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Black Lives Matter founders Opal Tometi, Patrisse Marie Cullors, Alicia Garza. The movement has been awarded the Sydney peace prize.

The human rights movement Black Lives Matter has won this years Sydney peace prize.

The movement which will be honoured in Sydney in November was founded in the US by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi after the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman, who had been accused of murdering black teenager Trayvon Martin.

Each year the Sydney Peace Foundation honours a nominee who has promoted peace with justice, human rights and non-violence. Past recipients include Julian Burnside, Prof Noam Chomsky and the former Irish president Mary Robinson.

Western Australian Labor senator Pat Dodson, who was awarded the Sydney peace prize in 2008 for his advocacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, applauded the selection of Black Lives Matter as a movement that stood against ignorance, hostility, discrimination, or racism.

This movement resonates around the globe and here in Australia, where we have become inured to the high incarceration rates and deaths in custody of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Dodson said. Its as if their lives do not matter.

For our communities, the storyline is all too familiar: the minor offence; the innocuous behaviour; the unnecessary detention; the failure to uphold the duty of care; the lack of respect for human dignity; the lonely death; the grief, loss and pain of the family the coronial report where no one is held responsible for a death in custody.

Last years recipient, Naomi Klein, said Cullors, Garza and Tometi embody the core principle of the Sydney peace prize: that there will never be peace without real justice.

This is an inspired, bold and urgent choice and its exactly what our moment of overlapping global crises demands, Klein said.

The selection is likely to be controversial with some who associate Black Lives Matter with images of week-long and occasionally violent protests at Ferguson, Missouri, following the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Mike Brown in 2014.

But those images, and the protests themselves, which have been repeated across the United States, only tell part of the story, said co-founder Patrisse Cullors.

Were not just about hitting the streets or direct action its a humanising project, she told Guardian Australia. Were trying to re-imagine humanity and bring us to a place where we can decide how we want to be in relation to each other versus criminalising our neighbours or being punitive towards them.

Cullors said an aspect of that was evaluating the role of police, looking at the underlying causes of incidents which draw police attention and questioning whether police can address the problem.

The complicated part of this is the question becomes: do we need police? Are police going to give us ultimate safety? Cullors said.

In our opinion: no, police are not going to give us safety. Weve seen time and time again that actually what they do is provide death In our country, police are the first responders to people with psychiatric issues, police are the first responders to drug use and overdose, police are the first responders to issues of domestic violence.

And what we have seen time and time again, when they become the first responders, they dont de-escalate. They actually escalate When they become the first responders, our family members end up dying.

Black people made up 266 of the 1,092 people killed by police in the United States in 2016, according to data collected by the Guardian. While more white people were killed, the rate at which black people were killed was three times higher: 6.6 people per million, second only to Native Americans who were killed at a rate of 10.13 per million.

The prize will be awarded to the co-founders at a Sydney Peace Foundation dinner in November. They will also deliver the City of Sydney peace lecture at a public ceremony.

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Black Lives Matter awarded 2017 Sydney peace prize | US news ... - The Guardian

fox6now.com

Caught on camera: Shorewood police need help tracking down Black Lives Matter vandal fox6now.com The most recent incident was caught on camera at a home in the northeast area of Shorewood. It happened around 11:00 p.m. on Monday, May 22nd. The man in the video trespasses on property and defaces four Black Lives Matter signs that were placed ...

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Caught on camera: Shorewood police need help tracking down Black Lives Matter vandal - fox6now.com

Betty Shelby (Tulsa, Okla., County Jail)

The weekend after Tulsa, Okla., Police Officer Betty Shelby was found not guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of unarmed black motorist Terence Crutcher, people gathered for rallies in Oklahoma City on two separate days to say Black lives matter.

One group marched through downtown Oklahoma City Saturday, and another gathered outside Oklahoma City police headquarters Sunday, Fox 25 reports, and both groups said they were following calls to action after the controversial trial came to an end Wednesday.

Were hoping to avoid or prevent an instance of the tragedy that occurred [in Tulsa] with the loss of life of Mr. Terence Crutcher, the Rev. T. Sheri Dickerson told Fox 25. Were trying to make sure that no other children go without their parent, that parents arent having to bury their children their sons and their daughtersand that communities arent trying to figure out how to heal.

As previously reported by The Root, Crutcher was killed by Shelby in September 2016. Both dashcam footage and helicopter footage showed that Crutcher, a 40-year-old black man, had his hands in the air and was unarmed when he was shot by the white police officer Shelby.

Police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie said that officers were responding to reports of a stalled vehicle, and that Crutcher failed to follow repeated commands by officers to put his hands up.

He refused to follow commands given by the officers, MacKenzie said. They continued to talk to him; he continued not to listen and follow any commands. As they got closer to the vehicle, he reached inside the vehicle, and at that time, there was a Taser deployment, and a short time later, there was one shot fired.

However, in video footage, Crutcher appears to be walking toward his vehicle with his arms in the air. He is first hit with a Taser blast by Officer Tyler Turnbough, and then, a few seconds later, he is shot at close range by Shelby. At no point does it appear that he made any sudden movements before being shot.

Dickerson told Fox 25 the rallies were ways to mourn Crutcher, but also find allies in the Black Lives Matter cause and figure out what changes need to be made in communities.

Former state Sen. Connie Johnson, who is now running for governor of Oklahoma, told demonstrators she believes there should be lessons during drivers education about how to act during a police stop.

But on the other side of that equation, is what should police be trained to do that is culturally competent when they have an encounter, Johnson said.

Read more at Fox 25.

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After Betty Shelby Verdict, People Gather in Oklahoma City to Say 'Black Lives Matter' - The Root

DIAPSORAThe World Health Organization (WHO) has elected Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia as its new Director General.

The 52-year-old malaria expert replacesDr. Margaret Chan of Chinato become the first African to hold the position.

All roads should lead to universal health coverage. I will not rest until we have met this, he said during a speech to the World Health Assembly.

Readmore onGhebreyesus and the chaining politics of the WHO, here.

DIASPORAAustralias Sydney University will award the Black Lives Matter movement with this yearsSydney Peace Prize. This is the first year that the award will be granted to a movement rather than an individual. Co-founders, Nigeiran-AmericanOpal Tometi,Patrisse CullorsandAlicia Garza will be present the award in an upcoming ceremony at the Sydney Peace Foundation.

DIASPORAThe restored version of the 1991 film Daughters of the Dust will be released on Netflix next month. The seminal film was the first movie by a black woman filmmaker to be distributed theatrically in the United States. The movie, directed byJulie Dash, had a nationwide 25th anniversary restoration showing last year, when it enjoyed a reemergence after being heavily referenced in Beyoncs Lemonade. Read more via Shadow and Act.

DIASPORA African Celebrities and politicians have sent messages of love, frustration and support to Manchester, UK following Mondays tragic bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in which 22 people were killed. Idris Elba, Wizkid, Michaela Coel and more took to social media in solidarity.

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The Stories You Need to Know: Black Lives Matter Wins Peace Prize, African Celebs Send Messages of Support to ... - Okayafrica

A Halloween skit many deemed offensive continues to create trouble for the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office. (May 23, 2017)

Gabrielle Karol, KXTV 6:44 PM. PDT May 23, 2017

A Halloween skit many deemed offensive continues to create trouble for the San Joaquin County District Attorneys office.

That skit, first reported by ABC10 News, featured employees of the district attorneys office dressed up as Snow White and the seven dwarves. One employee held a sign that said Dwarf Life Matters. Many community members felt the skit to be making fun of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Now, an attorney representing a number of Black Lives Matter protesters who have been charged with misdemeanors related to protest activities is asking for the district attorneys office, led by District Attorney Tori Verber-Salazar, to be recused.

Attorney Yolanda Huang filed a motion today which said that the skit demonstrates that there is a systematic racist attitude in the district attorneys office.

Huang also said that the number of charges filed against protesters had increased after the Halloween skit became public.

The misdemeanor charges protesters are facing include resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. Six adults and two teens have been charged.

Carmen Slaughter, the mother of the teens, was at the downtown Stockton courthouse Tuesday calling for the D.A.s recusal.

I think theyre racially biased and should be held accountable for the BLM skit they did during Halloween. I dont even think they should be on this, Slaughter said.

Deputy district attorney Robert Himelblau says a public defender filed a similar motion in a recent case involving a male defendant, who is black. The motion was denied; Himelblau says the defendant ended up pleading guilty to the charges.

While the judge presiding over this case is different, Himelblau says he believes the motion will be denied as well.

I am confident, because I believe there are no facts in there that show our office cant be anything weve always been 100 percent fair, Himelblau said.

The next hearing in this case for the adult defendants will be July 10.

2017 KXTV-TV

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Attorney calls for district attorney's recusal following controversial Black Lives Matter skit - ABC10