People Before Profit blog

NBC to Donald Trump: You're fired; Televisa drops pageant

Tue, 30 Jun 2015 12:51:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) -- NBC said Monday that it is ending its business relationship with mogul and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump because of comments he made about Mexican immigrants during the announcement of his campaign.

The network said it would no longer air the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which had been a joint venture between the company and Trump. Miss USA has aired on NBC since 2003, and this year's edition was set for July 12.

"At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values," NBC said in a statement.

Trump's reply: a "weak" NBC should prepare to meet him in court.

Late Monday, Mexican media giant Televisa said it will no longer air the Miss Universe pageant and won't do business with Trump on any other communication project.

Televisa, one of the largest TV groups in the hemisphere, said in a statement that Trump's "disrespectful" remarks offended the entire Mexican population. The company said it "strongly rejects all forms of discrimination, racism and xenophobia."

A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NBC's action comes less than a week after Univision similarly decided to ditch Trump and the pageants. Trump has also been a fixture on NBC as host of "The Apprentice" and its celebrity offshoot, and an agreement that he would no longer be on the show predated the current controversy. The network said Monday that it and producer Mark Burnett are exploring ways to continue "Celebrity Apprentice" sans Trump.

Trump said he anticipated losing the business relationship and that he's not apologizing for his statements because they "were correct."

"Whatever they want to do is OK with me," Trump told reporters in Chicago after a campaign speech before the City Club of Chicago, which is comprised of civic and community leaders.

But in a statement issued by his company in New York, Trump said "NBC is weak, and like everybody else is trying to be politically correct. That is why our country is in serious trouble."

He said he'd consider suing, as he plans to do with Univision. He also took a shot at NBC's decision to demote, but not fire, news anchor Brian Williams for telling false stories about some of the reporting he was involved in.

"They will stand behind lying Brian Williams, but won't stand behind people that tell it like it is, as unpleasant as that may be," he said.

During his presidential kickoff speech, Trump said Mexican immigrants are "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists and some, I assume, are good people." He called for building a wall along the southern border of the United States. Trump later said that his remarks were directed at U.S. policymakers, not the Mexican government or its people.

The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a group of 39 Latino advocacy organizations, had called on NBC to get out of business with Trump. Similarly, a petition urging the same thing on the Change.org website had gathered more than 218,000 signatures.

In a sense, NBC's hand was forced by Univision's decision. NBC's parent company, NBC Universal, owns Telemundo, the chief competitor to Univision among Spanish-language networks in the United States. Telemundo lost the contract to air Miss USA and Miss Universe to Univision.

"If they need and value the Latino community, they needed to show they knew the depth of the insult that came from Trump," said Felix Sanchez, organizer for the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda.

Dozens of protesters - from immigrant and Latino rights groups - waited outside of a downtown Chicago restaurant where Trump spoke. Their chats included "No more hate!"

Maritza Vaca, with the Chicago-based Accion Hispano, said immigrants have rights and was upset by Trump's comments. "It is racism," she said. "For him to be running for president is ridiculous."

NBC said it is still determining what it will air in place of the pageant next month. Miss USA drew 5.6 million viewers when it aired in June 2014, a full million more than the year before. That would have been a very good rating if it had been repeated, although television viewership in early July is usually lower than at any time of the year.

Associated Press Writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Television Writer Frazier Moore in New York contributed to this report.

Photo: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump casts a shadowy image as he waves around some papers while speaking to members of the City Club, June 29, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Millions across America celebrate LGBT pride

Mon, 29 Jun 2015 17:39:00 +0000

SEATTLE - From coast to coast Sunday millions of people celebrated LGBT pride.

Here in Seattle, as in places from New York to San Francisco, hundreds of thousands marched with community and labor allies cheering them on in a mass outpouring of unity and celebration.

Here, as in other places they raised some serious issues too including the need to step up the fight against AIDs and the need to deal with LGBT homelessness and suicide.

The downtown streets here were packed with crowds cheering and talking about the Friday Supreme Court decision that struck down any and all laws remaining in America that placed any types of restrictions on same sex marriage.

The managers of Wildrose, Seattle's first lesbian bar, led the parade to the cheers of onlookers jammed along both sides of Fourth Avenue.

"The Court ruling was a big 'yes' to all the work done by so many for so many years," said Johnny Karp, who walked hand in hand with his male partner through the Seattle Center that surrounds the city's famous Space Needle. Karp, who said he and his partner would be marrying soon, declared: "There is no gay marriage anymore. There is only marriage."

"Batman" skated around the park where the parade ended. "I'm the lighter, happier side of Batman," he said as ten people sporting orange T-shirts emblazoned with "Pride Looks Good on You" cheered him on.

Laura, 64, said that she remembered that back when she came out the Supreme Court had upheld state laws against sodomy.

"Wow, have we come far," she declared. "I'm so glad we didn't go the route of those who said that fighting for marriage rights was going to far and I'm so glad we have a president like President Obama who has acted courageously, I think."

Mike Barton, 21, came from Montana. "I'm gay and proud of it," he said. "And this is a lot more fun than ever because of the Supreme Court decision this week."

The city of Seattle itself was well represented at the parade. A city bus bearing the word "Pride" where its destination sign normally showed was cheered as it drove along the parade route. Lesbian and gay transit workers and their supporters waved to the crowds from inside the bus.

Five men wearing small briefs and five women wearing tiny bikinis rode atop a rented flat bed truck with a Scottish terrier that was happily wagging its tail. "We didn't want to miss this," one of the women said, "so we decided to have family beach day here at the parade."

Photo: Seattle Pride Parade, Wildrose Facebook.

Latino organizations demand NBC cut ties with Trump

Mon, 29 Jun 2015 14:47:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 39 of the nation's preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, released the following statement applauding the entertainment division of Univision Communications for ending its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization -which is partly owned by Donald Trump, a contender for the Republican Party's presidential nomination- over his repugnant comments regarding Mexican immigrants and, by extension, Mexican-Americans. NHLA also calls on NBCUniversal (NBCU) to follow Univision's lead and both withdraw from airing the Miss U.S.A. pageant and terminate its financial ties to Donald Trump.

"Aspirants to the highest office in the land must not use a national electoral platform to spew venomous speech about Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans," said Hector Sanchez, Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. "As a Mexican immigrant to this country, I can personally attest to the falsity of Donald Trump's statements."

"Univision Communications' courageous action to sever ties with both the Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants-which are partly owned by Donald Trump-is civil rights leadership in the digital age," Sanchez declared, adding, "We implore NBCU to follow Univision's lead and take a similar stance and sever their financial relationship with Mr. Trump, in light of the bigoted way he has denigrated Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.

"Trump's arrogance has never been questioned, but his disgusting views on Latinos and Mexicans in particular will forever mark him as the arrogant bigot that he is," said Alex Nogales, President and CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition. "Our country deserves much more from its Presidential candidates."

On June 16 Trump announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. During Trump's announcement speech, he said, "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with them. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists." Trump also proposed erecting a big "wall" along our Southern Border, to be paid for by Mexico.

The Miss USA Pageant is scheduled for a July 12, 2015, broadcast on NBCU from Baton Rouge River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Nia Sanchez of Nevada, the reigning Miss USA, will crown her successor at the end of the event. Ms. Sanchez, who is from California, is of Mexican descent.

Photo: Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore 3. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

UPDATE: AP Television Writer, David Bauder, reports: "NBC said Monday it is ending its business relationship with mogul and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump because of comments he made about Mexican immigrants during the announcement of his campaign."

Three in a row: SCOTUS upholds marriage equality, Obamacare, Fair Housing Act

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 17:48:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling June 26 upholding equal marriage rights for same-sex couples came just hours after their similar split decisions upholding Obamacare and the Fair Housing Act.

All three rulings touched off celebrations by tens of millions of progressive-minded people across the United States - a majority of the people. And the string of decisions cast a pall of gloom over right-wing Republicans.

Especially grim were the Republican candidates for president who all vowed to continue their war against marriage equality, the Affordable Care Act, and anti-discrimination measures in general.

President Obama hailed the marriage equality ruling written by Justice Anthony Kennedy for affirming "what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts." He added, "We have made our union a little more perfect."

Just a day earlier, the president greeted the Supreme Court's historic 6-3 ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act. Five years ago, Obama said, Congress approved health care reform, upholding the notion "that health care is not a privilege for a few but a right for all." He added, "The Affordable Care Act is here to stay."

The health care ruling upheld the legality of the system of federal subsidies for low-income people enrolled in Obamacare in the 34 states that have refused to establish state-run "exchanges." Written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the decision broadly upholds the ACA statute as a whole rather than focusing narrowly on parts of the law.

Officials had foreseen disaster if the court had ruled against Obamacare, predicting that premiums for millions of recipients would have doubled or tripled. Many would have been forced to drop insurance completely. Some predicted that the system would collapse.

Michael Keegan, president of People for the American Way, greeted all three rulings. The equal marriage decision, he said, "should be celebrated by everyone who cares about equality for LGBT people. ...Today's ruling is one for the history books."

On the decision upholding the Fair Housing Act, Keegan pointed out that it was approved in 1968 just days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and "stands as a tribute to his work and legacy." The racist massacre at Emanuel AME church in Charleston, S.C., last week, Keegan added, "makes perfectly clear, our nation's long struggle with racism is far from over."

Keegan likewise hailed the ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act but added, "in a sane court system, there is no way this case would have made it to the court, let alone receive the support of three justices."

He stressed, "This decision should be a reminder of how much is at stake in our nation's highest court and how critical it is that Americans consider the Supreme Court as we choose our next president."

The keenest hope of the ultra-right is that they seize control of the White House in 2016 so that a tea party Republican chooses the next Supreme Court justice. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the staunchest liberals on the high court, is in frail health.

Human Rights Campaign, the largest organization "fighting for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equal rights," hailed the high court's ruling. HRC immediately sent messages to the 13 states that still outlaw marriage equality "to take immediate action to ensure that all justices of the peace begin issuing marriage licenses to all eligible couples," warning that refusal to grant licenses to same-sex couples "allows the discriminatory impacts of an un-Constitutional law to continue."

Photo: Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., left, sings the National Anthem after the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to legalize same-sex marriage throughout the United States, June 26. Members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, Mark Uhen, in glasses, Bill Cutter, and Thea Kano, far right, led the song. (Photo by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

South Chicago community faces down prep school board over firings

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 16:56:00 +0000

CHICAGO -- On June 25, approximately 80 community members rallied outside of Urban Prep on Chicago's south side, an all-male public charter school, to protest the firing of 17 teachers coinciding with a 61 percent vote in favor of unionization with Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff.

Teachers -- both fired and unfired from Urban Prep -- as well as parents and students were on hand to speak their minds during the public comment period of the Urban Prep board meeting. Present in solidarity were contingents from Chicago Jobs with Justice, SEIU Local 1, Chicago Teachers Union and Action Now. They maintain that the 17 were let go unjustly and demanded their reinstatement.

Samuel Adams, an eight year veteran educator at Urban Prep is a vocal supporter for the reinstatement of the terminated teachers and the recognition of the union. He addressed the crowd from what sounded like an open letter to Timothy King, CEO of Urban Prep.

"Mr. Tim King, at graduation you spoke about how Urban Prep has been instrumental in changing the narrative of the black male in America. Well I am now here to invite you to negotiate in good faith with the educators of Urban Prep who have been on the front lines in changing that narrative. In conclusion, if black students matter to you Mr. King, you will immediately reinstate the 17 teachers and begin negotiating a better future for Urban Prep staff because black students matter to us every single day that we enter the classroom."

President of Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff Local 4343 briefly addressed the crowd before moving into the auditorium where a public meeting of the Urban Prep board was to take place.

"The Urban Prep creed says to 'live honestly'. Telling teachers that they might lose their health insurance if they unionize is not living honestly. Telling teachers that Chicago ACTS has been 'hostile' to their school is not living honestly... we're gonna tell Urban Prep to live honestly."

He then went on to point to reference "pages and pages" of a PowerPoint that were shown to teachers during anti-union captive audience meetings that showed Urban Prep's intention to "bargain in good faith" if the union were voted in.

"Immediately firing members of the organizing committee is not bargaining in good faith," he continued.

People's World obtained copies of the captive audience PowerPoints Harris referred to. In them, Urban Prep management represents the union's stance in support of public education as anti-Urban Prep. Chicago ACTS has supported the slowing of charter school expansions as they effectively create a second-tier of educator.

In all, the slides represent a paint-by-numbers anti-union campaign. Among the uninspired warnings are "union promises are not guarantees," "nothing is automatic in collective bargaining," "collective bargaining does not always mean more," and "strikes are often difficult for striking employees." Over and over again, the slides refer to the union as something outside of the employees, as another layer of bureaucracy. This, of course, is false as the union is the teachers and the teachers are the union.

Without irony, the PowerPoints list all of "what may be at risk" should the teachers vote in the union. According to Urban Prep, everything is on the bargaining table: insurance, wages, paid time off, bereavement leave, bonuses, staff retreats, and professional development. The teachers, through their elected bodies, would negotiate on behalf of themselves; does Urban Prep not understand that their list amounts to a veiled threat?

The crowd of 80 flooded into the auditorium as the board called their meeting to order. As many board members as were present were called in via teleconference. The crowd chanted, "Stop the union busting" and "bring them back."

To the chagrin of those attending, a thirty-minute limit on the public comment period was imposed. They also limited speakers to two minutes. About thirty speakers signed up to lend their voice; only about 10 were able to do so (one of them spoke on matters unrelated and one spoke in favor of the decision to fire the teachers).

Shoneice Reynolds, parent of a young man at Urban Prep with a 4.1 GPA, attributed her son's success to two of the fired teachers she referred to as Mr. Gibson and Mr. Brown.

"These teachers have helped my family. They have helped the students of Urban Prep with their social and emotional learning, with adapting to a different culture from what they're used to, and I'm very heartbroken that these teachers were let go, that all these teachers were let go. Urban Prep prides itself on accountability and in the creed it states that we have a future for which we are accountable. I challenge you all to be accountable for our child's future".

She went on to detail her child's reaction to the firings saying that he lost his enthusiasm about returning to school.

"I believe that we need a voice and a more democratic process. It shouldn't just be market forces but what students, teachers, community and parents say."

Behind the speaking podium sat a member of administration with a timer running on her phone, and diagonally from her stood a large man in plain clothes but wearing handcuffs on his belt. As soon as Ms. Reynolds time reached its end, the woman stood up and attempted to take the microphone out of her hand. She reeled in disbelief at the invasion of her space. Just then, the man with the handcuffs approached Ms. Reynolds from the opposite side.

As soon as she was sandwiched between these two hostile forces, the crowd began to chant "let her speak, let her speak!" The board granted her the ability to finish her statement, but they would not be so forgiving to future speakers.

After hearing round after round of impassioned testimony, the board called for a final speaker, a student. There were four students remaining on the speakers list, but they were made to choose a representative to speak for them. That student spoke about how his teacher, Ms. Robinson, forged an unbreakable bond with him.

"I remember when I first stepped into Ms. Robinson's class. She let all her students know that she was not there to make friends; she is here to get her students to learn. From that point on I knew surely that she was always for the students."

After the public comment period, nobody on the board made a statement. They simply thanked the speakers and carried on stone-faced to the next item on the agenda.

The crowd filed out, upset that their time to speak was cut short but determined.

Samuel Adams addressed the community once again, thanking them for standing with Urban Prep teachers. He encouraged continued involvement with this struggle, from visiting the Urban Prep offices at 420 N. Wabash, to friending Mr. King on Facebook.

"These types of actions cannot continue. It does not build a school, it does not build a foundation of trust between teachers, students and [administration]. We need to change the narrative in our own building... Make sure you're ready for a fight because it's going to be a fight."

People's World will continue to follow this story as it develops.

Photo: Parents and students speaking out. Patrick J. Foote/PW

Confederate flags, monuments, going down in wake of massacre

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 15:57:00 +0000

The Confederate flag was ordered down from state capitol grounds and big box store shelves this week following the racist massacre of nine African American worshippers in Charleston, S.C., by a white man who identified himself with that flag.

In response Walmart, Amazon, Sears/Kmart and eBay announced they will stop selling Confederate flag-themed items.

These retail giants have been selling thousands of Confederate-related products for years, evidently not concerned that this might be offensive to millions of shoppers or grist for racists. Now, however, spokespersons for the companies have told reporters they are pulling the items because they "do not want to offend" anyone. The flag, they said, has "become" a symbol of divisiveness and racism.

Meanwhile Republican politicians across the South are moving to distance themselves from what is known as the Confederate battle flag, and are calling for its removal from state flags and capitols.

On Tuesday, the Republican-dominated 170-member South Carolina legislature voted nearly unanimously to take up a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds.

Among those speaking out for taking the flag down was Republican state Sen. Robert Thurmond, son of U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, the notorious racist and segregationist who died in 2003. "Our ancestors were literally fighting to keep human beings as slaves, and to continue the unimaginable acts that occur when someone is held against their will," Robert Thurmond said.

On Wednesday morning, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley had four Confederate flags removed from a memorial at the state Capitol.

In Mississippi, the speaker of the state House, Philip Gunn, a Republican, called for taking a Confederate battle cross off the state's flag. (Mississippi is the only state in the country that still directly reproduces a Confederate symbol in its flag. Six other former Confederate states have elements of the Confederacy's flags in their state flags.)

On Wednesday, both of Mississippi's U.S. senators, both Republicans, called for changing the state flag to eliminate the Confederate emblem. In the morning, Sen. Roger Wicker said the flag should be replaced by "one that is more unifying to all Mississippians." This was a reversal of his statement two days earlier that the issue was up to the state. Wicker chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a major Republican political campaign apparatus. His colleague, Sen. Thad Cochran, likewise at first claimed the flag was a state matter, but by the afternoon he conceded that the state should "consider" changing the flag. "The recent debate on the symbolism of our flag, which belongs to all of us, presents the people of our state an opportunity to consider a new banner that represents Mississippi," Cochran said, adding that "we should look for unity and not divisiveness in the symbols of our state." Interestingly, Mississippi's black voters are credited with helping Cochran win a tough 2014 primary against a tea party Republican.

In Tennessee, a number of political leaders are saying a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan founder, should be moved out of the Statehouse.

In Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, ordered that the Confederate flag no longer appear on license plates. This is also being raised in Maryland, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Of course, the Alabama Confederate Memorial, whose cornerstone was laid by former Confederate president Jefferson Davis in 1886, remains in place on that state's Capitol grounds, and Confederate flags remain in its Old House and Senate chamber.

Tributes to the slaveocracy and its racist legacy persist around the country. Debates are unfolding in many places, not just the South, over government buildings, schools, streets and other public sites named after Confederate leaders, or containing statues honoring them. That includes the U.S. Capitol, where a number of statues of Confederate figures are displayed. "There are few places where those symbols are in more abundance," The New York Times notes.

Photo: A statue of Jefferson Davis, second from left, is on display in Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 24. The statue was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol by Mississippi in 1931. The move in South Carolina to remove the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds is prompting members of Congress to take a new look at Confederate images that surround them every day. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Supreme Court rules in favor of marriage equality

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 14:45:00 +0000

Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against bans on same sex marriage in a close 5-4 decision. The court determined that states cannot forbid same sex couples the marriage equality rights enjoyed by heterosexuals. Some 13 states now ban such marriages.

Couples from around the country responded by applying for marriage licenses with state officials saying they would respect the court's ruling.

President Obama hailed the decision. "This ruling is a victory for America," said the president. He continued, "This decision affirms what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts. When all Americans are treated as equal, we are all more free."

James Obergefell, whose suit brought the case before the court said, "Today's ruling from the Supreme Court affirms what millions across this country already know to be true in our hearts - our love is equal, that the four words etched onto the front of the Supreme Court - equal justice under law - apply to us, too."

Jerame Davis, Executive Director of Pride at Work, the AFL-CIO's constituency group said, "Today's momentous victory in the Supreme Court has affirmed what we already knew - the 14^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees equal protection under the law and that includes the right to marry for same-sex couples. We are ecstatic that this ruling will finally deliver equality and justice to families in every state of our great nation. We hope the states will move quickly to implement this ruling."

Liz Shuler, secretary treasurer of labor federation remarked "Today's Supreme Court decision marks a truly historic day in America. While there is still work to do to secure economic and social justice for LGBT Americans, the court's ruling is a major victory for everyone who believes in equality.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the Court's majority, saying "It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights also hailed the decision, writing, "This is a transformative day in American history. Today is the day that our nation's highest court acknowledged the full dignity of LGBT Americans to love and build a family as equals in our society."

The Obama administration urged the Justices to rule in favor of the plaintiffs. The U.S. now joins two dozen other nations in legalizing the right of LGBTQ people to marry.

Photo: In July of 2013, Officiant Paulette Roberts, center, marries James Obergefell, left, and Lon-time partner John Arthur, who was dying of Lou Gehrig's disease, aboard a plane at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland. Arthur died Oct 22, 2013. Glenn Hartong / Associated Press

In 6-3 decision, Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act

Thu, 25 Jun 2015 16:12:00 +0000

The Supreme Court today in a 6-3 decision rejected a lawsuit aimed at overturning the Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare. Had the plaintiffs in the case, King v. Burwell, won their suit, financial assistance to millions of insured would have been eliminated. State exchanges would have all but collapsed.

According to numerous media reports, if the challengers had won, at least 6.4 million people in at least 34 states would have lost the subsidies whose average value is $272 per month.

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, responding to the news said, "Today's decision is an important victory for the millions of people who need financial assistance to make health insurance affordable and for everyone committed to improving America's health care system."

He continued, "The court's decision means the millions of families counting on this financial assistance will not be at the mercy of Republican governors and lawmakers who zealously oppose the Affordable Care Act at every turn."

President Obama speaking in the Rose Garden said, "After more than 50 votes in Congress to repeal or weaken this law, after a presidential election based in part on preserving or repealing this law, after multiple challenges to this law before the Supreme Court, the Affordable Care Act is here to stay."

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton hailed the decision on Twitter ""Yes!" she tweeted. "SCOTUS affirms what we know is true in our hearts & under the law: Health insurance should be affordable & available to all."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is also running for the Democratic nomination for president, said the court upheld a "common-sense" reading of the law.

Challengers attempted to use four words in the law: "established by the state" to argue that the federal government could not help people pay for insurance purchased in a federal marketplace.

However, those four words were correctly interpreted by the administration to allow subsidies to be available nationwide.

And the Supreme Court agreed.

Photo: President Barack Obama talks with Vice President Joe Biden in the Outer Oval Office. June 25, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Picturesque ruins tell forgotten history in Florida

Thu, 25 Jun 2015 13:49:00 +0000

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. - Hidden behind thick live oak trees and palmetto palms, large coquina walls and archways tell the story of slavery and Indian removal in Florida. The ruins of an 1830s sugar mill plantation are now eroded by nearly 200 years of neglect, nature reclaiming the coquina stone with vines and ferns (some now cleared to preserve the site). It's now a State Historic Site where people picnic, children explore, and young couples get married.

For many years, the New Smyrna Sugar Mill Ruins State Park was thought to be the ruins of a Spanish mission. The property was even advertised to attract tourists as "Christopher Columbus' Chapel." But the real history of the site is much more interesting.

Settlers in Florida in the 1800s (during the last years of Spanish rule) farmed citrus, cut timber, and also found that sugar cane was a very profitable crop with the low cost of land, slave labor and high sugar prices. By 1830, Volusia County had about twenty sugar cane plantations and mills along the coast with a workforce of roughly 500 slaves. One of these was the Cruger-DePeyster plantation in New Smyrna, begun in 1830 by New Yorkers William DePeyster and Eliza and Henry Cruger. By 1835 it had become an extensive and profitable sugar establishment overseen by John Sheldon.

In 1835, the Seminole Indians revolted against the white settlers in Florida because of constant encroachment, the settlers' refusal to acknowledge the Indians' rights to reservation land, and the settlers' Indian removal demands. On Christmas Eve of 1835, the slaves overseen by John Sheldon at the Cruger-DePeyster plantation gave warning of Indians in war paint, and evacuation of the site was ordered. John Sheldon, along with his wife and some of the slaves on the plantation fled across the now Indian River.

The Sheldons ultimately abandoned the slaves and fled with other family and children to Bulow Plantation, where other white settlers took refuge from the Seminole attacks. The Seminoles, aided by many of the abandoned Cruger-DePeyster plantation slaves, burned the structures in New Smyrna and leveled many other sugar mill plantations in the region.

As the Second Seminole War continued (1835-42), much of the sugar cane industry in Florida was destroyed, and the slaves were freed or escaped. Very few white settlers who returned to the area took up sugar cane production, leaving the industry with a short 15-year era in Volusia County.

Now these plantation ruins, scattered across the state, many in Volusia County, remain among the few visible reminders of slavery and Indian revolt in Florida.

Historical research provided by the Southeast Volusia Historical Society .

Photo: Sugar mill ruins, Volusia County.

Chicagoans rally for an end to racist violence

Wed, 24 Jun 2015 15:18:00 +0000

On June 23, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression organized a rally to remember the victims of the Charleston massacre.

The crowd of about 60 gathered in a circle at downtown's Federal Plaza. They wielded signs carrying slogans of black liberation and struggle. After reading the names and short biographies of the slain, the mournful airs gave way to determination as the emcees of the event began to bring forth speakers from the crowd.

They spoke on the climate of racism that produced Dylann Roof and police terror nationally, as well as the need not only to take down the confederate flag wherever it flies, but the system that has allowed it to fly for so long. Class was also a topic of the speakers and the need for unity across classes to combat white supremacy.

Volunteer Alejandro Barba, lifetime resident of Chicago, put it into context by saying "I understand that race is one of the main driving factors in the systemic violence, but there is also a system of class that discriminates. I'm Latino, there's an upper-middle class of Latinos that doesn't like poor Latinos or immigrants for that matter. There's a white and a black upper-middle class that doesn't like poor white and black folks, and the result are these urban ghettoes where folks have to hustle, that's how people survived day to day, that's what that word really meant. That's how you did it in those neighborhoods."

The Alliance circulated petitions for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC), which the majority of the crowd was eager to sign .

Gerrit Hatcher, volunteer organizer on the CPAC project, said "we organized this event in solidarity with the victims of Charleston. We came out to have a moment of silence and reflection for the nine victims and also to make the connection between all acts of terror, violence against black people, the desire for their subjugation, and to fight back against that by responding to police crimes and white supremacy.

The rally ended with a call for volunteers as well as the handing out of flyers for an August 29 march for police accountability that People's World will attend and bring you coverage.

Photo: Joe Iosbaker.

Indigenous news: WNBA and Native heritage, hula protest, lacrosse comeback

Wed, 24 Jun 2015 14:49:00 +0000

Canadian police find body of missing Metis woman

A twelve-day search for missing woman Danielle Nyland concluded Friday night, when RCMP found her body southeast of Shellbrook, Saskatchewan.
Danielle was last seen June 8. Her cellphone was found that day on the driveway of a rural property southeast of the town.
Her body was in a wooded area about 500 metres south of that spot, RCMP said in a press release.
Earlier in the day Friday, RCMP said officers had received tips from the public regarding Danielle and asked for anyone with more information to come forward.

Construction to resume for TMT, hula protest held

WAIMANALO, Hawaii - Construction is now set to restart on the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea amidst continued protest.
Watch the video report here.
The TMT International Observatory Board released a statement Saturday saying that construction on the controversial TMT telescope would resume after a two month work stoppage.
We contacted the public relations firm that issued the announcement, but were told no one was available to comment further.
Those who oppose the telescope were more than willing to voice their opinion after hearing the news.

Study: Historical trauma plays role in youth gangs

Youth gangs on American Indian reservations and Canadian First Nations reserves are more recently established, smaller and less organized than urban youth gangs, leaving open the possibility that timely prevention and intervention could be successful, says Dane Hautala, a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Read more at: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/06/15/study-historical-trauma-plays-role-youth-gangs-160716

American Indians bring back traditional lacrosse in Osseo tourney

Braids flying, sticks scooping, American Indian lacrosse players of all ages bring back a tradition that's more than a game.

At Corcoran Park in south Minneapolis recently, the scene looked just as it does in dozens of city parks every weekday summer evening. Boys' and girls' sports teams ran around chasing balls. Coaches shouted advice and encouragement. Parents sat on the sidelines armed with snacks and bug spray, chatting and watching their kids laugh, jostle each other and work up a sweat.

WNBA Atlanta Dream's Native Heritage Night with Shoni Schimmel, Jude Schimmel and more

The WNBA Atlanta Dream continued their Heritage series June 19-21 with games honoring Native American culture.
On Friday, the Dream narrowly defeated the Chicago Sky, 74-73, when in a thrilling final second, Angel McCoughtry secured the lead in a buzzer beater performance. Guard Shoni Schimmel, Umatilla, leads the team in assists and averages 7.8 points per game.
The performers included singer Rhonda Duvall, who sang the National Anthem; the Native Pride Dancers, who performed at half-time; and the women warriors Sister Nations Color Guard presented flags for the game opening. And Jude Schimmel received the Atlanta Dream Women of Inspiration Award.
Read more at: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/06/23/photos-wnba-atlanta-dreams-native-heritage-night-shoni-schimmel-jude-schimmel-and-more

Photo: WNBA's Atlanta Dream team hosts Native American weekend. (Shoni Shimmel/Twitter)

Today in LGBTQ history: Stonewall Inn made historic landmark

Wed, 24 Jun 2015 10:38:00 +0000

Today the Stonewall Inn, site of the historic rebellion for LGBTQ rights was made a landmark by New York City's Landmarks Preservation Committee. The vote was unanimous.

The rebellion was prompted by a police raid at the Stonewall Inn on June 28th, 1969 in a effort to suppress New York's gay clubs. The Stonewall Inn is located in Greenwich Village.

Patrons at the Stonewall Inn, being subjected to routine anti-homosexual harassment by the New York City police, spontaneously fought back in an incident considered to be the birth of the gay rights movement - although a similar incident had erupted at the Black Cat lounge in Los Angeles two and a half years earlier. Riot veteran and gay rights activist Craig Rodwell said: "A number of incidents were happening simultaneously. There was no one thing that happened or one person, there was just...a flash of group, of mass anger."

A group of drag queens, who had been mourning the death earlier in the week of Judy Garland, mocked the police and threw things at them, and police were forced to retreat as the crowd of supporters grew; disturbances continued for days. The bar is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
The announcement comes in time New York City's Pride march and weekend. Mayor de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray noted it was perfect timing for #Pride2015.

Photo: Creative Commons 3.0

As mayors meet in San Francisco, ending racist violence is a theme

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 17:44:00 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO - The agenda of the U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual meeting here June 19-22 ran the gamut of issues mayors must deal with every day - water, technology, climate, energy, transportation, law enforcement, jobs, education, housing - to name a few.

But one issue kept resurfacing: how to confront and deal with the virulent racism that remains a current in U.S. life, whether expressed in last week's killing of nine African Americans engaged in bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, S.C., or killings by police that recently took the lives of Michael Brown, Freddie Gray and others.

Addressing the USCM conference on June 19, President Obama spoke of the shock and heartbreak that followed the events in Charleston. "The nature of this attack - in a place of worship, where congregants invite in a stranger to worship with them, only to be gunned down - adds to the pain," he said. "The apparent motivations of the shooter remind us that racism remains a blight that we have to combat together."

The president took the occasion to renew the administration's call for "common sense gun safety reforms, noting that over 11,000 people were killed by gun violence in 2013.

Speaking the next day, Hillary Rodham Clinton, contending for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination next year, underscored Obama's call for action on gun safety. She went on to say racism remains "a deep fault line in America," backing up with statistics her observations about pervasive inequality between African Americans and whites.

"Our problem is not all kooks and Klansmen," she said. "It's also the cruel joke that goes unchallenged ... the offhand comment about not wanting those people in the neighborhood. Let's be honest: for a lot of well-meaning, open-minded white people, the sight of a young black man in a hoodie still evokes a twinge of fear."

On Sunday, fellow Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley said, "one of the sad triumphs of white racism is the degree to which it has succeeded in subconsciously convincing so many of us, black and white, that somehow black lives don't matter." O'Malley urged gun control legislation and called for the confederate flag to be removed from the South Carolina state capitol grounds.

Similar themes ran through the mayors' deliberations.

At the meeting of the Mayors and Police Chiefs Task Force, where "community policing" headlined the agenda, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson of Gary, Ind. - the state's first African American woman mayor - spoke of the need for and the difficulties of building solid relationships between communities and police.

"The other issue I want to raise is the issue of race," she said. "We have to really determine if we have the political will to raise those conversations."

Resolutions to strengthen police-community relations and to combat violent extremism were high on the agenda of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee.

A series of demonstrations, including a Friday "arms are for hugging, not policing" action and a Saturday morning march of several hundred protesters, kept up a relentless drumbeat about the meeting's heavy corporate sponsorship (read Wells Fargo, Walmart, Google and a couple dozen more). Protesters called on the mayors to end racist police brutality, demilitarize the police, and work to solve the crises of gentrification and affordable housing.

Speaking before the march, Jackie Cabasso, North American Coordinator for Mayors for Peace, called the USCM "a real mixed bag. Some good things are going on in there, and some really bad things." Since the mayors are "more diverse, more approachable, more progressive and more subject to citizens' pressures than members of Congress," she said, "It's a good thing we are out here today, telling them what we think and telling them that arms are for hugging."

Reminding demonstrators that this year marks 70 years since the U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Cabasso called the bombings "the bedrock of the military industrial complex ... at the center of a process that goes onto the streets through the widespread availability of guns and translates into wars around the world and the militarization of the police."

Founded in 1982 by the mayor of Hiroshima, Mayors for Peace has over 6,700 member cities in 160 countries, over 200 in the U.S. In the last decade, Mayors for Peace has introduced and the USCM has passed increasingly strong resolutions for worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons.

This year was no exception. This year's resolution calls for worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons and shifting the billions spent on them to meet the needs of cities.

Connecticut legislators - Whose side are they on?

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 17:17:00 +0000

HARTFORD -- As the Connecticut General Assembly's special session approaches, the elected legislators must decide whose side they are on. Connecticut is the wealthiest state, with the highest inequality between the wealthy hedge fund managers and financial billionaires, and some of the poorest cities in the country. Will the legislators submit to corporate blackmail, or will they stand up for the working families and the children? Will thousands of kids be denied medical care, youth programs and adequate schools, or will corporate tax-dodgers be forced to pay their taxes?

After a bruising six-month battle, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a budget on June 3. Faced with a large deficit and threatened cuts to a wide range of programs, the budget restores about half of the cuts originally proposed. The budget would be financed by closing corporate loopholes, a small increase in the tax on incomes over $1 million, and a variety changes to the sales and other taxes that impact businesses as well as working class families.

Not included in the package was SB1044, the MacWalmart tax. This would have made Connecticut the first in the country to tax big corporations (like McDonalds and Walmart) for every worker paid less then $15/hour. In addition to raising upward of $300 million per year - a substantial contribution toward avoiding budget cuts - SB1044 would have exerted upward pressure on wages for the lowest-paid workers.

Better Choices for Connecticut, a coalition of labor, community, environment, and non-profit service providers, had urged that the legislature find the funds to avoid cuts by looking at those with the lowest tax burdens - wealthy residents and big corporations. Coalition members pointed out that a recent report (from the state Department of Revenue Services) shows the tax burden on wealthy families is two or three times less than the burden on low- and middle-income families.

Responding to the budget that was passed, the coalition said, "Instead of asking the most of those with the least by cutting programs that support Connecticut's children and families, our elected officials have made better choices. While the final budget still includes cuts to important human services, lawmakers were able to avoid many of the most difficult cuts by asking a little more of profitable multi-state corporations and the very wealthy in our state."

One coalition leader summed up the feeling of many: "It isn't what we would have liked, but there is some progress here, and without all of our efforts it would have been much worse."

The corporate offensive

But the battle is not over, as corporate forces have launched an offensive against the legislation.

Even before the budget passed, the corporate counter-offensive began. GE, Aetna and other top Connecticut-based corporations issued statements attacking the budget deal and threatening to leave Connecticut. "Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, a freshman, found herself surrounded outside the House chamber by two lobbyists and a tax attorney dispatched by her town's biggest company, General Electric," according to one news report. Connecticut's print and broadcast media echoed their complaints.

The corporate anti-tax campaign went national. The day after the budget was passed, Morning Joe featured an attack on Connecticut's tax system. Indiana's Republican governor Mike Pence publicly invited GE, Aetna and other corporations to move to his state.

Yielding to corporate pressure, Gov. Malloy called for eliminating or reducing some of the progressive provisions in the budget, at the cost of more than $100 million per year, to be paid for by cutting 1.5 percent from line items in the budget, threatening a wide range of services and programs. Funds for cities and towns, already included in their budgets, are also threatened. The final outcome is due to be decided at a special session of the legislature to finalize the budget, set for June 29-30. The legislature must act before July 1, when the new fiscal year begins.

Challenging the corporate narrative

Progressive forces responded in the media and in the streets. In a press conference, the Better Choices coalition stated, " Once again, following outcry from a few of our state's largest corporations, we must remind our elected officials to make better choices. While these corporations claim that Connecticut's business tax burden is too high, a study by the Ernst and Young for the Council on State Taxation found that Connecticut businesses face the second lowest state and local tax burden in the nation," and concluded, " If any 'tweaking' is done on the revenue side of the budget, any revenue lost should be replaced by alternate revenue sources from those most able to pay."

According to Connecticut Voices for Children, a leading advocacy group, "contrary to the loud complaints of some in the corporate community, the budget does not impose outsized demands on big business. When corporations complain of high business taxes, they are elevating fiction over fact." They cited a study showing "our businesses pay a smaller share of total state and local taxes than in most other states, and get a better return than businesses in most other states in the publicly-funded services provided."

GE, the most prominent corporate voice attacking the budget, is notorious as one of the top corporate tax avoiders in the state. It also ranks number one in a ranking of the nation's top tax dodgers. At a demonstration in Hartford, a delegation delivered an open letter to GE demanding that they pay the same taxes as everyone else.

Action Alert

With days to go before the general Assembly acts, residents can call Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey at (800) 842-1902; Senate President Martin Looney at (800) 842-1420, and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff at (860) 240-0414. Urge them not to give in to corporate blackmail, and to avoid budget cuts by passing the MacWalmart bill and making the income tax more progressive on the highest incomes.
GE and others. (IN Gov. Mike Pence poaching.) Shift debate away from McWalmart. Gov is proposing reducing taxes and making more cuts. That happens in the implementer. This would reduce new revenue in the budget by $224 million. To balance the plan, Malloy is asking lawmakers to authorize him to cut up to 1.5 percent from line items not fixed by contract or to make the cuts themselves.
"Damage was limited." State Rep. Sharkey called the new spending plan "a transformative budget" that makes crucial investments in property tax relief and transportation. He said the budget dedicated a portion of sales-tax revenue to cap local property taxes on vehicles in about 60 of Connecticut's 169 cities and towns, bringing fairness "to the single-most heinous tax that we impose." Context - rich and corporations pay the least.
Contrary to the loud complaints of some in the corporate community, the budget does not impose outsized demands on big business. When corporations complain of high business taxes, they are elevating fiction over fact. Consider the most recent report on business taxes by the Council on State Taxation, a trade association for major corporations including GE, which found that Connecticut tied for the second lowest state and local business tax burden in the county with taxes at 3.4percentof gross state product (compared to 5.8percentin New York and 5.1percentin New Jersey). It found that our businesses pay a smaller share of total state and local taxes than in most other states, and get a better return than businesses in most other states in the publicly-funded services provided.
Special session Call for activists to phone. June 29-30(?).
Other bills like 2^nd chance and body cameras tied up.

Photo: Connecticut residents protest GE's tax avoidance in Hartford. Tom Connolly.

The fight for affordable housing rages in New York

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 16:38:00 +0000

On June 15, the rent stabilization program that regulates rent increases for apartments in New York City was allowed to expire and over 1 million households are now at risk of being priced out when their leases go up for renewal.

Tenants with coalitions like Real Rent Reform and the Alliance for Tenant Power from across the five boroughs have taken to the streets demanding stronger rent laws.

On June 3, 55 people were arrested outside Gov. Cuomo's office in a coordinated act of civil disobedience. The diverse group included 8 members of New York's City Council, the State Senate and Assembly. As the first person was arrested, City Council member Jumaane Williams representing central Brooklyn said "Tell Cuomo- we wont go!"

On Saturday, June 6^th Democrats organized a rally on 125^th street in Harlem where Mayor Bill de Blasio voiced his support for the people's demands explaining that failing "to do so will doom 2 million New Yorkers who rely on government protection from landlords."

The mayor went on to urge legislators "to strengthen rent regulations rather than vote to end them when they expire."

On June 9, over 2,000 tenant activists and their allies occupied the capitol. "Labor was out in force" remarked Tina Nanaroni a retired mechanic and organizational secretary of the New York Communist Party . "Hey-hey, ho-ho Governor Glenwood has got to go".

On June 15 and 16, rallies were held at Cuomo's office, where protestors brought sleeping bags threatening to move in unless housing laws were strengthened and homes were saved.

On June 17, dozens camped out and slept outside of Cuomo's New York City office.

Referring to the expiration of rent control laws, State Senator Bill Perkins called on the people of New York to, "in any and every and any way convince the governor that he needs to renew and strengthen rent laws to keep New York affordable for working families not real estate and slum lords."

"Rent law is suppose to protect tenants but they currently do just the opposite. What we have now is a tool for landlords to raise rent and deregulate apartments," said Ava Farkas of the Metropolitan Council on Housing.

Tenant advocates have argued that money from landlords and developers corrupt housing policy from Albany and in recent months federal investigators confirmed this. "The problem with rent law in New York," Farkas continued, "is that it's being bought by the real estate industry."

Set to go into recess last Friday June 19^,the New York State Assembly and Senate is still in session fighting for the future of housing law.

The Assembly passed a bill that is supported by the tenants movement and contains its main demands: repealing vacancy decontrol and rent deregulation; eliminating the 20 percent landlord vacancy bonus; closing loopholes that allow permanent rent increases for so-called "improvements; " and ending the "preferential rent" scam that increases gentrification.

But to become law, the bill must be voted for by a majority in the Republican controlled State Senate.

Much like their obstructionary tactics in the federal government, NY Republicans have acted in the interests of the 1% blocking any attempt to strengthen housing law.

However tenant advocates believe Governor Cuomo is able to exert the pressure necessary to make Republicans in the State Senate negotiate in good faith with the Assembly to strengthen state housing law.

In the past decisions like these were taken between just three individuals: Andrew Cuomo, Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos. Silver and Skelos led the Assembly and Senate respectively, however the situation is now unpredictable as both have each stepped down since being indicted for corruption.

Glenwood management the real estate giant at the center of efforts to raise rents contributed $1.5 million to Gov. Cuomo's recent reelection campaign.

Photo: New York State Senator Bill Perkins and other lawmakers remained in Albany all week long in a bare-knuckled fight for the future of Rent Stabilization and affordable rent regulations.

In Charleston, a city comes together in wake of racist killings

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 13:19:00 +0000

(Common Dreams) - As many as twenty thousand people came together on a bridge in Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday evening, marching in the name of love and unity against the racist violence that took the lives of nine people last week in a historic black church.

Estimates put the number of people between 15,000 and 20,000-significantly more than the 3,000 or so originally expected-who walked across the Arthur Ravenel Bridge that spans the Cooper River and connects the city of Charleston to the suburb of Mount Pleasant. Individuals and families marched while people embraced, sang songs, and held signs expressing their love for community and one another.

According to the Huffington Post, the crowd of people stretched "more than two miles from the town of Mount Pleasant to the city of Charleston. Observers on the bridge, and thousands more at the base, joined hands to create a 'unity chain,' then held a moment of silence that lasted five minutes in honor of the fallen." As the Associated Press recounts, when the marchers from each side met in the middle of bridge, there was clapping and singing of Civil Rights-era song, "This little light of mine."

Local resident Khalil Santos, a father who spoke with the Charleston Post & Courier while he walked with his young son atop his shoulders, had a smile on his face as he said, "I want my kids to understand what this represents... I want them to understand that hate is not the way to live. I want them to have brighter futures and I want them to see the unity, no matter race or color. We are still united."

All around him, according to the Post & Courier, "people were smiling, laughing, hugging and greeting strangers. They carried signs of love, touting peace and telling the church of their solidarity. They stopped for impromptu prayers and sang hymns."

Another participant from Charleston, Lauren Bush, said the march was a beautiful response to last week's hateful killing, even as she acknowledged the more arduous task ahead of ending entrenched racism. "It's going to take a lot more than just holding hands across a bridge, but to see this response, it's a good start," Bush said. "We will rise above the hate."

Photo: On June 21, thousands of marchers join hands in a moment of silence in the middle of Charleston's main bridge in a show of unity after nine black church parishioners were gunned down during a Bible study, in Charleston, S.C. /AP.

S. Carolina leaders call for removing Confederate flag from statehouse grounds

Mon, 22 Jun 2015 15:44:00 +0000

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Calls to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of South Carolina's statehouse grew on Monday, in the aftermath of the murder of nine African American worshippers including pastor and state Sen. Clementa Pinckney at the city's historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Confederate flag features prominently in photos of the white youth Dylann Storm Roof, 21, arrested and charged with the murders.

Political and religious leaders including Joseph P. Riley Jr., Charleston's Democratic mayor, said they would hold a rally at the capitol on Tuesday at 2 p.m. to push for the flag's immediate removal.

Charleston Mayor Riley and North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, both of whom are white, were joined by state lawmakers, Rev. Joe Darby of the NAACP, and others at a news conference at North Charleston City Hall, calling for state leaders to take action. Calling the flag Roof's "symbol," Riley said, "The time has come for the flag to be removed from the statehouse grounds."

State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, grandson of a sharecropper, told reporters there is "a growing chorus" of South Carolina senators who are interested in seeing legislation passed to remove the Confederate flag before the current session ends.

Meanwhile, South Carolina's Republican state leaders held a flurry of phone meetings to figure out where they stand. Gov. Nikki Haley, a far-right Republican who has until now favored leaving the flag where it is, was meeting with lawmakers ahead of a news conference announced for Monday afternoon. She is reportedly "formulating a plan" to remove the flag from its current location.

"Last week's terrorizing act of violence shook the very core of every South Carolinian," Republican state House Majority Leader Jay Lucas said in a statement. "Moving South Carolina forward from this terrible tragedy requires a swift resolution of this issue."

The Republicans who have led South Carolina for a quarter-century have rebuffed many previous calls to remove the flag, and there's no apparent consensus between them on how they should respond now. The last governor to call for removing the flag was swiftly voted out of office.

A political compromise in 2000 moved it from the top of the Capitol dome to a Confederate monument out front, in a deal that also made it very difficult to make any other changes: A super-majority of two-thirds of both houses is required.

That compromise is one reason why the flag has continued to fly high outside the statehouse since the shooting, even as state and U.S. flags were lowered to half-staff. The symbolism of this has angered many people, particularly after photos surfaced of Dylann Storm Roof burning one American flag and stepping on another, while waving and posing provocatively with Confederate banners.

It also means that when the state aims to honor Emanuel's slain senior pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who served among the lawmakers for 19 years, thousands of people might walk past the flag as they come to see his coffin.

At least one Republican said he wasn't courageous enough to take a stand before, but the shootings changed that.

"I just didn't have the balls for five years to do it," said state Rep. Doug Brannon, who was elected in 2010.

"When my friend was assassinated for being nothing more than a black man, I decided it was time for that thing to be off the Statehouse grounds," Brannon said. "It's not just a symbol of hate, it's actually a symbol of pride in one's hatred."

The debate over the flag has been revived as thousands of people converged on Charleston to show their solidarity with the victims and join a mix of rallies, marches and funerals.

Bells tolled across Charleston Sunday as thousands linked up on a towering bridge and the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church reopened in displays of unity. Many people spoke about love and repudiated racism at the remembrances, hopeful their expressions would drown out the hate that the shooter hoped to generate.

"It sends a message to every demon in hell and on earth," said the Rev. Norvel Goff, who led the first Sunday service since the killings at the historic church known as "Mother Emanuel."

Later Sunday, thousands marched on the city's iconic Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, a 2-mile span with towering cable supports, and dozens of boats maneuvered underneath, blowing their air horns in support.

When the marchers from the two sides met near the middle, they cheered, clapped and broke into songs including "This Little Light of Mine."

The bridge is named after a former state lawmaker and vocal Confederate flag supporter, one of many symbols of white power that remain in South Carolina and can't easily be changed because of the flag deal.

Less than 2 miles from Emanuel, someone vandalized a Confederate monument, spray-painting "Black Lives Matter" on the statue. City workers used a tarp to cover up the bright red paint, which also included the message "This is the problem. (hash) RACIST."

State Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a steelworker and leader of USW Local 863, predicted that Haley would have to take the flag down from the Statehouse. Gilliard told the Monday press conference, "I can stand here like these ladies and gentlemen who have been a part of this movement in the state of South Carolina and had to endure a lot, I can stand here today and tell you, she is going to change her mind. She is going to change her mind and that flag will come down."

"And when the flag comes down, then and only then it will be a great day in the state of South Carolina."

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Other sources include Live 5 WCSC.

Photo: People hold an American flag as thousands march on Charleston's main bridge in a show of unity, Sunday, June 21, 2015, after nine black church parishioners were gunned down during Bible study on June 17, in Charleston, S.C. (David Goldman/AP)

Today in history: Olympic runner Wilma Rudolph born 75 years ago

Mon, 22 Jun 2015 12:33:00 +0000

Olympic gold medal sprinter Wilma Rudolph was born at Bethlehem, Tenn., on June 23, 1940.

Rudolph won the 100- and 200-meter sprints and the 400m relay at the 1960 Rome games, becoming at age 20 the first woman to win three gold medals at the same Olympics. While still in high school, Rudolph - nicknamed "Skeeter" for her famous speed - qualified for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. The youngest member of the U.S. team, at 16, she won a bronze medal in the sprint relay event.

Rudolph's story is truly a tale of overcoming formidable obstacles. She was born prematurely at 4.5 pounds, the 20^th of 22 siblings;her father was a railway porter and her mother a maid. Rudolph contracted infantile paralysis (caused by the polio virus) at age four. She recovered, but wore a brace on her left leg and foot (which had become twisted as a result) until she was nine, and underwent intense corrective physical therapy. She wore an orthopedic shoe on that foot for another two years. By the time she was 12 she had also survived bouts of polio and scarlet fever.

"My doctors told me I would never walk again," she said. "My mother told me I would. I believed my mother."

In 1953 Rudolph finally shed her handicap. An older sister played basketball, and Wilma wanted to follow her footsteps. While at the all-black Burt High School - segregation was still the rule - Rudolph played on the basketball team when she was spotted by Tennessee State track and field coach Ed Temple, who saw a natural athlete in her. She had already gained some track experience in between basketball seasons. At 16 she returned to high school from Melbourne with her bronze medal.

After high school, Rudolph enrolled at Tennessee State University, where she studied education and trained hard for the next Olympics.

In 1959, Rudolph won a gold medal in the 100m relay at the Pan American Games and an individual silver in the 100m. The same year she won the Association of American Universities (AAU) 100m title and defended it for four consecutive years. She also won three AAU indoor titles.

The 1960 Olympics catapulted Rudolph to worldwide fame as "The Tornado, the fastest woman on earth," in part owing to the first international television coverage of the Olympics that year. She elevated women's track to a major presence in the United States. As an African American, she is also regarded as a civil rights and women's rights pioneer.

As the temperature reached 110°F, 80,000 spectators jammed the Olympic Stadium. Rudolph ran the 100m dash in an impressive 11 seconds flat. However the time was not credited as a world record, because it was wind-aided. She also won the 200m dash in 23.2 seconds, a new Olympic record. Finally, on September 11, 1960, she combined with Tennessee State teammates Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams and Barbara Jones to win the 400m relay in 44.5 seconds, setting a world record.Rudolph felt inspired by Jesse Owens, the celebrated black American athlete who had been the star of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

When Rudolph returned home to Clarksville, Tenn., at her wishes, her homecoming parade and banquet were the first fully integrated municipal events in the city's history. Rudolph retired from track competition in 1962 after winning two races at a U.S.-Soviet meet. She later worked as a teacher and track coach, married and had four children.

Rudolph's 1977 autobiography, Wilma, was turned into a TV film. In the 1980s, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. She established the Wilma Rudolph Foundation to promote amateur athletics.

Rudolph died of brain cancer in 1994. In 2004, the USPS featured her on a 23-cent stamp.

One of the fastest women in track and a source of great inspiration for generations of African-American athletes, Rudolph once stated, "Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."

Adapted from biography.com, Wikipedia and other sources.

Photo: Wilma Rudolph wins the women's 100 meters running during at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Public domain. The original uploader was Kasper2006 at Italian Wikipedia - Uploaded from it.wikipedia.org. Giuseppina Leone in azione in una gara in Italia nel 1960

Julius & Ethel's final day: June 19th, 1953

Fri, 19 Jun 2015 13:03:00 +0000

Despite massive, worldwide protests, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed in Sing Sing Prison. On this 62nd anniversary of that tragic day, their granddaughter, Jenn Meeropol, has this message and shares videos.

On Friday, June 19, 1953, my grandparents were executed at the height of the McCarthy era hysteria that was sweeping through this country.

In the video series posted this week, my father and uncle (who were six and 10 when my grandparents were killed) share personal memories of the last four days of Julius and Ethel's lives, including their final visit as a family. Angela Davis explains the dramatic legal maneuverings that occurred. And Eve Ensler and Cotter Smith present the letters that Julius and Ethel wrote from June 16th to 19th.

I hope you will join me in remembering their courage and honoring their resistance,

First of four videos depicting the last four days of the lives of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, as told through the letters they wrote to their two young sons on those dates. Featuring Angela Davis, Cotter Smith (as Julius), Eve Ensler (as Ethel), and Rosenberg sons Michael and Robert Meeropol.

Second of four videos depicting the last four days of the lives of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, as told through the letters they wrote to their two young sons on those dates. Featuring Angela Davis, Cotter Smith (as Julius), Eve Ensler (as Ethel), and Rosenberg sons Michael and Robert Meeropol.

Third of four videos depicting the last four days of the lives of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, as told through the letters they wrote to their two young sons on those dates. Featuring Angela Davis, Cotter Smith (as Julius), Eve Ensler (as Ethel), and Rosenberg sons Michael and Robert Meeropol.

The last video memorializes the heart-wrenching but defiant words my grandparents' shared with their boys just hours before their deaths. Featuring Angela Davis, Cotter Smith (as Julius), Eve Ensler (as Ethel), and Rosenberg sons Michael and Robert Meeropol.

Jenn Meeropol is Executive Director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children. Since its start, the RFC has awarded more than $5.6 million to benefit close to a thousand children in the U.S. whose parents have been targeted because of their involvement in progressive movements including the struggles to preserve civil liberties, wage peace, safeguard the environment, combat racism and homophobia, and organize on behalf of workers, prisoners, immigrants and others whose human rights are under threat.

Image: The iconic 1952 lithograph of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, "por Michael & Bobby," by Pablo Picasso.

To Mother Emanuel’s Denmark Vesey: your fight goes on!

Fri, 19 Jun 2015 11:02:00 +0000

Fighting off racist attacks is nothing new for the 199-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. - lovingly referred to by many in Charleston as "Mother Emanuel."

The church which was the scene of hateful slaughter Wednesday night has a long history of resisting slavery and racism and of fighting for justice.

Mother Emanuel was founded by Morris Brown, a black pastor in 1816. People in white-run Methodist and Episcopal churches down South didn't care to worship too much with black people - thus, the separate churches.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Mother Emanuel in 1962.

In 1969 Coretta Scott King led a march of hospital workers demanding better pay - a march that began on the front steps of Mother Emanuel.

In its early years though, one of the leaders of the church was Denmark Vesey, a former slave who had been able to buy his freedom with the $1,500 winnings from a Charleston lottery.

In 1822, however, the church was burned to the ground by the white landed aristocrats because it was seen as a hotbed of support for what was on its way to becoming one of the biggest slave revolts ever in the pre-Civil War South.

Vesey was the lead planner of a slave revolt that was to begin on the night of June 16, 1822 as the clock ticked past the twelfth hour and into June 17, the next day. (Was that timing lost on Mr. Roof as, on the 17thof June, 2015, he murdered nine people in that church after having been welcomed by them into their prayer service?)

Had the elaborately-planned slave revolt of June 17, 1822 actually occurred, including the mass escape to Haiti which had already freed its slaves, it would have been one of the biggest slave revolts in the history of the pre-Civil War South. The plans leaked out, however, and the revolt was quashed.

The timing of the mass murder this week may not have been lost on the killer but the reasons Vesey had for planning a slave revolt were totally lost on the judge who sentenced him to death.

The judge who ordered his execution is reported to have said: "It is difficult to imagine what infatuation could have prompted you to attempt an episode so wild and visionary. You were a free man, comely, wealthy and enjoyed every comfort compatible with your station. You had, therefore, much to risk and little to gain."

Today, in the streets of Charleston and in the newspapers, columns, radio shows, TV shows and on line the name of Vesey is coming up again. No one remembers the name of the judge who ordered his execution. But Vesey's name they remember. Many invoking his name today are understanding better than they did before why it was that he organized that slave revolt.

A community organizer outside the church in Charleston on the night of the killings Wednesday night put it this way: "I'm sick and tired of people telling me that I shouldn't be angry. I am angry."

Photo: Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church the night of the shooting. | Mike Liggett/Twitter