Columbia, MO – On Nov. 9, both the president and chancellor of the University of Missouri announced their resignation after mass protests by the student body against racism on campus. The announcement came after about 30 African American players on the school's football team threatened to strike and not play Saturday's game if University President Tim Wolfe did not resign. Had the football strike taken place and the team not played, the school would have suffered a $1 million fine for breaking its contract with Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Jacksonville, FL – On Sept. 4, 4th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Angela Corey cleared the two white police officers who shot and killed D'Angelo Stallworth, a 28-year-old African American father in Jacksonville. Two Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) deputies killed Stallworth outside his apartment in May of this year while serving an eviction notice on a neighbor. Stallworth's death sparked mass outrage and several large protests from the community demanding justice.
Protesters calling on state attorney to indict two killer cops
Jacksonville, FL – More than 50 people gathered outside the Duval County courthouse to demand justice for D'Angelo Stallworth, the 28-year-old African American man murdered by Jacksonville police in May. The crowd assembled around noon, carrying signs and wearing t-shirts with the slogan “Justice 4 Dee.”
Vow renewed opposition to her racist prosecution practices
Jacksonville, FL – On June 2, State Attorney Angela Corey kicked off her campaign for a third term in the 2016 elections. In 2008, Corey became the state attorney for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, which encompasses Duval, Nassau and Clay counties. She was reelected in 2012 after running unopposed.
Jacksonville, FL – On June 2, State Attorney Angela Corey kicked off her campaign for a third term in the 2016 elections. In 2008, Corey became the state attorney for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, which encompasses Duval, Nassau and Clay counties. She was reelected in 2012 after running unopposed.
'3½ Minutes' highlights that racism, not ‘loud music,’ was at the center of Dunn Trial
Jacksonville, FL – Duval County became the center of international attention following the murder of 17-year-old African American youth Jordan Davis by a racist vigilante in 2012. Jordan, along with three friends, was shot in a parked SUV at a gas station by Michael Dunn, a white 46-year-old man. After state prosecutors failed to win a guilty verdict for the first-degree murder charge of killing Jordan, Dunn was retried and eventually convicted in 2014, receiving a sentence of 90-plus years in prison.
Jacksonville, FL – On April 4, South Carolina police officer Michael Slager shot and killed Walter Scott, an unarmed 50-year-old African American man. Slager, a white cop, pulled over Scott for driving with a broken taillight. Within hours, the North Charleston police began releasing statements supportive of Slager's claim that Scott had reached for his tazer, causing the cop to fire his weapon in fear for his life.
Jacksonville, FL – A Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) officer shot an unarmed Black man multiple times, at around 9:00 a.m., March 29, at the Cleveland Arms apartment complex. Neighbors say he is in his early 20s and was not at fault. The officer who shot him has been previously involved in multiple incidents. The young man is currently in the hospital, and his condition is reportedly stable.
Russian war epic holds lessons for U.S. audiences on modern day crisis in Ukraine
Last year, I might have thought of Stalingrad as an interesting history lesson. But when I sat down in the theater to watch the new Russian war epic last weekend, all I could think about was the crisis in Ukraine.
Latest U.S. moves to topple Venezuela's progressive Bolivarian government and inflict harm on the people
Jacksonville, FL – In the latest move by the U.S. to topple the progressive, democratic Venezuelan government, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced on March 3 that President Barack Obama was considering economic sanctions on Venezuela. Schultz, who represents a district in south Florida and who chairs the Democratic National Committee, made the disturbing announcement on the heels of a proposed Venezuela sanctions bill introduced and sponsored by Florida's two senators, Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson.
Jacksonville, FL – Protesters from across Florida gathered in front of the Duval County Courthouse on October 31 for the first status hearing in the retrial of Marissa Alexander, the 33 year old African American mother who fired a warning shot to fend off her abusive husband.
ZANU-PF sweeps parliamentary election on platform of land and freedom
Although official vote totals in the July 31 election are still coming in, the people of Zimbabwe voted overwhelmingly to reelect President Robert Mugabe to another five-year term. Mugabe’s party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), also won the parliamentary election in a landslide, making gains and solidifying their majority. Despite claims by Mugabe’s opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), that the elections were rigged, monitors from the African Union called the elections “peaceful, orderly, free and fair.”
Jacksonville, FL – When the nearly all white jury returned with a not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, people all around the U.S. were outraged. Outside the courtroom in Sanford, Florida some 200 protesters gathered up and issued a united call for nationwide protests, which was answered in the coming days by activists across the country.
The dogs of war in the U.S. media bark and, in true Don Quixote fashion, it’s a sign that authors Hillary and Flynt Leverett are on the move. In their electrifying new book, Going to Tehran: Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the former National Security Council experts – who were forced out of their positions for their opposition to Washington’s war-mongering and occupation – take on the growing myths told by the U.S. government about Iran.
PHOENIX, AZ – At midnight on May 31, Emilio Hernandez heard a knock on the front door. With the rest of his family sound asleep, he walked to the door and opened it. He couldn’t believe what he saw. There standing in the doorway was his wife, Bertha Hernandez.
President interrupted by Code Pink co-founder, pressed on Guantanamo prison
Washington, DC – On May 23, U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a speech at the National Defense University, supposedly outlining changes to the ‘counter-terrorism’ policy of the U.S. While the U.S. media hailed the speech as a significant change from the War on Terror policies of the Bush administration that carried into Obama’s first term, the president’s speech mostly doubled-down on the drone strikes and military actions that have brought death and destruction to people in the Middle East.
Jacksonville, FL – Last month, the United States Navy announced the construction of a major command center for surveillance drones at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station (NAS), pending approval by Congress. According to the Pentagon, the center would cost an estimated $22 million and would make the North Florida city one of two new sites for drone operations in the US. The Navy will construct the other new command center on the West Coast.
About 160 years ago, Karl Marx wrote that history repeats itself, “the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” And speaking to his statement in 2012, it’s hard to think of any modern example better than the remake of the 1984 film, Red Dawn.
