Civil Rights Movements & the Law

This study sought to analyze anti-Black racism LibGuides created by ARL member institutions to determine strengths and weaknesses of the guides based on LibGuides best practices. Institutional and LibGuide author demographic information were also gathered to determine correlations or trends, if any. Rubric evaluation of LibGuides found that guides were strongest in areas related to guide design, materials included on the guides, and links to resources. Guides were weakest in areas related to the framing of social justice and pedagogy. Results from this study have the potential to inform the structure and revision of social justice LibGuides at a time when librarianship is grappling with issues of neutrality, racism, and becoming more anti-racist.

We asked all state systems for book policies and ban lists, then created a database for you.

Archivist Yvonne Ng discusses new initiatives out of Ferguson, Baltimore and Cleveland to collect and preserve records of police abuse and protest movements.

"A brutal killing, an all-out manhunt, and a riveting account of the first murder trial in U.S. history--set in the 1600s in colonial New England against the backdrop of the Pequot War (between the Pequot tribe and the colonists of Massachusetts Bay), an explosive trial whose outcome changed the course of history, ended a two-year war, and brought about a peace that allowed the colonies to become a full-blown nation. The year: 1638. The setting: Providence, Plymouth Colony. A young Nipmuc tribesman, returning home from trading beaver pelts, is fatally stabbed in a robbery in the woods near Plymouth Colony, by a white runaway servant and fellow rogues. The young tribesman, fighting for his life, is able, with his final breaths, to reveal the details of the attack to Providence's governor, Roger Williams. A frantic manhunt by the fledgling government of Plymouth ensues, followed by the convening of the first trial, with Plymouth's governor Thomas Prence presiding as judge. The jury: local settlers (white) whose allegiance seems more likely to be with the accused than with the murdered (a native) . . . Tobey Pearl, piecing together a fascinating narrative through original research and first-rate detective work, re-creates in detail the full and startling, pivotal moment in pre-revolutionary America, as she examines the evolution of our nascent civil liberties and the role of the jury as a safeguard against injustice"--

Racial Equity Tools offers tools, research, tips, curricula, and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working for racial justice at every level –in systems, organizations, communities, and the culture at large.

We know that police don't keep us safe -- and as long as we continue to pump money into our corrupt criminal justice system at the expense of housing, health, and education investments -- we will never be truly safe. That's why we are calling to #DefundPolice and #InvestInCommunities -- and in our new video, Black Lives Matter Managing Director Kailee Scales helps break down just how it works.

Elizabeth Martinez Smith noted the “balancing act” dilemma Black people face as they run the gauntlet of contradictory pressures. She describes the meaning of “running the gauntle…

"This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans. The commission shall examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. Among other requirements the commission shall identify (1) the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery (2) forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society."

While many cheered the possibility of a huge financial windfall for the city's Black residents, one civil rights leader says the proposal is a distraction from tangible efforts to redress racism.

The Marshall Project explains its decision to offer free news to incarcerated people on tablets that otherwise charge users.

"Police officers are given wide latitude to stop and detain suspects since they're entrusted with the enforcement power of the law. When an officer orders you to "freeze" or submit to a search it's generally in your best interests to do so. But this doesn't mean they're above the law as police misconduct -- whether it's blatant racial profiling or the use of excessive force -- is strictly illegal. If an Arizona officer has violated your civil rights you may want to pursue a claim in civil court. Police misconduct runs the gamut from unlawful search and seizure (in violation of the Fourth Amendment) to planting false evidence on a suspect. And while police are protected by "qualified immunity" as long as their actions don't violate specific individual rights you have legal options in the event they do in fact violate your rights."

UCLA law professor Joanna Schwartz talks about the legal protections — including qualified immunity and no-knock warrants — that have protected officers from the repercussions of abuse. Her book is Shielded.Also, David Bianculli reviews Mel Brooks' History of the World Part II on Hulu.

"This work identifies our two-party, comparatively non-representative form of democracy as the main culprit of why American politics are so dysfunctional-and shows us how to fix it"--

Incarcerated people have high legal information needs, covering everything from criminal appeals to probate law. I have learned this from working with the Law Library Service to Prisoners (LLSP) pr…

How can we help students understand George Floyd's death in the context of institutionalized racism?

Black women are disproportionately victims of police brutality, but activists say they've been left behind and erased from the mainstream fight against police violence. Subscribe to HuffPost today: http://goo.gl/xW6HG Support our work: https://www.huffpost.com/subscribe Read: https://www.huffpost.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/HuffPost Follow: https://twitter.com/huffpost

As the pandemic worsened inside federal prisons, officials granted fewer releases.

Filed in federal court primarily in regards to the excessive force and use of tear gas in the midst of a global pandemic.

Anti-Racist Resources This is a list of resources to begin your anti-racist work. This list will be continously updated. Name of Resource,Type of Resource,Link,Notes Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: Mentoring a New Generation of Activists,Article,

Sisters of the late Sandra Bland, Sharon Cooper, Shavon Bland, Joy Phillips, Shante Needham, and lawyer Cannon Lambert sat down with Ebro in the Morning to remember the late Sandra Bland who passed away while in jail in 2015 causing tons of controversy due to its cause and coverup, and speak about the entire case overall. Say Her Name: The Life and Death Of Sandra Bland airs on HBO Monday, December 3. #HOT97 SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/HOT97Subscribe More @ http://www.hot97.com or the HOT 97 App: http://bit.ly/HOT97APPWORLDWIDE INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/hot97 TWITTER: https://twitter.com/HOT97 FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/HOT97OFFICIAL

Louisville’s Metro Council has voted to ban no-knock warrants. In a unanimous vote Thursday evening, council approved “Breonna’s Law,” named after Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed by Louisville po

"Focusing on the intimate relations that develop between plants and humans in the northern rural region of El Salvador, this book explores the ways in which more-than-human intimacies travel away from and return to the milpa through human networks. The chapters present innovative methodological and conceptual contributions to the study of relationships that form between plants and people"--

In this report, Perilous Chronicle analyzes the first 90 days of prisoner resistance to COVID-19, beginning in March 2020. It describes the context for the wave of unrest, describes major events from this period, and draws conclusions based on the data collected for each event.

In honor of the nation-wide #SayHerName Week of Action (June 11th-17th), AAPF has joined BYP 100 and numerous racial justice and gender justice organizations in uplifting the stories of Black women, girls and femmes who have been victimized by state violence, and demanding justice for them and their families. This video, the first in a series of three, lifts up the voices of mothers who have lost their daughters to police violence. The #SayHerName Mothers Network was first officially convened by AAPF in November 2016, a year and a half after many of the mothers joined us in New York City to launch the Say Her Name Report and attend the first ever #SayHerName Vigil in Union Square. Since then, the #SayHerName Mothers Network has joined together on a number of occasions, marching at the Women’s March on Washington, lobbying for police reform on Capitol Hill, and joining together for several focus groups and planning sessions to strategize around the initiative and to assess the needs of new family members who’ve lost their daughters to police violence. This video is dedicated to Vicky Coles-McAdory, aunty-mama of India Beaty and one of the original members of the #SayHerName Family Network, who tragically died of a stroke last September. Learn more about the campaign by visiting our website (aapf.org) and social media pages (@aapolicyforum). #SayHerName

Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America w

"An inside look at how police officers are trained to perpetuate state violence. Michael Brown. Philando Castile. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. As the names of those killed by the police became cemented into public memory, the American public took to the streets in unprecedented numbers to mourn, organize, and demand changes to the current system of policing. In response, police departments across the country committed themselves to change, pledging to hire more women and people of color, incorporate diversity training, and instruct officers to verbally de-escalate interactions with the public. These reform efforts tend to rely on a "bad apple" argument, focusing the nature and scope of the problem on the behavior of specific individuals and rarely considering the broader organizational process that determines who is allowed to patrol the public and how they learn to do their jobs. In Before the Badge, Samantha J. Simon provides a firsthand look into how police officers are selected and trained, describing every stage of the process, including recruitment, classroom instruction, and tactical training. Simon spent a year at police academies participating in the training alongside cadets, giving her a visceral, hands-on understanding of how police training operates. Using rich and detailed examples, she reveals that the process does more than test a cadet's physical or intellectual abilities. Instead, it socializes cadets into a system of state violence. As training progresses, cadets are expected to see themselves as warriors and to view Black and Latino/a members of the public as their enemies. Cadets who cannot or will not uphold this approach end up washing out. In Before the Badge, Simon explains how this training creates a context in which patterns of police violence persist and implores readers to re-envision the future of policing in the United States"--Provided by publisher.

"Colorado passed a sweeping police reform bill [...] among other reforms bans chokeholds and makes officers personally liable if they are found guilty of violating a person's civil rights." Li Cohen CBS News

Debtors’ prison might sound arcane. But this comic explains how it exists under a certain guise in America today.

"Imagine a world without bias. A world where all human beings can truly be just as they are and unleash their full potential. Take a moment to imagine how you feel in such a world--not what you think about it, or whether you believe it's possible, but how you feel. This is the proposition that opens Breaking Bias. It's your invitation to embark on a journey that will radically change your experience and show you how you, in turn, can help reshape our world."--Publisher's website.