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What is missed often about what these movements have in common is we may not be of a religious tradition, but we absolutely are of a spiritual tradition, Khan said, citing the examples of Lewis and Ella Baker, another civil rights forbear with ties to the church. There is something inherently supernatural and spiritual about the work of social justice and the work of change.

The goals of the Black Lives Matter movement also intersect with the objectives of many liberation-focused Black churches: self-sufficient, politically empowered Black communities, equal access to resources and deep regard for public safety.

Al Sharpton, Baptist minister and founder of the National Action Network, said that to suggest that the movements conflict with the church is a new phenomenon would be rewriting of the movement.

This is nothing new, Sharpton said. Martin Luther King used to call it 'creative tension.' We need the push and pull between different disciplines and different tactics to come up with the best way.

Sharpton pointed out that of the Big Six civil rights leaders of the 1960s who coordinated the first March on Washington James Farmer, Roy Wilkins, A. Phillip Randolph, Whitney Young, King and Lewis only one, King, was a preacher. Many, as in the case of Roy Wilkins, were often hostile to the church as an organizing tool and felt it got in the way of the movements goals. Its a pattern that repeats itself in the Black Lives Matter era, Sharpton argued.

It's not like you don't have church leaders that don't disagree with me, he said. And it's not like you don't have Black Lives Matter folks that say he ain't with us even though he's black, and he says he is. There's searching on all sides. Can we make it all work is the challenge.

Two of Black Lives Matters founders, Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza, have spoken at National Action Network events and gone on Sharptons show to show operational unity. Younger activists have deferred to Sharpton in their organizing, as was the case in Minneapolis during George Floyds funeral, where it was accepted that Sharpton would deliver Floyds eulogy.

Activists of all generations, genders and sexual and religious orientations are united, moreover, in their view of how Lewis civil rights record has informed the work they have done and continue to do. His legacy proves especially critical now, following the more than two months of protests against racism and police violence that have made Lewis quintessential phrase good trouble newly relevant.

Speaking at Lewis' funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church, former President Barack Obama, weighed in from the pulpit on the biggest political issues of the day: Voting rights, fair Congressional representation and the presence of federal agents in Americas cities.

We may no longer have to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar in order to cast a ballot, but even as we sit here, there are those in power who are doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision, Obama, the nation's first Black president, said.

Yet Lewis work, Obama continued, vindicated the faith in our founding.

Several organizers said Lewis legacy has helped them push the boundaries of what could be possible in their work.

Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter, evoked Lewis words from his speech at the first March on Washington in her address to the Democratic National Committees platform meeting on Monday.

Hearkening back to Lewis, we are now involved in a serious revolution, Cullors said, borrowing language from his March on Washington address. Cullors encouraged the Democrats to embrace sea changes recommended by the Black Lives Matter movement, namely the BREATHE Act, which would limit federal ability to deploy police forces to cities and dramatically decrease the defense budget.

It's not enough just to have a seat at the table, we want to create a table or we want to flip the table over, said Angela Peoples, an organizer and director of Black Womxn For, an organization that aims to galvanize the political power of Black women and gender non-conforming folks. But even being able to name that as something that we want or that we even think is possible is only because those that have come before us have pushed their existence and their reality to see beyond what's possible.

This was true even in the face of bodily danger, something that has been associated with Lewis legacy as a protester. Jesse Jackson, former presidential candidate and founder of the multiethnic organizing Rainbow Coalition said that Lewis became immortal on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday in 1965. During that day, Lewis skull was cracked by a state trooper with a billy club.

John never stopped fighting, Jackson said. He had no fear and was always a really gentle and tough-minded person.

He also had his eyes on the future, even in his final days: one of the last pieces of legislation Lewis supported was the Justice in Policing Act, which aims to limit police violence. The bill, which would establish a national standard for police tactics and limit officers use of force, passed in the House on June 25, exactly one month after Floyd was killed.

Kayla Reed, director of the organizing group Action St. Louis and co-creator of the Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Project, said Lewis legacy inspired her career of activism.

I think it highlights what is possible, Reed said. When we think about how some people put a beginning and end to movements, that movement [work] is actually a lifelong commitment.

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From Bloody Sunday to Black Lives Matter, the role of the Black church is shifting - POLITICO

DARLINGTON, S.C. Former Major League Baseball All-Star second baseman Orlando Hudson says he will not wear a Black Lives Matter shirt.

Hudson, a native of Darlington, spoke alongside South Carolina Highway Patrol Col. Chris Williamson, also a Darlington native, at a conversation on policing event held Thursday evening at the Dominion Church.

"I've been asked to wear that shirt," Hudson said. "The reason I won't wear that shirt is not because black lives don't matter but because we have lost our identity as a black culture. We leave our women [and children] fatherless. We rape our women. We sell drugs to our own people. And it hurts."

"It seems black lives only matter when you have a Caucasian cop killing a young black man, then everybody wants to march for injustice," Hudson continued. "Where's the [march for] injustice when our mothers are raising two or three kids and the father is running around doing what he have to do?"

Hudson asked where was the march for injustice when gang-bangers were killing each other over a street corner or a block.

"They call that street cred," Hudson said. "When the white man kill us, they call that injustice."

No one in the room, Hudson said, created the injustices that African American people face today. Those have been going on for 400 years.

Hudson said most people have virtually unlimited opportunities for education.

"Now, we're in a time now where an African American brother can get an education but we'd rather see how many likes we can get on Snapchat," Hudson said. "We'd rather see how much love we can get on Instagram."

Instead of reading books, it's TikTok videos, Hudson added.

Hudson also expressed a desire for African Americans to desire to become doctors and lawyers and not focus all their efforts on becoming professional sports athletes.

Hudson imagined a conversation between Christ and God in which Christ tells God not to get angry about the lack of unity in the world because Christ was going to send a pandemic to force people to become unified.

Hudson also expressed a desire to see more people put God first in their lives. He implied that people needed to spend less time waiting in line at Walmart and more time in church.

Hudson also spoke about NBA forward LeBron James. He said he absolutely adored James both on and, particularly, off the court. Hudson said he admired James for making it to the NBA despite being the child of a teenage single parent.

James was born on Dec. 30, 1984, to 16-year old Gloria James.

"He understood being a young black man, playing this game that he loved playing, 'I can't make too much noise right now because they got an opportunity or a chance to run me out of here. I've got no leverage,'" Hudson said, partially speaking as James. Now that James has achieved success and the financial security that comes with it, Hudson said, "they can't shut him up."

Others speaking during the conversation included Williamson he showed a video of what to expect during a traffic stop and also talked about unity and togetherness South Carolina state Rep. Robert Q. Williams, Darlington County Schools Superintendent Tim Newman, Darlington Police Chief Kelvin Washington, and Darlington Mayor Curtis Boyd.

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Orlando Hudson says he won't wear Black Lives Matter shirt - SCNow

Posted: Jul 22, 2020 1:53 PM CDT

by Alabama News Network Staff

As the nation puts a spotlight on problems plaguing Black communities, some families and doctors are calling for medical disparities to be part of the Black Lives Matter conversation.

African American women are three to four times more likely to die due to pregnancy complications, says Dr. Emmary Butler, an OBGYN in Indiana. Dr. Butler, as well as many doctors and families, says its a systemic problem that must be fixed.

Conditions like pulmonary embolism, preeclampsia, and hypertension are avoidable if treated early in pregnancy, but Black mothers are dying from these problems.

Dr. Butler says, African Americans are more often not insured or they have poor access to quality care. However, these same studies also show that even with these resources, African Americans are not receiving the standard of care. Advocate for yourself, advocate for your family members, if you feel that youre having medical issues, please sound an alarm until someone actually listens.

Bruce McIntyre is a single father raising his three-month-old son Elias. His girlfriend Amber Isaac died during an emergency C-section in April. All I can do is think about Amber while Im with him, you know, he has her smile, her eyes, and it just kills me sometimes when I just stare at him because I think about what should have been.

The 26-year-old mothers death in a New York City hospital came just days after she tweeted that she was not receiving proper care. McIntyre calls it neglect. Amber developed a serious complication during pregnancy, but McIntyre says doctors didnt catch it until it was too late.

McIntyre is taking action. I cant sit around. Amber would not want me to sit around, he says. Hes organizing a march to raise awareness and hopefully save lives.

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Doctors Calling for Medical Disparities to be Part of Black Lives Matter Movement - Alabama News Network

President Donald Trump recently called Black Lives Matter a symbol of hate in response to New York Citys plan to paint Black Lives Matter on Fifth Avenue. Many view this as Trumps latest attempt to exploit racial tensions in order to appeal to his base.

But he isnt the only one. Walmart recently received backlash for selling T-shirts that included the phrases All Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, Irish Lives Matter and Homeless Lives Matter.

It is curious why such a simple, affirmative and humane phrase would become so emotionally provocative and politically divisive.

The exploitation of Black Lives Matter, whether for political or economic gain, is another manifestation of what Black studies scholar kihana ross argues is anti-Blackness, societys disdain, disregard and disgust for Black existence.

The Black Lives Matter phrase is intended to affirm the humanity of all Black people in the midst of deadly oppression in a country where long-standing racial disparities would suggest that Black lives really have not mattered. Take for example the following health and criminal justice data:

African Americans have the highest mortality rate for all cancers combined compared with all races, are 50 percent more likely to have a stroke compared with whites, and are twice as likely to die from diabetes as whites. African Americans have more than twice the infant mortality rate as whites, and Black mothers are more than twice as likely as white mothers to receive late or no prenatal care.

When it comes to criminal justice disparities, young unarmed nonsuicidal male victims of fatal use of force are 13 times more likely to be Black than white. Nearly half of the people serving life sentences are African American, and Black people make up 42% of death row inmates while making up 12% of the population.

These racial disparities and many more exist across education, housing, wealth and poverty. So it should be understandable that the phrase Black Lives Matter is said with such urgency. This is why it is so disturbing when certain elected leaders refuse to even say the words.

When Vice President Mike Pence was asked why he wont say Black Lives Matter, he indicated that he disagrees with what he characterizes as the radical left agenda, insisting he believes that all lives matter. In his mind, simply saying Black Lives Matter is a tacit endorsement of rioting and looting, rather than acknowledgement of the racism and anti-Blackness inherent in the lived experiences of Black people.

Pences rationalization is unconvincing given that Mitt Romney, a Republican, is willing to march with protesters and say Black Lives Matter. Sadly, the politicization of the words Black Lives Matter has even reached children.

As my 11-year-old was grieving after watching the video of the police officer with his knee pressed into the neck of George Floyd, we had to have the talk one of the most emotional conversations a Black father could have with his Black son. Later, while playing the video game Fortnite with his white friends, one of them mentioned that there were protests on Fortnite related to George Floyds murder. When my son said that Black Lives Matter, one of his friends countered by saying, All Lives Matter. For reasons that my son was not able to fully articulate, his friends words upset him very much.

After helping him to understand why he was feeling upset, my wife contacted his friends parents to express our anger and disappointment that their son would say this to our son. The parents were mortified, and after talking with their son, they wanted to talk with us. They apologized and explained that they had never said those words to their son, and when talking with him, it became apparent that he did not understand how those words could serve to negate or minimize the message of Black Lives Matter.

While a childs utterance of All Lives Matter may likely be uttered in youthful naivete, I do not extend the same considerations to corporations such as Walmart or politicians such as Pence. The refusal to even say the words Black Lives Matter is a blatant disregard of the pain experienced by Black people and suggests a racial skepticism that will never heal the racial divisions in this country.

Kevin Cokley is the Oscar and Anne Mauzy Regents Professor of Educational Research and Development, professor of African and African Diaspora Studies, and director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Distinguished Psychologist member of the Association of Black Psychologists.

A version of this op-ed appeared in USA Today.

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Don't Exploit 'Black Lives Matter' - UT News - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin

A protester holds up a sign at a demonstration against Whole Foods Markets clothing policy. outside Whole Foods on Gilman Street in Berkeley on July 17, 2020. Photo: Nancy Rubin

About 200 people gathered at the intersection of Gilman and Ninth streets Friday afternoon to protest a Whole Foods Market policy of not letting employees wear masks or T-shirts reading Black Lives Matter.

They came out to support Jordan Baker, who wore a Black Lives Matter face mask to work at the Gilman Street Whole Foods on July 15 and was asked to remove it within five minutes of arriving at work, according to her Instagram account.

I honestly dont want to work for a company who only supports a movement when it makes them look good, or makes them money, she wrote.

Her post was liked more than 40,000 times and many people at the rally said they had seen it and had turned up to support her.

Baker declined to talk to Berkeleyside during the rally. She said she has quit her job at Whole Foods.

The companys dress policy prohibits workers from wearing clothing with visible slogans, according to a spokesperson who sent the following statement:

In order to operate in a customer-focused environment, all Team Members must comply with our longstanding company dress code, which prohibits clothing with visible slogans, messages, logos or advertising that are not company-related, reads the statement. Team Members with face masks that do not comply with dress code are always offered new face masks. Team Members are unable to work until they comply with dress code.

But a woman who works at the Gilman store disputed that characterization. She said people wear clothing with slogans all the time and management does nothing about it. It was only when Baker wore a Black Lives Matter mask that they complained.

I wear logos every day and its never a problem, she said.

The woman, who did not want to give her name, said workers at the Gilman store are upset about the company policy. A number have quit. The woman, who has worked there for about a year, said she intended to quit soon. Others at the rally said word about what happened to Baker had spread among workers at the Berkeley and Oakland stores.

This is not the first large company to run into trouble when its employees wanted to wear Black Lives Matter merchandise. Starbucks, after tweeting on June 1 that it stood in solidarity with our Black partners, customers and communities, told its employees they could not wear BLM merchandise because its dress code, like Whole Foods, prohibited political or religious slogans, according to Buzz Feed. Starbucks later reversed its position.

The crowd, which started gathering at 3 p.m., soon swelled to more than 200. Protesters stood on the sidewalk and hoisted signs in the air. Many cars and trucks tooted horns in solidarity.

One woman, who used to work at the Whole Foods in Oakland, said the corporation was hypocritical because it said it supports social justice issues and has no tolerance for racism. But when an employee wears a Black Lives Matter face mask, she is told those words are prohibited.

Its tone-deaf, she said. Its super inconsiderate. Theyre performative. Its lip service.

A number of people at the rally said the concept of Black Lives Matter was no longer controversial after the mass movements prompted by the police killing of George Floyd, but instead expressed a demand for basic human rights.

This is not a political issue, the woman said. It is a human rights issue. This is not a controversial statement. Its a human rights statement.

Others at the rally said they were there to demand societal changes.

What I like to see is people participating, making social change, said Michael Ware, who works down the street at Berkeleys transfer station. Its our time, not only for Blacks but for whites to come together. This is an opportunity to unite for the better of all people.

The rally didnt seem to affect Whole Foods business much. As cars tried to turn into the parking lot, protesters would plead with the drivers to go elsewhere. A few turned around.

Inside, people continued with their shopping, seemingly unaware of the protest outside. However, three young women walked around the store and stopped customers to suggest they leave. They stopped this reporter and explained that Amazon was the true owner of Whole Foods, that it didnt pay its employees well, and that is a corrupt company. They encouraged customers to shop at Berkeleys independent markets, including Berkeley Bowl, Monterey Market and the Berkeley Natural Food Company.

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After being told to remove her "Black Lives Matter" face mask, Whole Foods employee quits in protest. - Berkeleyside