Beyonce and Jay Z with Sybrina Fulton & me at the #100CityTrayvon vigil pic.twitter.com/7ZMLR7L1zj
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) July 20, 2013
Several hundred participants in a “Justice for Trayvon” march in Los Angeles split up Saturday in the Mid-City area, with one group continuing west on Wilshire Boulevard while another faction headed north on Coronado Street.
Blowing whistles, beating drums and chanting “No Justice, No Peace,” the protesters made their way from the federal building downtown to the Mid-City area. The group was followed by more than a dozen officers on motorcycles and bicycles, while a police helicopter hovered overhead.
But no arrests and no problems were reported during the march. Police closed intersections as marchers passed and eastbound Wilshire remained open.
It was unclear where the marchers were headed.
Demonstrators have split into two groups. One is heading north on Coronado Street. The other west on Wilshi... https://t.co/FdnzA5iSYz
— Ruben Vives (@LATvives) July 20, 2013
On the eve of more protests over the George Zimmerman verdict, Obama discusses black skepticism of the legal system and his own experience with prejudice.
PRINCETON, NJ -- Black Americans are significantly less likely now than they were 20 years ago to cite discrimination as the main reason blacks on average have worse jobs, income, and housing than whites. Today, 37% of blacks say these differences are due to discrimination and 60% say they are caused by something else. In 1993, 44% said such differences were due to discrimination and 48% something else.
President Obama did something Friday that he hardly ever does — and no other president could ever have done. He addressed the racial fault lines in the country by laying bare his personal anguish and experience in an effort to help white Americans understand why African-Americans reacted with frustration and anger to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.Whatever.
Mr. Obama’s comments during a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing crystallized the dissonance around this case. In the narrow confines of the trial, all talk of race was excluded, and the “stand your ground” element in Florida’s self-defense law was not invoked by Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyers. But in the broader, more profound and more troubling context of Mr. Martin’s death, race and Florida’s lax gun laws are inextricably interwoven.
On the first, Mr. Obama said: “The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments.” The jurors, he added, “were properly instructed that in a case such as this reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict.”
But on the broader context, Mr. Obama eloquently rebutted those — like Representative Andy Harris, a Republican, with his dismissive “get over it” remark on Tuesday — who said that the verdict should have ended discussion of the case, especially talk about race and gun laws.
“Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago,” Mr. Obama said, adding that “it’s important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away.”
He said there are “very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store” or “the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off.”
“That,” he said, “includes me.”
Britain’s favourite newspaper sent the pair — dead ringers for Prince William and wife Kate — to lift the mood outside the clinic where well-wishers and news crews had been huddled in anticipation of the imminent royal birth.
In a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing this afternoon, President Obama spoke in depth on the death of Trayvon Martin and, more generally, the complex nature of race in America and the disenchantment and alienation felt by many African-Americans. The unscripted remarks were arguably the most personal and heartfelt he's made as president.Okay, but Detroit's a thing, via Alan Caruba:
On Twitter and elsewhere, prominent conservatives reacted pretty much as expected: They called Obama a racist, accused him of faking emotion, and claimed that he's only trying to distract from the IRS scandal, which isn't even a thing anymore.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced Friday that a telephone hotline has been established for anyone wishing to report sexual misconduct allegations against Mayor Bob Filner.Keep in mind that's Democrat Mayor Bob Filner.
Filner, battling accusations of sexual harassment of staff members and constituents, said late Friday that he's fine with the idea of a hotline because it might lead to an objective investigation rather than just "press conferences and innuendo."
If an investigation is warranted, the Sheriff's Department will be the lead agency, not the San Diego Police Department which reports to the 70-year-old Democrat, officials said.
Under state law, victims of sexual abuse are provided anonymity and can be accompanied by a representative or advocate during interviews, sheriff's officials said.
Sheriff Bill Gore said that "these are extremely sensitive matters and should there be an investigation, [the sheriff's] department as the lead agency, will not be providing any details as the investigation proceeds."
Announcement of the hotline came as three-dozen people rallied outside City Hall to talk about their effort to recall Filner and to seek volunteers to gather the signatures necessary to put a recall on the ballot.
Several groups are planning vigils and marches in Downtown Oakland. One group plans a march to Fruitvale BART. pic.twitter.com/9iPhwU70cz
— Sergio Quintana (@svqjournalist) July 20, 2013
One group plans to march downtown and check in with local Oakland businesses that have been vandalized. pic.twitter.com/uFru3erWvK
— Sergio Quintana (@svqjournalist) July 20, 2013
Protesters gathering at #OGP for march to Fruitvale. #Oakland #J4TMOAK #Trayvon @insidebayarea pic.twitter.com/gu8nKRSJEl
— Tyska (@Tyska) July 20, 2013
Mural artist Robert Trujillo hugs his son Saja in front of a mural of #trayvonmartin #oakland #j4tm @insidebayarea pic.twitter.com/7MWmE6ADxO
— Jose Carlos Fajardo (@jcfphotog) July 20, 2013
MT @Tyska: Protesters at Frank Ogawa Plaza head down Int'l. on march to Fruitvale @SFBART #Oakland #J4TM #Trayvon pic.twitter.com/CSJ8q9Zw6F
— insidebayarea (@insidebayarea) July 20, 2013
Protesters are marching along Foothill Blvd. in Oakland right now. The group is headed to the Fruitvale BART station. pic.twitter.com/lEbH0j2DuX
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsBayArea) July 20, 2013
There is a parade of demonstrators, police and traffic weaving through Oakland. It's a long march to FruitvaleBART. pic.twitter.com/3i8oC5sLkM
— Sergio Quintana (@svqjournalist) July 20, 2013
Protesters turn right on Fruitvale on march to Fruitvale BART. #Oakland #J4TMOAK #Trayvon @insidebayarea pic.twitter.com/fqAkEBLcuw
— Tyska (@Tyska) July 20, 2013
Mama Ayana asking 4 peaceful vigil, sacred space @ Fruitvale BART #Oakland #J4TMOAK #Trayvon @insidebayarea pic.twitter.com/d4Lcc2vzlC
— Tyska (@Tyska) July 20, 2013
Demonstrators have arrived at FruitvaleBART. They are honoring #TrayvonMartin & #OscarGrant. pic.twitter.com/TLpc2hJDdn
— Sergio Quintana (@svqjournalist) July 20, 2013
It ["The Wolverine"] is the sixth time Jackman has portrayed the Wolverine character and when we talk he is on a brief trip from Quebec where he is filming his seventh turn as the conflicted steel-clawed superhero in X-Men: The Days of Future Past which reunites the original X-Men casts of Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender etc.
