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It was in July 2016. In some ways it feels like just yesterday to Rebekkah Brunson and Cheryl Reeve. Other times, it seems like a completely different age.

Philando Castile had just been shot during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. An African American man named Alton Sterling had been shot by police outside a shop in Baton Rouge, La., not far from where Seimone Augustus grew up.

Reeve, who was then and still is the head coach of the Lynx, asked her captains at the time: What do you want to do?

Brunson, Augustus, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen talked, and agreed. Before their home game that July 9, in a pregame news conference, they wore T-shirts that said, "Change starts with us" and "Justice & accountability" on the front, with Castile and Sterling's names on the back along with "Black Lives Matter."

That night four off-duty police officers there to work security walked off the job.

Four years ago, this sort of display by athletes was considered by some to be controversial or inflammatory.

Move ahead four years to a difficult 2020, when the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor among many others at the hands of police has brought social justice to the forefront and made athletes more willing to speak out about them.

"There was outrage when we did it in 2016," Brunson said. "But I feel now the climate has changed."

Brunson is now a Lynx assistant coach who spent the summer with the team in the WNBA bubble in Florida, a location change necessitated by COVID-19 concerns. It was a season dedicated, by the league, to Taylor with their "Say Her Name" campaign.

Some players like former Lynx guard Renee Montgomery took the season off entirely to work for social change. When Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia a part-owner of the Atlanta Dream came out against Black Lives Matter, players wore the name of her opponent on their warmup shirts. When Jacob Blake was shot in Kenosha, Wis., in August, the WNBA postponed three games in protest.

"It wasn't like the reason people were protesting had changed," Brunson said. "It was that you just couldn't ignore it any longer. Being in the bubble wasn't ideal in terms of what we were going through to get a season in. But it gave us an opportunity to use our voices, as a group, collectively to create some change about issues we were very passionate about. It ended up being a beautiful thing."

This is happening across American sports.

Just a few years ago quarterback Colin Kaepernick was essentially blackballed from the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem. Before this season, in a podcast, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged the league's mistake. "I wish we had listened earlier, Kaep, to what you were kneeling about and what you were trying to bring attention to," Goodell said. This year, several NFL players including prominent members of the Vikings took a knee.

Bruce Maxwell, the former A's catcher who took a knee before the anthem during a game in September 2017, received a lot of pushback. Three years later, players and coaches from around MLB took a knee on opening day. The Twins played their games at Target Field with signs honoring Floyd and with Black Lives Matter displayed in the outfield.

The NBA season, also in a Florida bubble, was played out on courts painted with Black Lives Matter. Star players like Carmelo Anthony and Damian Lillard marched in George Floyd protests.

Wild defenseman Matt Dumba, who helped found the Hockey Diversity Alliance, was asked by the league to give a speech on racism before the NHL playoffs began, then he became the first NHL player to kneel during the national anthem.

Wolves players like Josh Okogie and Karl-Anthony Towns attended a downtown rally calling for justice for Floyd. The team has launched a web series called "Voices" that deals with issues of racism. D'Angelo Russell, a Louisville native, participated in rallies for justice for Taylor.

A lot has changed since 2016. Reeve remembers certain members of the Lynx and Wolves organization who were concerned about that pregame protest.

"The No. 1 thing we were trying to convey was that we couldn't sit idly by and watch murders at the hands of the police against Black and brown communities," Reeve said. "Change was the No. 1 thing we were after. So it was, 'Change starts with us.' It was also being bold saying Black Lives Matter. Fast-forward to George Floyd and how comfortable the vast majority of people are using the phrase Black Lives Matter, how fast it had become acceptable. Not everyone, of course. But it's significantly different than it was in 2016, certainly in our organization."

For Brunson, there is a little pride knowing she was a part of that protest four years ago. She still has that warmup shirt, something she'll cherish forever. Since then Brunson has retired and become a Lynx assistant. Whalen retired and is coaching the Gophers women's basketball team, with those players wearing Black Lives Matter shirts during warmups. Moore put her career on hold to fight for change.

"From a team standpoint, I do feel we set the tone for teams coming together," Brunson said.

Others are following.

"Now is the time for action," Reeve said. "What you're seeing is action, the collective will of not only the women of the WNBA, but the men of the NBA, the different sports."

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Minnesota Lynx were among the early promoters of the Black Lives Matter movement - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Issued on: 24/12/2020 - 17:32

An invisible foe indifferent to man-made borders, the world's greatest pandemic in a century triggered fear, anxiety, and sometimes the worst but also the best in humanity. In Italy and elsewhere, we clapped for care workers who appropriately bore the name of front-line workers, heading into battle desperately short of protective equipment and all too oftensacrificing their own lives.

In March,Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly announced a lockdown, forcing migrant workers, many of them day labourers, to travel across the country to their home states in what some described as the country's greatest migration since the Partition in 1947.

When the virus struck, local authorities played down the danger in China. Angry citizens demanded answersparticularly when a 33-year-old front-line doctor was detained for doubting the statistics. When Li Wenliang himself succumbed to Covid-19 in early February, they were even more outraged.

The unprecedented pandemic led up toan unprecedented US election. Record turnout, thanks in no small part to mail-in and earlyvoting campaigns that went into overdrive for health reasons, sawDemocrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris beat President Donald Trump by 7 million ballots. But the Republican candidate also outperformed his own showing of justfour years ago.

With minorities disproportionately affected by Covid-19, built-up rage exploded in late May over the death of 46-year-old George Floyd. His death at the hands ofa white Minneapolis police officer caught on camera was the result of police being called over a counterfeit $20 bill.

As for France, the country found itself revisiting some of thedark themes of 2015. As the trial of suspected accomplicesin theCharlie Hebdo attacks began, the satirical weekly republished controversial cartoons of the prophet, prompting a backlash in the Muslim world and fresh attacks on French soil, including a stabbing spree in a Nice cathedral. The most gruesome attack was the beheading of middle-school teacher Samuel Paty, who was murdered by an 18-year-old Chechen who was angered that Patyhad shownstudents the Mohammed caricatures as part of a class on free speech.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron had a war of words in 2020, with Erdogan flexingmuscle on the world stageby deploying troops to Libya and gunboats to the oil- and gas-rich waters of the eastern Mediterranean. In the conflict over the disputedenclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, Erdogan backed Azerbaijan and Russia stepped in to broker a truce that requiredArmenia acceptingAzerbaijanigains in the region but retreating Armenians razed theirown homes as they ceded territory.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.

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The world this week - A year of Covid-19, a US election, Black Lives Matter, Samuel Paty and Nagorno-Karabakh - FRANCE 24

The back drop to all this was the May 25th killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who asphyxiated under the knee of a white police officer who was arresting Floyd for allegedly using counterfeit money. Floyds graphic death, captured on cellphone video by bystanders, shocked the U.S. and the world.

From Washington to Los Angeles, protesters by the tens of thousands marched nightly, symbolically going down on one knee in a compelling reminder of George Floyds fate. The rallies spread to cities in Europe and Canada, including Ottawa where on June 9 thousands marched in a protest six blocks long that snaked though the streets from Parliament Hill to Confederation Park.

There is no middle ground here, Rev. Anthony Bailey, the pastor of Parkdale United Church, told the crowd. You are either a racist or an anti-racist.

Among the estimated 9,000 demonstrators was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who joined the crowd in taking a knee. Trudeau did not speak at the rally, but told reporters the next day that he felt he needed to be there.

To look out the windows of my office and see thousand upon thousands of young people, of Canadians of all ages stand in solidarity, wanting to see change happen, I felt it was important for me to be part of that, Trudeau said.

The BLM march coincided with Mayor Jim Watson appointing Rawlson King, Ottawas first Black councillor, to head the citys Anti-Racism Secretariat, a body that King had first proposed to council in 2019.

Excerpt from:
Newsmakers 2020: Abdirahman Abdi and the year of Black Lives Matter - Ottawa Citizen

Bucks County Courier Times

Dictionary companies choose word of the year: Pandemic

In the land of lexicography, out of the whole of the English language, 2020's word of the year is a vocabulary of one - "pandemic." (Nov. 30)

AP

About Anthony: I'm currently a producer for Gannett's Digital Optimization Team, but for most of the year I worked as a reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer. Before that, I was news director for the Burlington County Times and a copy desk editor for all three news organizations. I started with the company in 2012 through an internship with Bucks County Community College, and they couldn't get me to leave the building. I'm a Bucks County native and Pennsbury graduate who resides in Lower Bucks with Dawn, mywifeof 13 years;two daughters, Isabella, 12, and Sophie Ann, 9; and my two dogs, Daphne and Oliver. I'm an avid comic book reader, Philly sports fan and hard rock enthusiast.

Hidden talent: Have a knack for useless knowledge, trivia and name that tune.

Favorite of 2020: St. Mary nurses hold vigil for coronavirus victims

"While I wrote several stories about the coronavirus pandemic and its effects, the vigil at St. Mary was able to highlight the true physical and emotional toll the virus had on health care workers and others in the community. Their words described how hard COVID-19 hit those of all walks of life in our country."

Other top storiesin 2020:

A magical spot:$35M initiative seeks to preserve New Hope Art Colony

Black Lives Matter:Amid Black Lives Matter protests, more school districts are pushing to address racism. Is it enough?

Child custody bill:Kayden's Law heads to full Pa. Senate

COVID impact:Coronavirus shutdown puts brakes on Bucks tourism industry

Editor's note: Editors and reporters for the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer are using this final week of the year to share with our subscribers a little about ourselves, our favorite stories of the year and a sampling of our best work. Three reporters/editors will share daily this week.

We thank our subscribers for allowing us to serve you with our local journalism. We hope you enjoy the look back at the year and learn a little bit about us, too. We appreciate your support.

Shane Fitzgerald, Executive Editor

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Best of 2020: From COVID to Kayden's Law, Anthony DiMattia told Bucks County stories of impact - Bucks County Courier Times

2020 has been a year like no other and for many of us it is one we will want to put behind us.

The year has beenfull of highs and lows with incredible scientific breakthroughs and human connection being reimagined.

We've taken a look back at some of the most iconic moments of the year:

Clap for Carers

(PA)

The Clap for Carers event ran every Thursday night at 8pm for 10 weeks and saw the nation stand on their doorsteps celebrating our incredible frontline workers.

Across the country people made as much noise as they could clapping, banging pots and pans and ringing bells in ashow of appreciation to the nation's heroes.

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Free School Meals

(Michael Regan/PA)

With thousands of people on furlough and school holidays looming, low income families across the nation felt the pinch of their purse strings more than ever this year.

Families that usually rely on free school meals to help feed their children were supported through a campaign by Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford.

The 23-year-olds campaign ensured free meals would be provided to disadvantaged children helping to improve the lives of thousands during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Queen's "We'll meet again" speech

(Victoria Jones/PA)

To mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day The Queen praised the nation's response to the coronavirus outbreak.

As she remembered Britains Second World War sacrifices and the joyous celebrations that followed the end of fighting in Europe, the head of state paid tribute to the positive qualities of todays generation.

The tireless efforts of NHS staff, care and key workers, and communities helping the vulnerable, reflected a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire, said the Queen.

And she highlighted the message of VE (Victory in Europe) Day that resonates with the countrys plight today Never give up, never despair.

After the broadcast, the nation was invited to open doors and windows and takepart in sing-a-long of Forces Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynns wartime anthem Well Meet Again, during the BBCs VE Day 75 show.

The nation's favourite PE teacher

(Conor McDonell/PA)

As the nation was gripped by the coronavirus pandemic and children were off school during the first lockdown, one man came to every parent's rescue - Joe Wicks.

PE with Joe Wicks ran throughout lockdown with weekday fitness sessions for little ones (and adults too) at 9am.

A record-breaking number of 955,185 households tuned in toP.E with Joeon the 24th March setting a new record for 'Mostviewersfor a fitness workout live stream on YouTube'.

The remarkable Captain Tom Moore

(Joe Giddens/ PA)

Former British Army Officer, Captain Tom Moore walked 100 laps of his garden in Marston Moretaine before his 100th birthday to raise money for the NHS.

CaptainTom received donations reaching more than a staggering 32 million, including an 'undisclosed' sum from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

On July 17 Captain Sir Tom Moore was knighted by The Queen in her first official engagement in person since the first lockdown.

Protesters throwing a statue of Edward Colston into Bristol harbour

After the killing of George Floyd in America on May 25protests erupted across the globe under the Black Lives Matter movement.

This iconic wave of protests and demonstrations seen worldwide captivated people from all walks of life frustrated by the treatment of black people.

In the UK there were BLM protests in every major city and town with calls for action sparkinga wave of change that can still be felt today.

The statue of Edward Colston, a 17th-century slave trader, can be seen about to fall into the water in the foreground with hordes of protesters stood across Peros Bridge in the background. The bridge is named after enslaved African Pero Jones, who was brought to Bristol aged 12 to work as a servant and died in the city after 32 years of service.

Capturing the juxtaposition of these two worlds colliding in the 21st century makes forone of the most groundbreaking images of 2020.

First person to be vaccinated against Covid-19

Margaret Keenan, 90, who became the first person to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech covid-19 vaccine.

This landmark moment at University Hospital, Coventry marks the start of the largest ever immunisation programme in British history.

Formally leaving the European Union

(Yui Mok - PA)

This image, taken on January 31 2020, shows the Union flagbeing loweredfrom its pole outside the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, and removed to mark the UK formally leaving the European Union, after 47 years of membership.

The brexit transition period will end on December 31 sparking enormous change for theUKfrom January 1 2021.

Goats taking over Llandudno

(Pete Byrne - PA)

The quieter streets in Llandudno because of lockdown meant the Welsh mountain goats were roaming freely around the town.

The mischievous goats took over the town and entertained residents to no end during the first lockdown.

The Dominic Cummings debacle

(Jonathan Brady - PA)

This moment captured national attention and wound the government up in a huge controversy.

Who could forget when Prime Minister Boris Johnson's chief political adviser Dominic Cummings drove from his home to Barnard Castle during the first lockdown whilst having the coronavirus.

This scandal rocked the news agenda for days and filled the nation with outrage.

What is the most iconic moment of 2020 for you? Let us know in the comments.

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The most iconic moments of 2020: Clap for carers, vaccine and Black Lives Matter - South Wales Argus