, and as protests continued in the U.S. thousands of demonstrators around the world took to the streets to rally against police brutality and systemic racism. Hari Sreenivasan anchors from New York Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu_7SGDXuSc
PBS NewsHour full episode, June 5, 2020
Jun 5, 2020 PBS NewsHour
Friday on the NewsHour, another tumultuous week in the U.S. comes to a close with some signs of economic progress — but continued unrest over racism and police use of force. Plus: What May jobs numbers could mean for the pandemic economy, Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles on protests and policing, the analysis of Mark Shields and David Brooks and remembering five more people killed by COVID-19. Support your local PBS station here: https://pbs.org/donate WATCH TODAY’S SEGMENTS Trump criticized for invoking George Floyd in jobs remarks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2PgM… News Wrap: WHO urges continued use of face masks worldwide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peGEw… Do May jobs numbers indicate economic recovery has begun? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aboq… Mayor Garcetti on changing, but not eliminating, the police https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfxqD… Shields and Brooks on race in America, Trump’s response https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gyJZ… Stories of 5 coronavirus victims in the U.S. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VZOw… Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZGGPNM1TGc
PBS NewsHour full episode, June 4, 2020
Jun 4, 2020 PBS NewsHour
Thursday on the NewsHour, predominantly peaceful protests continue across America despite occasional use of force by police and the presence of National Guard troops, and memorial services begin for George Floyd. Also: Former military leaders push back on President Trump’s rhetoric, Hong Kong protesters defy bans on gathering, why work from home could be devastating for real estate and more. WATCH TODAY’S SEGMENTS Mourners remember George Floyd as Trump draws pushback https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69Q_v… New York protesters say they want change from ‘daily fear’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdxgq… Bowser questions Trump’s legal ability to call troops to DC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wlC1… ‘Armed forces exist to protect,’ not police communities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b71uB… News Wrap: Virginia taking down Robert E. Lee statue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYUR3… At banned vigil, Hong Kong protesters rally for freedoms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3Z2F… American skyscrapers face uncertain future amid coronavirus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCitn… Coronavirus is taste of what poor Americans ‘feel every day’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWayR… Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
WATCH LIVE: PBS NewsHour Presents ‘Race Matters: America in Crisis’
Streamed live 2 hours ago PBS NewsHour
“Race Matters: America in Crisis, A PBS NewsHour Special” will premiere on PBS stations nationwide on Friday, June 5, 2020, from 9 to 10 p.m. ET. “Race Matters: America in Crisis” will focus on the frustration pouring out onto American streets, and outrage about police brutality. It will also explore America’s deep systemic racial disparities in education, the criminal justice system, the economy and health care, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will also include grassroots voices from around the country and roundtable conversations with thought leaders, newsmakers and experts. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
#WashWeekPBS Extra: How will nationwide protests affect the 2020 election?
Jun 5, 2020 Washington Week
The panel continued the conversation on the nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd, and discussed the potential relocation of the 2020 Republican National Convention from Charlotte, North Carolina. Panel: Jonathan Martin of The New York Times, Amna Nawaz of the PBS NewsHour, Paula Reid of CBS News, Pierre Thomas of ABC News Watch the latest full show and Extra here: https://pbs.org/washingtonweek Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2ZEPJNs Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/washingtonweek Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/washingtonweek
Senate GOP dodges over Trump’s baseless Buffalo protester tweet
Jun 9, 2020 CNN
A number of Republican senators dodged questions or were silent when pressed for reaction after President Donald Trump suggested without evidence that a 75-year-old man who was seriously injured after being shoved by police officers in Buffalo, New York, last week, may have been part of a “set up.” In an unsubstantiated claim, the President tweeted, “Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?” At a news conference following a Republican policy lunch, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky refused to say whether Trump’s tweet was appropriate. CNN pressed him twice, and he instead pointed to the work led by GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina to try to put together a police reform package. #Trump #CNN #News
| The New York Times The Morning June 8, 2020 |
| Good morning. Minneapolis plans to dismantle its police force. New York City is starting to reopen. And Tropical Storm Cristobal has made landfall. Let’s start with a look at false reports from the police.
When the police lie |
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| An encounter in Buffalo last Thursday — in which two police officers shoved a 75-year-old man to the ground and left lying him there while blood poured out of his ear — was troubling partly because of the original police account. |
| The account claimed that the man “was injured when he tripped and fell.” If a video hadn’t existed, the truth might never have come out. |
| That’s a widespread problem: |
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| Philip Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University, who has analyzed thousands of police reports, told CNN that lies like these were fairly common. |
| Activists in the current protest movement have begun to focus on how they can turn the rallies of the past 10 days into lasting change, to reduce both racism and police brutality. And reducing the frequency of false reports by the police is likely to be a key issue. |
| Already, reform-minded prosecutors and police chiefs have taken some steps in the last few years. The top prosecutor in St. Louis, Kim Gardner, has stopped accepting new cases or search warrant requests from officers with a history of misconduct or lies. In Philadelphia and Seattle, prosecutors are creating similar “do not call” lists, The Marshall Project has reported. |
| Chris Magnus, the police chief in Tucson, Ariz., told the Marshall Project: “If I had my way, officers who lie wouldn’t just be put on a list, they’d be fired, and also not allowed to work in any other jurisdiction as a police officer ever again.” Often, though, police-union contracts prevent firing even officers with a record of brutality and dishonesty — which then casts a shadow over the many police officers who tell the truth. |
| (The Times published an investigation this weekend, explaining how police unions have amassed political power and blocked change.) |
| False police reports are not a new problem. What’s new are the videos that have caused people to realize how common they are. “When I was a reporter, it was the police officer’s word against the victim’s or suspect’s,” Jamie Stockwell, a deputy national editor at The Times, told me. “Cellphone video has changed the debate over policing.” |
| THREE MORE BIG STORIES |
| 1. Minneapolis to rethink policing |
| The Minneapolis City Council pledged yesterday to dismantle the Police Department. Council members said that they did not yet have specific plans for a new public safety system and would study models being tested in other cities. |
| It is the biggest response to the protests so far. In New York and Los Angeles, city officials have vowed to shrink police budgets in coming months. |
| In other protest developments: |
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| 2. New York emerges from its virus lockdown
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| New York City will take the first steps toward reopening today, a moment of optimism in a city battered by the coronavirus. Nonessential construction and manufacturing can resume, and retail stores can open for pickup. As many as 400,000 workers could return to their jobs. |
| The milestone comes 100 days after the city reported its first case. Since then, more than 211,000 residents have been infected and more than 21,000 have died. The confirmed infection rate has dropped sharply since the peak in mid-April. |
| In other virus developments: |
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| 3. Distance learning isn’t working |
| Education experts believe that distance learning in most school districts is not working and that students are falling behind at alarming rates. “We know this isn’t a good way to teach,” a seventh-grade teacher in Colorado said. Black, Hispanic and low-income students are falling behind the fastest, research suggests. |
| “The richest and poorest parents are spending about the same amount of hours on remote school,” Dana Goldstein, a Times reporter who has written a book on teaching, told us. But “wealthier parents are inevitably able to provide more books and supplies at home, more quiet space, educational toys and often more knowledge of the curriculum.” More high-income school districts are also providing strong remote instruction, rather than basic worksheet-like activities. |
| Here’s what else is happening
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| BACK STORY: TAKING A KNEE |
| Four years ago, Kurt Streeter — then an ESPN writer — published a profile of Nate Boyer, an unusual football player. Boyer was homeless as a young man and later served in the Army as a Green Beret, in both Afghanistan and Iraq. For the Seattle Seahawks, he was the long-snapper, who played only on some kicks. |
| Boyer’s place in football history, however, won’t be about what he did on the field. It will be about the fact that he gave Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid the idea to protest police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. Boyer, who’s white, said he would never kneel during the anthem. But he thought it was a symbol of reverence and had seen a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. protesting in Alabama by kneeling. |
| “If you’re not going to stand,” Boyer remembers telling Kaepernick and Reid, as the three of them sat in a hotel lobby, hours before a game in 2016, “I’d say your only other option is to take a knee.” |
| Kurt has since left ESPN for The Times, and he has written an article about how kneeling spread from the N.F.L. to the recent protests. Boyer’s comments are a fascinating part of the story — and a reminder of why journalists often make an effort to keep in touch with people they’ve interviewed. |
Antifa: Terrorist Group or Trump Scapegoat? | Amanpour and Company
Jun 4, 2020 Amanpour and Company
For protests that turned violent, President Trump blames the far left, and saying he wants to designate Antifa – short for ‘Anti-Fascists’ – as a terrorist organization. But activist and Occupy Wall Street organizer Mark Bray hits back in a piece for the Washington Post. Bray joins Michel Martin to explain why he believes Trump’s bluster is a diversionary tactic. Originally aired on June 4, 2020. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Subscribe to the Amanpour and Company. channel here: https://bit.ly/2EMIkTJ For more from Amanpour and Company, including full episodes, click here: https://to.pbs.org/2NBFpjf Like Amanpour and Company on Facebook: https://bit.ly/2HNx3EF Follow Amanpour and Company on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2HLpjTI Watch Amanpour and Company weekdays on PBS (check local listings). Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, Alicia Menendez and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City. #amanpourpbs
Black murder is normal | Michael Smith | TEDxJacksonville
Jan 6, 2015 TEDx Talks
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. In this Talk, Pastor Michael T. Smith argues that the “normalcy” of black murder is engrained in our American culture. Indeed, the idea that a black American would be involved in a homicide—either as perpetrator or victim—is so broadly accepted as to be largely unnoticed. Smith exposes the racism that underlies the appalling lack of outrage at high death rates in the black community, and highlights the hypocrisy of a society that glamorizes violence, but ignores its victims. “It doesn’t take action to keep racism going,” Smith observes, “it takes inaction.” About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
Lung Doctor Analyzes George Floyd Autopsy Report (MEDICAL EXPLANATION)
Jun 3, 2020 Doctor Mike Hansen
Lung Doctor Analyzes George Floyd Autopsy Report (MEDICAL EXPLANATION) Let’s be clear..we’ve all seen the video by now. It’s obvious that these police officers killed George Floyd. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner, and the independent medical examiner hired by the family of George Floyd, Dr. Michael Baden, have concluded that his death was a homicide….but their opinion differs on the cause of death. But if both of them declared that his death was a homicide, does the cause of death really matter? (YES). I want justice for George Floyd, and that is why I’m making this video, because the medical explanation for his cause of death, is not a simple explanation. As a lung doctor, part of my job is to figure out why people can’t breathe. As an intensive care doctor, part of my job is to care for people who are on the brink of death. Like when someone can’t breathe. So when someone dies of asphyxia, as is the case of George Floyd, the determination of the cause of death is dependent on information elicited based on the investigation, which includes, the deceased personal medical history namely, autopsy, and crime scene investigation, which of course includes video evidence. Asphyxia is a Greek term that translates to “loss of pulse.” Mechanical asphyxia involves some physical force or physical abnormality that interferes with the uptake and/or delivery of oxygen. With asphyxia, the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen, and when the pons and the medulla aren’t getting enough oxygen, they can no longer function. This means they can no longer tell the diaphragm to contract, and breathing then stops. While this happens, the heart is also not getting enough oxygen, and typically the heart pumps slower and slower until it stops. Prolonged continuous application of extreme pressure on the thorax, such as with the bodyweight of several officers, is capable of causing death. This is important, because this contributed to the death of George Floyd, in addition to the knee to the neck. The neck contains our airway, the trachea, and it also contains carotid and vertebral arteries and jugular veins. The arteries here deliver oxygenated blood to the brain, while the jugular veins allow the deoxygenated blood to flow back to the heart. So what happens when pressure is placed on the neck? Well, it depends, on a lot of different factors (amount and duration of pressure, etc). And looking at the George Floyd video, he was unconscious for more than 2 minutes with the knee still on his neck. There’s no doubt, that during this time, he took his last breath, and right around the same time, lost his pulse. By the time the EMS guy checks his pulse, I highly doubt he actually felt a pulse, because it was more than two minutes after George lost consciousness. It was obvious that when they moved George onto the stretcher, he was completely limp because he was dead. And it wasn’t until much later, did they start CPR, in the ambulance. Now let’s get to what the medical examiners had to say about this case. Dr. Michael Baden, who did the independent autopsy says Floyd died of “asphyxiation from sustained pressure when his back and neck were compressed, with the neck pressure cutting off blood flow to his brain.” I agree with that assessment. I would also add that partial compression of the trachea, causing airway compromise, was also possible. The weight on George’s back made the work of breathing much harder for his diaphragm, and the neck pressure at the very least meant less blood (and thus oxygen) was being delivered to his brain, and less carbon dioxide could be removed from his brain. After a while, the diaphragm becomes fatigued, and no longer has the strength to contract, which means the lungs can’t get oxygen into the blood, and can’t get carbon dioxide out of the blood. And all of this caused him to lose consciousness. And probably within seconds, he lost a pulse. And despite losing consciousness, and despite losing a pulse, they continued to apply pressure on the neck, and put their weight on his back. The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office said that the cause of death is “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.” This statement doesn’t really make sense to me. But the Hennepin County release also says heart disease was an issue; the independent examiner didn’t find that. The county said that fentanyl and methamphetamine use were among “significant conditions,” but its report didn’t say how much of either drug was in Floyd’s system or how that may have contributed. But Dr. Michael Baden got it right. – Doctor Mike Hansen
Baratunde Thurston explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on black Americans who have committed the crimes of … eating, walking or generally “living while black.” In this profound, thought-provoking and often hilarious talk, he reveals the power of language to change stories of trauma into stories of healing — while challenging us all to level up.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Baratunde Thurston · Writer, activist, comedian
MORE RESOURCES
BOOK How to Be Black
Baratunde Thurston Harper (2012)
TAKE ACTION PARTICIPATE
Discover more content from the talk, view the database, support Baratunde’s work and get updates.
LEARN Visit Montgomery, Alabama and spend a day at the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Trust me.
| The New York Times The Morning June 5, 2020 | |||
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| Good morning. Mourners remembered George Floyd. Virus data shows an encouraging trend. Let’s start with a look at police departments that have made changes. | ||
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| Where police reform has worked
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| It can often feel like nothing changes with police killings. Gruesome, high-profile cases keep coming — Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, now Manuel Ellis — and the annual number of killings nationwide remains at about 1,100. |
| In several big cities, however, things have changed. Police departments have adopted new policies, and, while problems remain, the number of shootings and deaths have fallen significantly. |
| It’s happened in Los Angeles, where fatal police shootings have declined in each of the last four years, down to 12 last year. It’s happened in San Francisco. And it’s happened in Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia and Phoenix, Samuel Sinyangwe, a data scientist and activist, writes for FiveThirtyEight. “Many of these reforms were initiated in response to protests and public outcry over high-profile deaths,” he adds. |
| The changes often revolve around training officers to de-escalate situations and reduce the amount of force they use. Tougher measures to get rid of violent officers also seem to help. Hiring more police officers sometimes helps as well, research shows. “Overstressed, overtired officers working too many shifts generate more complaints of excessive force,” Vox’s Matthew Yglesias notes. |
| The most sweeping proposals to emerge in recent days, like defunding the police, are unlikely to attract broad political support. Many Americans feel positively toward the police, as David Byler of The Washington Post points out — although there are large gaps by race. |
| Still, most Americans also say that the police have a racism problem, and most favor reforms, such as body cameras and outside investigations of misconduct. Drew Linzer of the polling firm Civiqs notes that support for the Black Lives Matter movement surged in recent days to almost 50 percent, “the highest it has ever been in over three years of polling.” |
| All of which points to some common political ground on police reform. “The problem is not that we lack a playbook for fixing the police,” a former police commissioner in Philadelphia and three other experts write for the Times Opinion section. “We have one. The problem is that we have not successfully followed the one we have.” Barack Obama posted a Twitter thread last night making similar points. |
| Why hasn’t reform worked in Minneapolis? The police department “failed to set clear criteria on the use of force and de-escalation,” Jamiles Lartey and Simone Weichselbaum of The Marshall Project report. The department also failed to “weed out bad cops” and “continued to use choke holds.” |
| THREE MORE BIG STORIES |
| 1. Remembering George Floyd
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| A memorial service on Thursday for George Floyd was by turns personal and political, celebrating both the life he had lived and the movement that his death has inspired. Floyd’s brother Philonise recalled playing football and eating banana-and-mayonnaise sandwiches; one of his cousins, Shareeduh Tate, said, “The thing I miss most about him is his hugs.” |
| In a defiant eulogy, the Rev. Al Sharpton said: “George Floyd’s story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck.” Later, with the crowd rising, he added, “It’s time for us to stand up in George’s name and say, ‘Get your knee off our necks.’” |
| More developments from the protests: |
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| 2. Some good news on the virus |
| If you look at one of the charts tracking the coronavirus in the U.S., you’ll probably notice a disturbing pattern: The number of new cases has virtually stopped falling, hovering around 20,000 for the past 10 days. |
| But the actual trend may be more encouraging. The number of tests being conducted has been rising rapidly in recent weeks — which means more virus cases are being uncovered than otherwise would have been. Another key measure is the percentage of tests that come back positive (as Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight has argued), and it has continued to decline:
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| Taken together, the various measures suggest that the virus’s spread continues to slow — but only modestly and not as rapidly as in some other countries. |
| 3. An economic burden for women |
| The lockdown has already created burdens for mothers. They have taken on a disproportionate share of day care, home schooling and housework, research has shown. Now the reopening of many workplaces may cause a new set of problems. |
| The lack of child care options — with day care centers, camps and schools closed — may force women out of the labor force to take care of their children. And even temporary time away from a job often brings permanent costs, in terms of missed promotions and opportunities, as Patricia Cohen and Tiffany Hsu of The Times explain. “The limited gains made in the past decades are at risk of being rolled back,” concluded a U.N. report on the virus’s impact on women. |
| Here’s what else is happening |
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| Continue reading the main story |
| BACK STORY: TEACHING YOUR KIDS ABOUT RACISM
How should parents discuss race with their children? Start early, and keep the conversation going. Talk about racial differences in positive ways. Make sure any home library has books with black protagonists. |
| These suggestions — and many more — come from Jessica Grose, editor of The Times’s Parenting section. She spoke with experts and wrote up a list of suggested books. She told us: |
| We wanted to provide information for parents who want to have conversations with their children about racism and the protests over the killing of George Floyd. We also wanted to make clear that it’s a privilege to choose to have these conversations; as many of my sources emphasized, black families are having and have been having these conversations, and reading these books. |
| The big takeaway here is that nonblack families don’t just need to talk about racism with their kids — they need to show their kids they are also taking action. |
| One comment, from Jacqueline Dougé, a pediatrician and child health advocate based in Maryland, really stuck with me: “Because of our culture, I have a heavy burden as a black mom. But if I think my kids are going to end racism alone, I’m deluded.” |
More resources: Jessica also recommends the conversation guides from EmbraceRace and Raising Race Conscious Children. And you can subscribe to Jessica’s newsletter here.
From Minneapolis to Syria, Artists Are Honoring George Floyd Through Murals and Public Artworks JUNE 2, 2020 GRACE EBERT
In honor of George Floyd, a Black man murdered by a White police officer in May, artists have been painting murals and sharing messages in what now is a global movement supporting the victim. From Minneapolis to Los Angeles to Syria, the public artworks are drawing attention to the horrific killing, in addition to the larger issue of police perpetrating state-sanctioned violence. A collaborative project by artists Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, Niko Alexander, and Pablo Hernandez, the Minneapolis mural centers Floyd within a sunflower. Herrera told Hyperallergic that the “idea was to depict Floyd not as a martyr but as a social justice hero.” He’s surrounded by the names of others killed by police, in addition to protestors. The 20-by-6.5-foot project is located near the Cup Foods where Floyd died. Louisiana-born artist Jammie Holmes created typographic banners with Floyd’s last words that emblazoned the skies of U.S. cities. Bold statements reading, “Please I can’t breathe,” “My neck hurts,” and “They’re going to kill me,” flew over Detroit, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York. We’ve gathered some of the most recent projects below, including work from Syrian artists Aziz Asmar and Anis Hamdoun, Fayetville-based Octavio Logo, and Barcelona-based Tvboy. (via Artnet News)
— ABC News (@ABC) June 1, 2020 Syrian artists Aziz Asmar and Anis Hamdoun finish a mural depicting George Floyd in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province. https://abcn.ws/2TWPRXy
JUNE 5, 2020 GRACE EBERT
In a show of solidarity, a massive tribute to Black Lives Matter has been painted on the street leading to the White House in Washington, D.C. Completed in permanent street paint, the message features bold, yellow letters that span more than a block of 16th Street and marks a historic moment in the United States after weeks of protests. Mayor Muriel Bowser commissioned the banner-style piece, which city workers and volunteers began at 3 a.m. Friday morning ahead of weekend demonstrations. The new message is just two blocks north of Lafayette Square, where police charged peaceful protestors and released tear gas and flash-bang shells to clear the crowd for a photo-op for President Trump earlier this week. It sits at the foot of St. John’s Church. Update: Black Lives Matter D.C. has denounced the public display, saying, “This is performative and a distraction from her active counter organizing to our demands to decrease the police budget and invest in the community. Black Lives Matter means Defund the police.” Update 2: An earlier version of this article erroneously attributed the mural to a single artist.
A 20,000-Square-Foot Tribute to Healthcare Workers Emerges at Queens Museum JUNE 1, 2020 GRACE EBERT
In the Queens Museum parking lot, Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada (previously) has painted a 20,000-square-foot mural as both an act of gratitude to Latinx healthcare workers, who have risked their own safety to care for others, and a nationwide call to action. These are the people that make our city move, the people that care for us. These are the people that contribute socially, culturally, and economically to the nation… In the year 2020, where hindsight should not be clearer, it is amazing to me that we must continue to ask ourselves…how it is that minorities today still have to suffer the same injustices of the minorities of the past(?) “Somos La Luz,” or “We Are The Light,” is a large-scale rendering of Dr. Ydelfonso Decoo, a pediatrician who died when fighting the virus in New York City. Rodríguez-Gerada hopes to draw attention to the disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases among Latinx and Black populations across the United States, in addition to the alarming rates of infection in Queens, one of the city’s epicenters for the virus. In an Instagram post about the project, Rodríguez-Gerada said presenting the masked figure on such a massive scale reflects the enormity of the issue. “This artwork ‘Somos La Luz’ strives to give deeper meaning to the loss of each life,” the artist writes. “It strives to make evident the importance of every life as well as to value the amazing contribution of migrant people.” Best viewed aerially, the mural was commissioned by the immigrant healthcare organization SOMOS and Make the Road New York, an advocacy group. (via Hyperallergic) |
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