From the creators of the project: “If it’s within your means, let’s redistribute our wealth into imperative movement work and lean into radical change to create a future where all people are provided for regardless of race, ability, gender, sexual orientation, age and class.”
Sung by TaRhea Ray, Kaiice, Liz Chanel, and Royvine
Producer: Austin Danson
Mix/Master: Brady Waibel
Vocal Engineer: Sam Garfield
Songwriter/Video Editor: Royvine
Lyric Video: Kathy Inoue
Single Artwork: Christopher Versackas
It was exactly one year ago today that an innocent young Black woman lost her life in a late-night police raid gone wrong as police gunfire rained through her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.
For months, her death went largely unrecognized. Once more people took notice, though, the city was shaken to its core. Protests rocked the downtown area during the summer and fall as demonstrators demanded justice through tears and megaphones and erected a memorial in a prominent square. They prayed together and sang together, chanting, “Say her name!”
Breonna Taylor became a rallying cry, and when no officers were charged in connection with her death, which occurred during a botched drug raid, protesters returned to the streets. Activists are optimistic that the first anniversary of her death, on Saturday, will further fuel a promising surge of civic engagement, particularly from Black residents.
“What happened to Breonna Taylor has shaped every aspect of our lives,” said Charles Booker, a former state representative for Louisville. “Her door being kicked in was our door being kicked in. It really has transformed everything.”
For those who aren’t aware, the police got a tip Taylor’s apartment was being used to traffic drugs. They got the address wrong.
According to reports, the police burst through the door in the middle of the night under the use of what’s known as a ‘no-knock warrant’ which means they didn’t announce who they were before entering. Taylor was shot dead in her bed.
Over the course of a year, none of the officers who fired into the apartment that night has been charged for the death of Taylor. Read the full article.
Breonna Taylor’s death was a tragedy, a blow to her family, her community, and America. As we continue to mourn her, we must press ahead to pass meaningful police reform in Congress. I remain committed to signing a landmark reform bill into law.
Today, I #SayHerName. Breonna Taylor. Her life and her dreams were needlessly cut short. @POTUS and I will continue to push for police reform. We’re committed to working with Congress to get it done.
Saying her name is about honor.
Saying her name is about respect.
Saying her name is about accountability.
Saying her name is about equal protection.
Saying her name is about demanding action.
Saying her name is about justice.
One year after she was murdered by police officers, it is a disgrace that we are still waiting on justice for Breonna Taylor. Yes, her life mattered. The time is long overdue for us to combat systemic racism and a broken criminal justice system.
A new poll shows how Donald Trump could win the November election amid the recent violence that has happened in the aftermath of Jacob Blake being shot by Kenosha police officers.
Democrats close to the Biden campaign are concerned the looting and violence in cities could help President Trump, especially among the few undecided or wavering Americans.
In a Marquette Law School poll of registered voters in battleground Wisconsin, support for Black Lives Matters protests dropped 13 points from June to August, just ahead of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha.
“There was an initial surge in support for and sympathy with BLM in June,” Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, told me.
“The shift to a more negative view in August is strongest among Republicans, but independents and Democrats also became less approving. The decline was across all regions except for the city of Milwaukee.”
[snip]
David Axelrod’s warning to fellow Dems about Trump’s effort to shift attention from COVID and unemployment to ‘law and order:’
“The timing of unrest in Kenosha has been a gift to him in that project.”
From the summary of the new poll on the issue of the Black Lives Matter movement:
In June 59 percent were favorable and 27 percent were unfavorable.
In August favorable views declined though a plurality held favorable views, 49 percent favorable to 37 percent unfavorable.
• Out Music: Randy Report favorite NIKO (above) releases his latest single, “Try,” a romantic, intimate anthem dedicated to his partner. With dreamy synths and soft beats, NIKO tells an autobiographical story about overcoming obstacles and finding love.
• Vice: Former classmates of Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who is charged with killing two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, say he was known as a “ride or die” Trump supporter. “If you said anything bad about Trump, he’d threaten you. Kyle was the type of kid to wear a MAGA hat or other apparel just for attention, or to ‘trigger’ people.”
• New York Post: Reviewing Donald Trump’s “longest in convention history” speech – “There was no flow, no argument, no central core. He praised himself and he attacked Joe Biden, just as you’d expect. But he didn’t build a case for himself or a case against Biden — and it’s the construction of such cases that provide the dramatic structure a major speech needs to engage both the head and the heart. For someone who relishes drama, Trump provided none.”
• Politico: A former Liberty University student says Becki Falwell, the wife of the school’s then-President Jerry Falwell Jr., jumped into bed with him and performed oral sex on him while he stayed over at the Falwell home after a band practice with her eldest son in 2008. The student, who was 22 at the time of the encounter, said she initiated the act. She then pursued the young man in text messages, and yes, there are screen captures.
• Yahoo Sports: The Mets and Marlins took the field last night for only a 42-second moment of silence – most probably in honor of Jackie Robinson – before leaving in solidarity. The only thing left on the field – a Black Lives Matter shirt.
The Mets and Marlins took the field, had a 42-second moment of silence, and then walked off.
Multiple reports this morning that Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot in the back 7 times by police after he broke up a fight between two women.
In a video clip shot from across the street, you can see Blake walking away from police and attempting to get in his SUV where his three small children were when the officer grabs Blake’s t-shirt and begins shooting.
A large crowd of protesters gathered following the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday. He was identified by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers as Jacob Blake. The county declared a state of emergency overnight curfew, according to CBS Milwaukee affiliate WDJT-TV.
The man was transported to the hospital in serious condition, according to police. His father said on Facebook that his son is alive and in stable condition. Family friend Daniel Poneman tweeted that Blake is out of surgery, in the ICU and is “expected to make it.”
Graphic video that purportedly shows the shooting began circulating on social media. The video, which appears to have been taken from across the street, shows the man walking around an SUV as police yell at him with weapons drawn, with one officer closely following him.
As the man opens the driver-side door of the vehicle, the officer grabs the back of the man’s shirt and appears to fire several shots into the man’s back. At least seven shots are heard in the video, but it was unclear how many officers fired.
The Police knew that Jacob Blake’s children were in the hot car. They could have easily tackled him before he opened his car door if they were afraid he had a weapon in there. THERE IS NO EXCUSE! #blacklivesmatterpic.twitter.com/yGezwta3sM
The police officers who shot Jacob Blake 7 times in the back did not have body cameras. If nobody took that cell phone video, Jacob would not just be fighting for his life right now in the ICU but would be facing multiple charges by the cops and years in prison. Video everything.
Jacob Blake wasn’t committing any crime. Instead of asking why he didn’t comply, ask why an officer who was called to the scene for 2 white women fighting somehow shifted his attention to this Black man, drew his gun on him, and shot him 7 times in the back.
International superstar Dolly Parton (via Instagram)
Sometimes, it’s the divas that lead the way.
In a new interview with Billboard, international music superstar Dolly Parton makes her support for the Black Matters Lives movement clear and unequivocal: “I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen. And of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”
The Billboard article offers a detailed profile of Parton’s extensive business empire and explores some of the secrets to her success.
Being flexible in business situations is one skill that’s served her well both financially and in showing the world her authentic self.
Years before talk of Confederate flags and statues leaped to the forefront of political discourse, Parton renamed her Dixie Stampede dinner venue Dolly Parton’s Stampede in an effort to be sensitive to the painful history of slavery.
“There’s such a thing as innocent ignorance, and so many of us are guilty of that,” Parton tells Billboard. “When they said ‘Dixie’ was an offensive word, I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to offend anybody. This is a business. We’ll just call it The Stampede.’”
“As soon as you realize that [something] is a problem, you should fix it,” shares the 74-year-old wise woman. “Don’t be a dumbass. That’s where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting anybody on purpose.”
Of course, Parton has a long history of supporting and uplifting her LGBTQ fans. She’s often been quoted as saying, “If I hadn’t have been a girl, I’d have been a drag queen.”
In a 2009 interview with Joy Behar, she was asked about her support for same-sex marriage to which replied with a smile, “Why can’t they get married? They should suffer like the rest of us do.”
She reiterated that stance in 2014 telling HuffPost, “I think everyone should be with who they love.”
“I don’t want to be controversial or stir up a bunch of trouble but people are going to love who they are going to love,” she continued. “I think gay couples should be allowed to marry. They should suffer just like us heterosexuals, hahahaha.”
And last November, promoting her Netflix series Heartstrings (which featured a gay romance episode “Two Doors Down”), she told Logo, “I’ve always been proud of my gay following. I think they care about me because I care about them.”
And around that same time, the country diva jumped into the dance music world with her terrific collaboration with Galantis, “Faith,” giving us all something to dance about.
Happy Friday, folks! Here’s to celebrating a diva who gives back to all her fans.
The founder of LGBTrump, a queer Facebook group that supports Donald Trump’s reelection, has been arrested twice in the past week for defacing the Black Lives Matter mural painted in front of Trump Tower in New York City.
According to the New York Post, Mark-David Hutt of Rochester, New York, was arrested on July 25 for spreading red paint on the BLM display on Fifth Avenue shortly after 5 pm, and charged with criminal mischief.
But the next morning, the 31-year-old was back at it trying to smear white paint on the BLM. Hutt was cuffed and arrested again by 10:10 am.
The next day, Hutt took to the group’s Facebook page to boast of his lame efforts:
“Saturday, I splashed Red. Sunday, I splashed White. & on Monday…,” Hutt wrote when he posted the latest in a string of videos of his vandalism. “Mayor Bill de Blasio has ruined NYC & has put a target on the back of NYPD’s finest. We need to STAND UP and take our country back. #BlueLivesMatter”
Video of Hutt on his hands and knees pushing the white paint on the ground made it to Twitter. In the clip, you can see a police officer attempt to stop the Trump supporter, but Hutt just ignores the officer.
Eventually, four officers gingerly stopped Hutt from finishing his vandalism.
I’m not surprised or mad anymore. This is what losing looks like, on your hands and knees in the middle of the street, pushing paint around. Pathetic! pic.twitter.com/ShvwKkDt4K
The Washington Postreports at least 8 people have been arrested for vandalizing the BLM display since it was initially installed on July 9 by the city.
Hutt was so proud of himself he made a screen capture of his arrest the banner for his Facebook page (above).
On July 29, he posted a meme letting people know, “If you need a reason to unfriend me, I am pro Trump, pro military, pro law enforcement, pro gun, pro life, a Christian, and there is only two genders. P.S. All Lives Matter.”
At a pro-police rally over the weekend in Vermont, a woman became unhinged when confronted by a group of Black Lives Matter counter-protesters at the Montpelier event.
“Black lives don’t matter at all to me! White lives matter!” she screamed at the camera. “You’ve had everything, free f*cking everything. Blacks have been coddled for years. Free college, free everything!”
“Free everything and it’s still not enough and never will be!” she added.
One of the Black Lives Matter protesters asked, “So you’re saying you’re a white supremacist? That’s what I’m hearing.”
“Black lives don’t f*cking matter to me,” was the white woman’s reply.
So much for the ‘All Lives Matter’ argument.
For the record, Black Americans don’t get ‘free college.’
And you might want to ask George Floyd about being ‘coddled.’
Oh, right…we can’t. He’s dead.
Racist woman in Vermont says “Black lives don’t matter at all to me, white lives matter” pic.twitter.com/0IKULuRtfq
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) July 26, 2020
Donald Trump is reportedly getting involved in the case of a wealthy St. Louis couple who threatened Black Lives Matters protesters with guns outside their St. Louis mansion.
The couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, are under review for criminal charges, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden said Tuesday, adding that the police had filed for warrants in the case.
Pictures of the couple waving weapons at protesters on June 28 were shared widely and were seen by many as a symbol of tensions in the US following the death of George Floyd.
On Tuesday, Missouri’s Republican governor, Mike Parson, said Trump “doesn’t like what he sees and the way these people are being treated.”
Parson, as quoted by The Washington Post, said he thought the president and Attorney General William Barr “are going to take a look” at the McCloskey case.
“The president said that he would do everything he could within his powers to help with this situation and he would be taking action to do that,” Parson said.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner in a statement accused the president and the governor of playing politics with the case.
2/ As I always do. I am reviewing all the available facts and the law and will apply them equally, regardless of the people involved.
4/ It is also incredible that at a time when our nation is dealing with a rapidly spreading deadly virus and our State reported a record number of new infections, they are launching these dog-whistle attacks against me. They should be focused on their jobs, & I’ll focus on mine.
