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Police estimated that roughly 150 people showed up for Saturday's Black Lives Matter march.

Police estimated that roughly 150 people showed up for Saturday's Black Lives Matter march.

During Saturday's march and rally, Ashton Woods announced his intention to run for City Hall in 2019.

During Saturday's march and rally, Ashton Woods announced his intention to run for City Hall in 2019.

Ashton Woods and other Black Lives Matter leaders addressed the crowd outside City Hall.

Ashton Woods and other Black Lives Matter leaders addressed the crowd outside City Hall.

Protesters Saturday walked from Discovery Green to City Hall.

Protesters Saturday walked from Discovery Green to City Hall.

Black Lives Matter march draws more than 100 to downtown Houston

Shouts of "Black Lives Matter!" echoed down Houston streets Saturday during a spirited solidarity march ending outside City Hall, where activist Ashton Woods announced his intention to run for City Council in 2019.

"It's time for new people to be in office. It's time for new people to take the helm and to protect people who are marginalized and on the fringes," he said in an interview before the rally. "As you can see, new fringes are being created every day."

Saturday's event - scheduled immediately after an earlier protest targeting the so-called "sanctuary cities" law - started at Discovery Green before the group of more than 150 marchers set off down Walker.

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Waving signs and holding banners, protesters shouted, "This is what democracy looks like," and, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, killer cops have got to go."

The gathering aimed to promote solidarity, support human rights and target police brutality.

"Today is the march for human rights," Woods said. "Every community that you can think of has come under attack, so this event is a solidarity event."

A strong police presence escorted the crowd through the street as protesters set off for City Hall around 5:30 p.m.

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"It's not about Donald Trump, you can impeach him all day," Woods told the crowd from the steps of City Hall.

"But they got a bunch of Donald Trumps right here in Houston. So I've decided to raise hell in City Council."

He went on to slam the city's new ordinances targeting homelessness and panhandling and then vowed to "dismantle the f--- out of the system."

After revving up the crowd, Woods introduced a new crop of local organizers, including Bobbie Hoskins.

"What I'm really passionate about is community involvement," she told the crowd. "We can come out and we can rally and we can march and we can stand in solidarity and that is all necessary as well, but what we need to do is do some groundwork and get into the communities."

Another new voice in the local movement was Chris Malone, who spoke about solidarity and black lives.

"I'm black, I'm gay, and I'm afraid," he said. "And I'm pissed the f--- off."

A number of other speakers took the megaphone and aired their concerns for the community, all while the crowd roared its support.

When the gathering finally broke up before 7 p.m., the protesters dispersed peacefully as police looked on.

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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