Tag Archives: civil rights

Courthouse News reports: The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a possible prank call Wednesday that triggered a heavily armed police response at the home of leading Black Lives Matter activist Melina Abdullah, who livestreamed the incident as her three children were inside the home. Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter LA and a professor at California State University, Los …

NBC News reports: Former president Barack Obama gave a soaring eulogy for John Lewis, urging Americans to honor the legacy of a civil rights giant by engaging in the “good trouble” that leads to a more perfect democracy in the face of powerful institutions that seek to oppress. The former president spoke on the current threat to voting rights in …

CBS News reports: Three former presidents will honor Congressman John Lewis at his funeral in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday at 11 a.m., completing a week of memorial services for the longtime lawmaker and civil rights icon. Former President Barack Obama will deliver the eulogy for Lewis, who died earlier this month at age 80. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George …

CNN reports: Former President Barack Obama will give the eulogy at US Rep. John Lewis’ funeral on Thursday and former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will attend the service, according to sources familiar with the former presidents’ plans. The sources added that Clinton and Bush will also participate in the funeral, which will be held Thursday morning at …

Politico reports: The late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis revealed Thursday that he had been “inspired” in his final days by nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality. In an op-ed authored shortly before his death and published on the day of his funeral by The New York Times, the Georgia Democrat reflected upon his own calling …

Atlanta’s ABC News affiliate reports: The late Rep. John Lewis arrived back home in Atlanta today, following four days of tributes and services that have taken the congressman and Civil Rights hero back to his native Alabama and then to Washington, D.C. As he did at the Alabama and U.S. capitols, Lewis will lie in state at the Georgia State …

Bismarck’s CBS News affiliate reports: After both Republican and Democratic politicians spoke out against a portion of the North Dakota Republican Party’s recently adopted policy platform that describes LGBT practices as “unhealthy and dangerous,” and “sometimes infecting society at large,” the NDGOP Executive Committee voted to disavow Resolution 31 and its “harmful and divisive language.” In a statement after the …

USA Today reports: John Lewis has returned to the nation’s capital one last time. Lewis, who died July 17 from pancreatic cancer at 80, arrived at Joint Base Andrews after two days of tributes in Alabama. The family and friends traveling with him include Lewis’ only son, John-Miles Lewis, as well as siblings, nieces and nephews. The motorcade is expected …

Ketchikan’s NPR affiliate reports: An ordinance that prohibits discrimination against LGTBQ individuals in Ketchikan city limits was passed today. The local law was approved by the Ketchikan City Council over the objections of religious advocates. Though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this summer that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender …

CNN reports: As news of Rep. John Lewis’ death rocked the nation, tributes to the civil rights leader and longtime Georgia politician poured in from activists and politicians alike. Lewis was the son of sharecroppers who survived a brutal beating by police during a landmark 1965 march in Selma, Alabama. He ultimately became a towering figure of the civil rights …

ABC News reports: Rep. John Lewis “loved this country so much that he risked his life and his blood so that it might live up to its promise,” former President Barack Obama said Friday night in paying tribute to one of his personal heroes. “And through the decades, he not only gave all of himself to the cause of freedom …

NBC News reports: Civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who has been receiving hospice care, passed away at the age of 80 at his home in Atlanta on Friday. Lewis, a Democrat, played a key role in the civil rights movement and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. He was the …

ESPN reports: “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing,” traditionally known as the Black national anthem, is expected to be performed live or played before every Week 1 NFL game, and the league is considering a variety of other measures during the upcoming season to recognize victims of police brutality, a source familiar with the league’s discussions told The Undefeated on Thursday. …

The Washington Post reports: South Carolina racial justice activists said they would postpone future demonstrations or move them online after at least 13 people who took part in previous protests tested positive for the coronavirus. As the number of cases across the country continued to climb ominously Monday, organizers of “I Can’t Breathe” protests in South Carolina urged participants to …

Via press release from Lambda Legal: Today, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis sex, also protects employees from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Today’s decisions confirm workplace anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people …

NBC News reports: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that existing federal law forbids job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, a major victory for advocates of gay rights — and a surprising one from an increasingly conservative court. The decision said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate …

From DNC Chairman Tom Perez: “Shameful. On the four-year anniversary of Pulse, in the middle of Pride Month, and during a pandemic, Trump has taken a knife to protections against health care discrimination put in place by the Obama-Biden administration. This illegal attack on the health of LGBTQ+ Americans and other marginalized communities is appalling, but tragically unsurprising. “Trump and …

From the Human Rights Campaign: The Human Rights Campaign announced that it will file a lawsuit challenging the Trump-Pence administration’s decision to roll back critical civil rights protections in the rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The new rule will eliminate explicit protections from discrimination based on sex stereotyping and gender identity that have existed under …

Reuters reports: Most Americans, including a majority of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party, support sweeping law enforcement reforms such as a ban on chokeholds and racial profiling after the latest death of an African American while in police custody, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released today. For example, 82% of Americans want to ban police from using chokeholds, 83% …

Deadline reports: As in previous public statements of late, Obama never said the name Donald Trump, but left no one unclear who he was spotlighting as gaslighting the divisions in America for personal and ideological gain. “Democracy isn’t about relying on some charismatic leader to make changes from on high,” he proclaimed. “It’s about finding hope in ourselves, and creating …