Chavis: Time to Mobilize for ‘Justice or Else’ March, Pg. 27
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U.S. Black Chambers Provide Scholarships, Pg. 5
County to Open State-of-theArt Fire Station, Pg. 15
Rushern Baker Tells All to Informer, Pg. 14
Anthony Hamilton Leads Stars at Spirit Festival , Pg. 28
Vol. 50, No. 43 Aug 6 - Aug 12, 2015
After a protest in front of the U.S. Justice Department about the killing of African American women in custody, people pray for a change in the U.S. judicial system on Monday August 3. /Photo by Nancy Shia
Citizens Outraged as the Deaths of Black Women Soar AG Lynch Urged to Investigate Bland Case By Kia Croom WI Contributing Writer Amid the bustling streets of Washington, D.C., in the midst of Monday morning traffic, a growing body of protesters could be heard for blocks. “Change the game, time is coming! Change the game, we’re getting ready!” they sang. The Reverend Jamal Bryant, pastor of Baltimore’s Empowerment Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church, led just under 200 people in a peaceful assembly with a strident demand. They want the U.S. Department of Justice, under the direction of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, to take over the investigation into the death of Sandra Bland. Bland, 28, was arrested several weeks ago after a routine traffic stop for assaulting a public servant and later found dead in her
Waller County, Texas cell from an alleged suicide. “Over the last two weeks, six African-American women have died in police custody. And while we realize black men have already been targeted in mass incarceration it looks like the next in line are black women,” Bryant said. “Today we’ve assembled to take a stand not just for Sandra Bland, but for sisters that are under attack all over the country,” he said, standing shoulder-to-should with protestors holding hand written signs that read “I am Sandra Bland,” “I am Ralkina Jones” and “I am Sarah Lee Circle Bear” – signs listing the names of women of color who’ve died in recent weeks while in jail. When asked what sort of response he anticipates receiving from Lynch, Bryant replied: “I
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NATIONAL UNREST: Scores of blacks and other Americans, continue to march and protest in solidarity, determined to change police policies and laws that impact the lives of black men, women and children – even resulting in their deaths. The hashtag ‘black lives matter’ has gained a life of its own as its message remains one of profound magnitude. /Photo courtesy everyvoice.org
NAACP Leads March for Black Lives Journey Starts in Selma, Will End in D.C. By Curtis Bunn Urban News Service SELMA, Alabama – The movement that began in a bungalow is traveling nearly 900 miles to the home of Dr. King’s “Dream.” A coalition of organizations, led by the NAACP, embarked Saturday, August 1, on an 860mile, 40-day, 40-night march from Selma, Alabama to Washington, D.C in an initiative that recalls the original civil rights movement. America’s Journey for Justice began with a prayer at the historic Boynton House, a modest home
in Selma that witnessed much of the fight for integration, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1965 march across the notorious Edmund Pettus Bridge. Fifty years later, activists will caravan some 860 miles through Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and conclude September 16 in Washington. “Why march?” NAACP president Cornell William Brooks asked. “We march because our lives matter, our votes matter, our jobs matter, our schools matter.” The organizers of America’s Journey for Justice stress four
issues: the vitality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, criminal-justice reform, job growth and higher wages and better public education. “This march is not merely about putting boots on the ground,” Brooks told Urban News Service. “It’s about putting laws on the books. This has been a history-laden year, with the anniversaries of the Voting Rights Act, ‘Bloody Sunday’ and so forth. But it’s a good opportunity to make history, too.” Jamiah Adams of the NAACP said the organizers expect thou-
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