Social Movements & the Law

#DemocracyNow

Native Americans are killed in police encounters at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group, according to data from the CDC.

Accountability is a well-worn word in social justice circles. The three of us, one a member of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, one of us African-American, one of us white, have worked hard to figure out what accountability means to us as we attempt to walk our social justice talk. We have done this because we’ve seen too often how the concept of accountability gets (mis)used in interpersonal games of tit for tat, manipulations aimed at getting people to follow an agenda rather than reach for a shared vision. We know how challenging it is to build community-wide accountability when we are spinning in ever increasing dysfunctional circles personally.

Our goal is to ensure that our colleagues understand why #BlackLivesMatter (and address the social response to the notion of All Lives Matter), focus on social justice, and create an atmosphere of civil discussion on race.

A study published in February 2018 by the American Journal of Public Health was conducted to update previous examinations of racial/ethnic disparities in the use of lethal force by law enforcement in the United States. Join HeinOnline as we take a deeper dive into this hot topic.

870 Followers, 510 Following, 363 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from US Human Rights Network (@ushrnetwork)

"The book provides robust historic, cultural, and social context for social justice work, assists readers in managing the discomfort that often accompanies raised consciousness, and offer step-by-step instructions for initiating social justice campaigns and projects. The text examines the history of liberal activism in the United States, various types of activism, significant social movements, the art of dialoguing through disagreement, the importance of leadership and the risks and rewards associated with activism. An extensive list of causes is provided, along with strategies for getting involved, empowering readers to identify causes that are important to them and to take action"--Back cover.

As noted in the Society of American Archivists’ June 2 Statement on Black Lives and Archives, the vitality of American archives depends...

A study published Thursday in a medical journal estimated a federal database failed to count more than 50% of deaths attributable to police violence over nearly 40 years.

"Current attempts to correct historical discrimination by local and regional offices of the USDA have been met with charges of 'reverse discrimination'"

This guide will help users learn more about antiracism and how to become antiracism allies and accomplices. It also includes support and self-care resources for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). You may be prompted to enter your Texas A&M University credentials to gain access to certain materials.

"A celebration of the revolutionary change Amy and David Goodman have witnessed during the two decades of their acclaimed television and radio news program Democracy Now! and how small individual acts from progressive heroes have produced lasting results. In 1996 Amy Goodman began hosting a show called Democracy Now! to focus on the issues and movements that are too often ignored by the corporate media. Today it is the largest public media collaboration in the US. This important book looks back over the past twenty years of Democracy Now! and the powerful movements and charismatic leaders who are re-shaping our world. Goodman takes us along as she goes to where the silence is, bringing out voices from the streets of Ferguson to Staten Island, Wall Street, and South Carolina to East Timorand other places where people are rising up to demand justice. Giving voice to those who have been forgotten, forsaken, and beaten down by the powerful, Democracy Now! pays tribute to those progressive heroes--the whistleblowers, the organizers, the protesters--who have brought about remarkable, often invisible change over the last couple of decades in seismic ways. This is 'an impassioned book aiming to fuel informed participation, outrage, and dissent' (Kirkus Reviews)."

The multi-hour broadcast will be filled with energy, celebration, education, electoral justice, and a vision for Black Lives before the biggest election of our time, and long after. On August 28, 2020, starting with a Red Carpet at 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT, and the convention at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT, the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) and Electoral Justice Project will host the 2020 Black National Convention (BNC) live broadcast. Together, we will ratify a Black political agenda days after the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and ahead of November, when Black voters will play a pivotal role in determining whether we have four more years of domination or a new set of challenges to overcome.

Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Follow here for live updates and analysis.

Compiled resources from Harvard Law Review.

The Borderlands are both geographical and cultural spaces. This fluid space between worlds is a place of cultural wealth that hosts several communities. This libguide, the first of many centered on the people of the Borderlands, looks at the experiences of Black people in the Borderlands, from Baja, California to Tamaulipas, Mexico.

ADL is a leading anti-hate organization. Founded in 1913 in response to an escalating climate of anti-Semitism and bigotry, its timeless mission is to protect the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all.

"Critical Thinking presents, defines and explains the intellectual skills and habits of mind that comprise critical thinking and its relationship to social justice. Each of the sequential chapters includes detailed examples and learning exercises that guide the reader step by step from intellectual competency, to critical thinking, to cultural cognition, and to critical awareness necessary for social justice. The book documents and explains the scope of multiple crises facing society today, including environmental destruction, income and wealth inequality, large-scale human migration, and the rise of autocratic governments. It shows how critical thinking, cultural cognition, and critical awareness lead to the possibility of solutions grounded in social justice. All college students, especially those in the social sciences and humanities, will develop the intellectual skills necessary for critically engaging information in order to become active learners and effective agents in the world. This book complements information in introductory, interdisciplinary, or discipline-specific courses. Every chapter contains examples and exercises that can be assigned as homework, adopted as in-class activities, or both. The Conclusion also contains exercises for developing writing and basic mathematical competency skills"--

This is a recording of a live webinar session that streamed on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at 1 PM CT. Join Alexandria (Va.) Library to learn about their We Are the Alexandria Library Sit-In, a year-long celebration of the 80th anniversary of a historic protest at the library. The program was the winner of the 2020 ALA Excellence in Library Programming Award.

"President Joe Biden on Monday issued a proclamation to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre when hundreds of Black Americans were killed by a White mob that attacked a prosperous Black neighborhood and burned dozens of city blocks to the ground."

Tracking anti-CRT efforts introduced at the local, state, and federal levels.

The White House is putting forward a proposal to add a new racial category called Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) . If approved, the new designation could appear on census forms in 2020 and could have far-reaching implications for racial identity, anti-discrimination laws, and health research. Under current law, people from the Middle East are considered white, the legacy of century-old court rulings in which Syrian Americans argued that they should not be considered Asian -- because that designation would deny them citizenship under the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. But scholars and community leaders say more and more people with Middle Eastern roots find themselves caught between white, black, and Asian classifications that don't fully represent their identities. "What it does, it helps these communities feel less invisible", said Helen Samhan of the Arab American Institute, which has been advocating the change for more than 30 years. The White House Office of Management and Budget advanced the proposal with a notice in the Federal Register on September 30, 2016, asking for comments and which groups would be included. Under the proposal, the new Middle East and North African designation -- or MENA as it's called by population scholars -- is broader in concept that Arab (an ethnicity) or Muslim (a religion). It would include anyone from a region of the world stretching from Morocco to Iran, and including Syrian and Coptic Christians, Israeli Jews, and other religious minorities. Time will tell whether the new category will include Turkish, Sudanese, and Somali-Americans. As a result, this guide will slowly expand its coverage to include both Arab American and Muslima American as well as many of the other population groups from this part of the world. Dept. of Justice Affirms in 1909 Whether Syrians, Turks, and Arabs are of White or Yellow Race. Courtesy of the Arab American Historical Foundation.

"This handbook shares perspectives of experts on what is needed to accelerate recovery of natural and man-made disaster"--

In 2020, Houghton Library began a yearlong project to identify and make digitally discoverable a curated selection of African American rare books, manuscripts, and ephemera. This project led to the discovery and cataloging of previously unidentified materials, the digitization of over 1,000 rare items, and new collaborations across internal departments, with students and external stakeholders. This webinar will focus on the nuts and bolts of the project, with a particular focus on elements that can be applied to different special collections contexts. Due to the pandemic, this project was managed almost entirely remotely. Managing a digital project during this particularly stressful time required library staff to develop new workflows without additional resources. The lessons learned in this process will form the core of this presentation. This webinar will be of interest to digital collections librarians and project managers, archivists, special collections librarians, and digital scholarship librarians.

"A new survey released by the ABA on Thursday found stark divisions based on age and race when it comes to believing that there are racial biases built into the rules procedures and practices of the justice system."

This guide supports the African American Studies Minor. Resources on the movement #Blacklivesmatter

Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-ytAs we mark Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the United Stat...

"In the late twentieth century United States, nothing united union members, Chicanos, gay men and lesbians, feminists, black activists, and progressive college students quite so well as Coors beer. Members of these communities came together not in praise of the ice cold beverage but, rather, to unite against a common enemy: the Colorado-based Coors Brewing Company. Wielding the consumer boycott as their weapon of choice, activists targeted Coors for allegations of antiunionism, discrimination, and ties to prominent political conservatives. Over multiple decades of organizing and coalition-building, anti-Coors activists molded the boycott tool into a means of political protest. In Brewing a Boycott, Allyson P. Brantley details the history of this boycott movement - one of the longest such campaigns in U.S. history - for the first time. Drawing from an array of archival collections, as well as oral history interviews with long-time boycotters, Brantley offers a compelling, grassroots view of boycotting, anti-corporate organizing, and the unlikely coalitions that formed in opposition to the iconic Rocky Mountain brew. The story of this boycott, as told here, highlights the vibrancy of activism in the final decades of the twentieth century and the enduring legacy of that organizing for communities, consumer activists, and corporations today"--

DC residents actively working for police reform in the District of Columbia have been trying to get the DC City Council to hold a hearing that would allow their fellow residents to testify about their experience with the police. The good news is the DC Council’s Judiciary Committee is holding an Oversight Roundtable on policing for next Thursday, July 12th. The bad news is that event was announced less than a week ago, giving activists very little time to get the word out to those who might like to testify. Fortunately, Grassroots DC managed to capture some testimony on our own. Footage was shot by Just Jones, Josh the Girl and Liane Scott. It was edited by Miheema Goodine and Liane Scott. Information about the roundtable and how to participate follows:: Councilmember Charles Allen, Chairperson Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety Announces a Public Oversight Roundtable on Policing and Public Safety In Wards 7 and 8 Thursday, July 12, 2018 9:30 a.m. Room 412, John A. Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20004 Reconvening at 5:00 p.m. Deanwood Recreation Center 1350 49th Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20019 The Committee seeks testimony from residents on topics related to policing and public safety, to include community policing; stops and frisks; the use of force; de-escalation strategies; gun recovery tactics; policing public space; and police presence in the community. Government witnesses will be heard in the morning session, and public witnesses are welcome at both the morning and evening sessions. Anyone wishing to testify at the roundtable should contact the Committee via email at judiciary@dccouncil.us or at (202) 724-7808, and provide their name, telephone number, organizational affiliation, and title (if any), by close of business Tuesday, July 10. Public witnesses who do not wish to be featured on camera can have their names and likenesses obscured, and they should so indicate when registering.