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Andrew Cuomo Says 'I Figuratively Stand With the Protestors' Following George Floyd's Death

The New York governor addressed the protests during his coronavirus press conferences over the weekend.

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Music Industry Plans Solidarity “Blackout” In Response To Death Of George Floyd

Multiple record labels and other music industry figures have planned a social media blackout tomorrow (2nd June) in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of police last week.

Floyd, 46, was an African American man who died in Minneapolis after Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeled on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes as he lay on the ground. The incident has since led to widespread protests, and Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Warner Records, Universal, Sony, Interscope Geffen and Caroline are among the labels that have pledged to “disconnect from work and reconnect with our community” on Tuesday.

“Due to recent events please join us as we take an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change,” reads a popular message being used to raise awareness of the blackout.

“As gatekeepers of the culture, it’s our responsibility to not only come together to celebrate the wins, but also hold each other up during a loss,” it adds, concluding with the hashtag #THESHOWMUSTBEPAUSED.

Across the industry, many artists have also used their platform to call for justice in the wake of Floyd’s death, including Chance the Rapper, Janelle Monáe, Sia, Ice Cube and Beyoncé.

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A post shared by Warner Records (@warnerrecords) on May 30, 2020 at 4:04pm PDT

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A post shared by Universal Music Group (@universalmusicgroup) on May 29, 2020 at 3:45pm PDT

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A post shared by Interscope Records (@interscope) on May 31, 2020 at 10:57am PDT

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A post shared by CAROLINE (@carolinemusic) on May 29, 2020 at 10:39am PDT

Image: Kerem Yucel/AFP/Getty

The post Music Industry Plans Solidarity “Blackout” In Response To Death Of George Floyd appeared first on Music Feeds.

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Australia eases social distancing restrictions as economic recovery efforts intensify

Several Australian states eased social distancing restrictions further on Monday, allowing restaurants to host more people and public attractions to reopen, as Canberra moves to revive the country's ailing economy.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2XHDboI

Dennis Rodman Begs Looters to Stop, 'We're Humans, Not Animals!'

Dennis Rodman says he's seen enough looting, destruction and chaos, and he's begging people to pull back -- "We're human beings, not f**king animals." The NBA Hall of Famer says he's not trying to minimize the issues of police brutality and racial…

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New top story from Time: ‘America Has Its Knee on People of Color.’ Why George Floyd’s Death Was a Breaking Point

The Simmons children were out past their bedtime. Frederick Simmons, age 11, and his sister Malia, age 8, had walked with their parents and 2-year old sister Nyla to the base of the Manhattan bridge in Brooklyn, where demonstrators were protesting the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. Their signs were almost as tall as their bodies; Malia had written “police suck” in her third-grade handwriting on a big sheet of poster board. The siblings wore small masks their mother had ordered especially for them: Frederick’s had baseballs on it, Malia’s featured characters from the movie Trolls.

They were standing roughly thirty feet away from the police line, shyly explaining why they had showed up to protest: “because of racism,” Malia said. “It’s scary,” said Frederick, “but also you have to stand up for yourself.” Nyla, two years old and sitting in a carrier on her father’s chest, held a sign that said “No Justice! No Peace! No racist police!” that was about three times as big as she was.

Then, in a moment, everything changed. Suddenly people were sprinting away from the cops–police had deployed either pepper spray or tear gas, nobody was sure–and the Simmons kids were briefly separated. The family reunited shortly afterwards and the kids were given new instructions: next time they have to run, go towards a wall and not into the crowd, so their parents can find them quickly.

That moment, their mother Kenyatta Reid said later, reflected what it feels like to be black in America: “You think you’re safe and everything’s fine,” she said later, “and then everything comes crumbling down, and you’re getting attacked.”

For many black Americans who flooded the streets of dozens of cities this weekend, the killing of George Floyd was the just the latest indignity in a year marked with increasingly unbearable death and despair. The coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately affected African Americans, who are more likely to contract COVID-19 and more likely to die than their white counterparts; African Americans make up just 12% of the population but account for more than nearly 26% of the COVID-19 cases and nearly 23% of deaths, according to CDC data. One study found that majority-black counties accounted for nearly half of all coronavirus cases and more than 60% of deaths.

The economic impact of the virus and the attempt to combat it has also disproportionately affected black communities: 44% of black Americans say that someone in their household has lost a job or taken a pay cut because of the pandemic, and 73% said they didn’t have a rainy day fund for an emergency, according to Pew. Most of the “essential workers” who risked their lives to keep New York City running are people of color, according to the Comptroller’s office.

On top of all that, a string of killings of black Americans has made the pervasive racial injustice even more acute: Ahmaud Arbery, gunned down by white vigilantes as he jogged in Georgia; Breonna Taylor, an emergency room technician who was shot eight times in her Kentucky home as police executed a no-knock warrant in the middle of the night; and George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.

“It’s either COVID is killing us, cops are killing us, the economy is killing us,” says Priscilla Borker, a 31-year old social worker who joined the demonstrations in Brooklyn on Friday. “Every corner that people of color turn, they’re being pushed.”

After months of social distancing to avoid spreading COVID-19, the protests represented a breaking point not just in the fight against racist police violence, but also in the fight against the disease. By gathering in crowds with little chance of social distance, the masked demonstrators risked not just police violence but their own health, all to lend their voices to the chorus demanding an end to racist violence.

“I’m more fearful of a police officer taking my life than I’m afraid of COVID-19,” says Ozzie Lumpkin, a 30-year old sales manager who attended the protest to honor the memory of jogger Ahmaud Arbery. “I look at running as my freedom,” says Lumpkin, who runs 75-100 miles a week. “When he got killed, I felt like a part of my freedom was taken away.”

“You think about the cop who had his knee on Floyd, you think about how America has its knee on people of color,” says Borker. “And so whether we stay home or think about the risk of coming out here in regards to the COVID crisis, either way we’re still being killed. So we don’t mind taking this risk.”

But after protesting for years against police killings of black Americans–Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, and thousands of others–some activists say they feel little has changed. “I know what it is to be called a N*****,” says James Talton, a 32-year old fitness instructor who protested in Brooklyn on Friday. He says he heard stories about his father’s struggles against Southern segregation, and “I feel like I’m still dealing with the same sh*t my dad dealt with.”

For that reason, Talton says, he doesn’t condone looting, but he does understand why angry demonstrators would destroy property. “For us to get the attention that we need, we’ve gotta set things on fire. Because it seems like nobody’s paying attention,” he said. “I’m afraid of living in America, period.”

Movement leaders say that this moment is different: between the health and economic carnage wreaked by Covid-19, the violent police crackdowns of this weekend’s protests, and the President’s tweets calling activists “thugs” and threatening them with “vicious dogs,” racial tensions have escalated to a breaking point.

“There is literally a brewing civil war that is happening,” says Alicia Garza, a leading racial justice organizer and founder of Black Futures Lab who helped coin the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” The militarization of police, the reports of white supremacist agitators infiltrating peaceful protests, and the rise of overt white nationalism have changed the stakes of the fight, Garza says. “White supremacists are now above ground and operating in broad daylight and being encouraged by our President and this White House,” she says.

In that unnervingly real sense, the battle has entered a new phase. “In 2014, people were building and understanding, we were still convincing people of all races that this was an issue,” says Deray McKesson, a civil rights activist and co-founder of Campaign Zero who was one of the most visible demonstrators in Ferguson, Missouri. “Now it’s like, okay people are ready, they know the right and wrong, but they don’t know how to fix it.”

“I’m not having the same conversations about ‘All Lives Matter,’ that’s changed,” says Garza, adding that she now sees far more white allies in the streets than she did in 2013. But even if public sentiment has swung in their direction (particularly among young people,) the official response hasn’t changed. “Where are the officials that have used the opportunity of this protest to announce a political change, to change the rules that keep black people unsafe?” Garza says.

After they reunited, the Simmons family stayed out. Nyla wasn’t crying, and the kids were shaken but not deterred. So they trekked about a mile down the road to the Barclays Center, where activists were continuing to demonstrate. As they walked, Frederick raised his sign up high above his head, letters in elementary-school handwriting spelling out: “Am I next?”

Aggressive Police Tactics During Protests Are Under Scrutiny

By BY SHAILA DEWAN AND MIKE BAKER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2MgdWED

Amid Riots and a Pandemic, Church Attendance Resumes in ‘a Very Broken World’

By BY SHAWN HUBLER AND RICK ROJAS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3djRpCI

Video Appears to Show a Tanker Truck Driving Into Minneapolis Protesters

By BY THE NEW YORK TIMES from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2yQEOrH

‘We’re Sick and Tired’: Voices From Minneapolis Protests

By BY KATIE G. NELSON, MIKE SHUM, SAMEEN AMIN, DMITRIY KHAVIN AND BARBARA MARCOLINI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2TTYlis

Symbol of N.Y.C. Unrest: A Burning Police Car

By BY AZI PAYBARAH AND NIKITA STEWART from NYT New York https://ift.tt/3gGd9L9

Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson 'snuck off to go to staff party at Balmoral'

Darren McGrady, who was the Duchess of Wales' personal chef from 1993 until her tragic death in 1997, has opened up about his time working and cooking for the Royal Family

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Thomas Rhett & Lauren Akins Are Teaching Daughters to 'Lead With Love In the Face of Hate'

The proud parents took to Instagram to share their hopes for helping their children create a better world.

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Billie Eilish Slams “All Lives Matter”, Outlines White Privilege In Powerful Instagram Post

Billie Eilish has added to the growing list of artists who have spoken out following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in the US last week.

Eilish took to Instagram over the weekend to share an impassioned post to her 63 million followers in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Eilish rebuked the contrarian “all lives matter” refrain and outlined white privilege, saying she felt compelled to use her “enormous platform” for good.

“IF I HEAR ONE MORE WHITE PERSON SAY ‘aLL liVeS maTtEr’ ONE MORE FUCKING TIME IM GONNA LOSE MY FUCKING MIND. WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP???? NO ONE ELSE IS SAYING YOUR LIFE DOESNT MATTER. NO ONE IS SAYING YOUR LIFE IS NOT HARD,” says Eilish in the post.

“THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU. STOP MAKING EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU. YOU ARE NOT IN NEED. YOU ARE NOT IN DANGER.”

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#justiceforgeorgefloyd #blacklivesmatter

A post shared by BILLIE EILISH (@billieeilish) on May 30, 2020 at 3:31am PDT

Eilish goes on to explain the flaws of the “all lives matter” argument, saying, “If your friend gets a cut on their arm are you gonna wait to give all your friends a bandaid first because all arms matter? NO you’re gonna help your friend because THEY are in PAIN because THEY are in need because THEY ARE BLEEDING.”

“If someones house was on fire & someone is stuck in the house, are you gonna make the fire department go to every other house on the block first because all houses matter??? NO! BECAUSE THEY DON’T FUCKING NEED IT.”

Eilish then breaks down the concept of white privilege, pointing out the way “SOCIETY GIVES YOU PRIVILEGE JUST FOR BEING WHITE”.

“IF ALL LIVES MATTER WHY ARE BLACK PEOPLE KILLED FOR JUST BEING BLACK?”, she continues.

You can read the whole post for yourself above.

Eilish is one of many artists, including Chance the Rapper, Janelle Monáe, Sia, Ice Cube and Beyoncé, who have used their platform to call for justice in the wake of Floyd’s death.

Image: Kevin Mazur/Getty

The post Billie Eilish Slams “All Lives Matter”, Outlines White Privilege In Powerful Instagram Post appeared first on Music Feeds.

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Destructive Power of Despair

By BY CHARLES M. BLOW from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/3gzWNDX

What Trump and Toxic Cops Have in Common

By BY JENNIFER SENIOR from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/36MQrfT

As Protests and Violence Spill Over, Trump Shrinks Back

By BY PETER BAKER AND MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Xktg9N

What Is Antifa, the Movement Trump Wants to Declare a Terror Group?

By BY NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS AND SANDRA E. GARCIA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2XhUCNz

Police Cars Rammed Protesters. What de Blasio’s Response Tells Us.

By BY DANA RUBINSTEIN AND JEFFERY C. MAYS from NYT New York https://ift.tt/3evWbgC

Record Ratings and Record Chaos on Cable News

By BY BEN SMITH from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2TYwddR

Many Claim Extremists Are Sparking Protest Violence. But Which Extremists?

By BY NEIL MACFARQUHAR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2BkEFha

Tara Reade’s Tumultuous Journey to the 2020 Campaign

By BY JIM RUTENBERG, STEPHANIE SAUL AND LISA LERER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3ezvEiy

New top story from Time: Semi-Trailer Drives Through George Floyd Protesters Marching in Minneapolis, No Apparent Injuries

MINNEAPOLIS — Officials in Minnesota say no protesters appear to have been hit after a semitrailer drove into a crowd demonstrating on a freeway near downtown Minneapolis.

The Minnesota State Patrol says in a tweet that the action appeared deliberate. The patrol says the driver was injured and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

It wasn’t clear how the driver was hurt. TV footage showed protesters swarming the truck, and then law enforcement quickly moving in.

Other TV footage showed the tanker truck moving rapidly onto the bridge and protesters appearing to part ahead of it.

The protesters were demonstrating against the death of George Floyd.