Black Lives Matter

Greg Abbott Says He Plans To Pardon A US Army Sergeant Convicted Of Murdering A BLM Protester
“I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk,” the Texas governor said on Twitter.

A Louisiana Police Officer Was Arrested After Fatally Shooting An Unarmed Black Man
Officer Alexander Tyler was arrested on Thursday morning on charges of negligent homicide, but was released by Thursday afternoon on a $25,000 bond.

The Writing On The Game “Forspoken” Is As Bad As Everyone’s Saying. Its Black Woman Lead Is Just One Of The Casualties.
The game uses tokenized diversity to try to make a generic Hero’s Journey feel fresh, but the end result is completely uninterested in its characters’ interior lives.

Family And Friends Remember Tyre Nichols As A “Free Spirit” Who “Was Just His Own Person”
“He has a tattoo of my name on his arm,” Nichols’s mother RowVaughn Wells said in a press conference on Friday. “My son loved me to death and I loved him to death.”

29-Year-Old Tyre Nichols Died After Being Brutally Beaten By Police, His Family Said. Now Five Officers Have Been Fired In Connection With His Death
The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into 29-year-old Tyre Nichols's death, while the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations investigates the officers’ actions.

10 Times Sport Team Owners Were Accused Of Racist Behavior And The Consequences They Were Handed
From Jerry Jones to Kelly Loeffler.

A 9-Year-Old Black Girl Was Catching Lanternflies Outside. Her Neighbor Called The Police On Her And Said She “Scared” Him.
The neighbor called 911 after spotting her outside testing an environmentally friendly spotted lanternfly solution she’d made, identifying her as “a little Black woman” with a “hood.”


Jayland Walker Was Shot 46 Times By Police
The medical examiner's report revealed that the 46 graze and entrance wounds included a shot to the face, and officials confirmed his cause of death was due to blood loss.

Styles P Goes Viral After Footage Of Him Trying To Protect A Black Woman From Cops Sets The Internet Ablaze
Styles P is forever GOATed for this.


The Chicago Cops Who Shot And Killed Two People During Foot Chases Won't Face Charges
Prosecutors declined to charge the officers who killed 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez, 22, and Adam Toledo, 13, within days of each other.

You Can't Kill A Revolution: The FBI's Assassination Of Fred Hampton Proves America's Obsession With Dismantling Black Leaders
The murderers of a young revolutionary escaped justice, but his purpose lives on.


What They Didn't Teach You In School: The Assassination Of Medgar Evers And The Murderer Who Walked Free For Three Decades
Mr. Evers' killer wasn't convicted for nearly three decades.

5 Reasons Why Brian Flores' Racism Lawsuit Against The NFL Is A HUGE Deal
The NFL's racial history is not one to be ignored.

The Justice Department Won’t Reopen The Federal Civil Rights Investigation Into Tamir Rice’s Death
The 12-year-old boy’s family had urged DOJ under the Biden administration to reconsider the decision to close the probe, submitting a letter from dozens of legal scholars.

For Black Activists, The Rittenhouse Verdict Signals A Scary Security Shift
With political operators, armed vigilantes, and police departments all cracking down on racial justice movements, Black organizers have developed security plans, anti-doxxing programs, and other tactics.

“This Is Blackface”: White Actors Are Playing Black Characters In Virtual Reality Diversity Training
Mursion tells big corporate clients that its VR simulations will help teach racial sensitivity. But the actors playing its Black characters are often white.

Some Republicans Keep Praising Kyle Rittenhouse
A cohort of Republicans rushed to praise Rittenhouse after he was found not guilty of murder.

Kyle Rittenhouse Testified He "Didn't Do Anything Wrong" When He Fatally Shot Two People
"I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me," Rittenhouse said during his murder trial. "Two of them passed away, but I stopped the threat from attacking me."


Lewis Hamilton Made Sure Black Designers Had A Place At The Met Gala
"THIS is what people should be doing with access and privilege. Very dope of him."

Three Officers And Two Paramedics Have Been Charged In Elijah McClain's Death
The 23-year-old Black man was killed after being placed in a chokehold and injected with ketamine.

A Police Officer Killed Jacob Harris, But His Unarmed Friends Were Charged With His Murder
A little-known legal theory allows prosecutors to file murder charges against people who are unarmed or not even at the scene when police officers kill somebody.

Inside "The Very Secret History" Of The Sunrise Movement
Internal memos show that activists of color within the Sunrise Movement have privately alleged mistreatment for years — as the climate group publicly fought for racial justice.

A Man Will Serve 5 Years In Prison For A Hate Crime Attack On A Black Teen With A Bike Lock
Lee Mouat, 43, pleaded guilty to attacking a Black teen in the face with a bike lock, knocking out several of his teeth, while yelling racial slurs.

Listen: Black TikTok Boycotts Thot S—t—But More Creators Need To Step Up
“Black creators are tired of crumbs. They’re tired of eating last and being paid dust for the most part.”

Trump Can’t Be Sued Over The Violent Clearing Of Lafayette Square Last Summer, A Judge Ruled
The judge found there wasn’t enough evidence that Trump and other officials had conspired to violate protesters’ rights.

How Americans Across The Country Celebrated Juneteenth This Year As A National Holiday For The First Time
Though Juneteenth was celebrated long before it became a federal holiday, this year it was cause for wide celebration across the country.

“It Feels Like We’re Profiting Off Of Black Death”: Tulsa Residents See Civil Rights Tourism But No Reparations
One hundred years have passed since the Tulsa massacre, but little has been done to make amends or improve the lives of Black residents, whose fate can be decided by their zip code.

Snoop Dogg Said That Every Moment He's With Martha Stewart Is A "Special Moment," And I'm Crying At Their Friendship
"I taught [Martha] a few tricks on the bacon tip."

Powerful Photos Show How George Floyd Is Being Remembered One Year After His Death
On the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, people gathered around the country to advocate and pay their respects.

Online Store Shein Apologized For Selling A Phone Case Depicting A Handcuffed Black Person Outlined In Chalk
The retailer had been criticized in the past for selling a "swastika pendant" and Muslim prayer mats as decorative rugs.

An Asian American Teen Was Having A Mental Health Crisis When Police Killed Him
Christian Hall’s parents brought him to America in hopes of giving him a better life. Instead, he fell victim to institutional failures that harm many others who don’t fit the “model minority” myth. In his final moment of crisis, police gunned him down.

Tamir Rice's Family Is Pressuring The Biden Administration To Reopen A Federal Investigation Into His Death
“We’ll keep everything going until they give me some answers,” Tamir Rice’s mother said this week.

Listen: We Shouldn’t Have To Replace Our Phones So Often, And News Law Could Help
“That also means that a company like Apple isn’t going to profit as much from an upgrade cycle, which is part of the reason that they fight against this stuff.”

In His First 100 Days, Biden Called Out The Country’s Deeply Embedded Racism. Eradicating It Will Be Harder.
Joe Biden faces more difficult days ahead, with pressure ramping up for him to do more to fundamentally change the systems that perpetuate racism and inequality.

Listen: Eboni K Williams, RHONY’s First Black Housewife, Wants To Change The Franchise Forever
“I’m a sucker for an opportunity to change the narrative, and disrupt space. As a huge housewives fan, and a RHONY fan in particular, this felt like an opportunity to change the game.”

Black Gen Z’ers Want You To Stop Sharing Videos Of Police Killing People Who Look Like Them
“It’s like a foreshadow of your own death.”

The Men Accused Of Killing Ahmaud Arbery Are Now Facing Federal Hate Crime Charges
A state investigator previously testified that one of the men was heard calling Arbery the n-word.

Police Shot Andrew Brown In The Back Of The Head, An Independent Autopsy Has Found
"It was a killshot to the back of the head," said attorney Ben Crump.

Video Shows Andrew Brown's Hands Were On The Steering Wheel When Police Shot Him, His Family's Lawyer Says
A brief clip of bodycam footage — just 20 seconds — was shown to his family and attorneys on Monday, but the video hasn't yet been released publicly.

North Carolina Officials Called On Police To Release Bodycam Footage Of The Fatal Shooting Of Andrew Brown
Seven deputies from the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office were placed on administrative leave following Brown's death.

Derek Chauvin Was Found Guilty, But A Bigger Fight For Justice Is Still Ongoing
"The problem is cops have all the power and they're killing people every fucking day. I don't care that they're getting sent to jail now. They shouldn't be killing people."

Daunte Wright Was A Beloved Son And Father Who Always Had A Smile On His Face, Loved Ones Said
"Even through hard times he always had a smile on his face," one friend told BuzzFeed News. "I still remember his laugh in my head."

An 18-Year-Old Whose Viral Video Of Derek Chauvin Crushing George Floyd's Neck Gave Emotional Testimony About What She Saw
Darnella Frazier, who was 17 at the time, said she has stayed up at night "apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more."

A Noose Was Found On A Tree Outside A Church In Washington, DC
A vocal ensemble had been renting the church’s space to practice for a performance that tells the crucifixion story through a lens of systemic racism when the noose appeared.

Listen: This Is Why It Was Easy For Americans To Ignore Anti-Asian Violence Before The Atlanta Shootings
“Being Asian in America also means being invisible. We’re taught growing up to keep our heads down. That If you work hard enough, you will survive. But that also means our pain has gone unacknowledged.”

A Reporter Was Found Not Guilty Of Criminal Charges Over Her Coverage Of Black Lives Matter Protests
Andrea Sahouri, a Des Moines Register reporter, testified that she did not resist arrest and had repeatedly identified herself as a journalist to police.

A Reporter Is Going On Trial Over Her Coverage Of Black Lives Matter Protests In A Widely Condemned Case
The criminal charges against Andrea Sahouri have been widely criticized as an attack on press freedom in the US.

21 Audiobooks And Podcasts By Black Canadians You Have To Listen To
From memoirs and fiction to pop culture and politics, there's something on this list for everyone.

A 23-Year-Old Black Man Who Was Put In A Police Chokehold Should Never Have Been Stopped, A New Report Says
Millions of people had called for justice for McClain, who died after he was put in a chokehold by Aurora, Colorado, police.

The Black Lives Matter Social Media Uprising For George Floyd Paved The Way For Asian Americans To Have Their Online Reckoning
In this week's newsletter: Asian American influencers and online community-builders are confronting difficult identity issues after the recent string of racist attacks.

Charges Were Dropped Against The Buffalo Police Officers Who Violently Shoved A 75-Year-Old Protester
After video of the encounter went viral, police initially told reporters the man had "tripped and fell" without making any mention of the officers' role.

Rep. Cori Bush Is Moving Her Office To Be Farther Away From Marjorie Taylor Greene After A Confrontation
"All of this led to my decision to move my office away from Taylor Greene’s for the safety of my team," Bush said in a statement.

After The Capitol Riot, Biden Supporters Came To The Inauguration To Stand Up For Tradition
"We almost felt a duty to come down here to say this is how we do this peacefully.”

24 Pictures Of Things Before And After Donald Trump Touched Them
Here's what four years of Trump will do to a country.

Black Attorneys At The Justice Department Called Out The “Clear Disparity” In How White Capitol Rioters Were Treated
DOJ’s association of Black attorneys said the treatment of the largely white mob supported the idea “that the fair and impartial enforcement of the law does not apply to Black Americans.”

An 18-Year-Old Saw Her Mom, Aunt, And Uncle In DC In A Video — So She Named Them
Many families have been torn apart by politics and social unrest in the Trump era. Here's one teen's story.

Listen: Here’s How The Internet Reacted To The Attempted Coup At The Capitol
“I think that’s what the internet has given us—the ability to laugh-cry through the pain. We’re allowed to laugh at the Axe body spray”

Biden Said Black Lives Matter Protesters Would Have Been Treated "Very Differently" Than The Trump Mob Was At The Capitol
The president-elect insisted that the mob of Trump supporters be termed "domestic terrorists," not protesters.

Celebs Are Expressing Outrage Over The Difference In Police Response To The Capitol Riots And Black Lives Matter Protests
"We can’t walk down the street with our hoodies up without being killed but they can do this?"

BLM Activists See A Big Double Standard In How Police Dealt With Trump Insurrectionists
Black Lives Matter activists see a sharp contrast between the treatment they received last summer and what happened at the Capitol.

Two Louisville Detectives Involved In The Raid That Killed Breonna Taylor Have Been Fired
Joshua Jaynes secured the search warrant that led to the raid, and Myles Cosgrove was one of the officers who busted into Breonna Taylor's apartment that night and killed her.

The Leader Of The Proud Boys Was Arrested In The Burning Of A "Black Lives Matter" Banner
Henry "Enrique" Tarrio told the Washington Post that he'd burned the banner taken from a historic Black church during violent protests in Washington, DC.

Police Have Released A Brief Bodycam Video Of A 23-Year-Old Black Man Being Shot And Killed By Officers
Police say video of the deadly shooting shows Dolal Idd fired at officers first before Minneapolis police shot and killed the 23-year-old.

The NYPD's Actions During The George Floyd Protests Exacerbated Tensions With Protesters, Report Finds
The city's Department of Investigation report concluded NYPD's mistakes went far beyond individual officers' actions and were rather a failure of the whole department.

Lil Baby And Stephen Gave George Floyd's 7-Year-Old Daughter An L.O.L. Dolls–Themed Birthday Party
"We are very grateful for that.”

Meet Kanya King: The Woman Behind Britain’s Longest Running Award Show For Black Music
Following a two-year hiatus, Britain’s most prestigious award show honouring black music returns in the midst of a global pandemic and a moment of racial reckoning worldwide.

In 2020, Disinformation Broke The US
Lies about science, civil rights, and the vote itself have turned Americans against one another.

John Boyega Is Fighting Discrimination Both On- And Offscreen With His New Film "Red, White And Blue"
"It's just essentially that Black lives matter. It's very, very simple."

A Former Cop Has Been Charged In The 2017 Killing Of An Unarmed Black Man
Keita O’Neil was fatally shot by a rookie San Francisco police officer in 2017 after he allegedly carjacked a state lottery employee's van.

Activists Are Demanding Body Camera Footage Be Released After Omaha Police Fatally Shot A Black Man
Kenneth Jones, 35, was shot by police during a traffic stop.

The Black Lives Matter Movement Isn't Over — Here's 5 Things You Can Do To Keep It Moving Forward
We must keep up the momentum.

Joe Biden Won, But America’s Problems Aren’t Over
It’s official: Biden is our new president. But just because we’re almost done with the utter chaos of Trump doesn’t mean the country is cured of its ills.

The Black Lives Matter Protests In New York City Have Slowed Down. The NYPD Hasn’t.
As people brace for postelection protests, BLM organizers say they are being harassed by a police force that has publicly backed Trump.

They Don’t Trust The Government Or The Police To Protect Them After The Election, So They’re Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands
"We are preparing for an extended period of protest that will make the summer look like camp. People have this idea that it’s all going to be over after the election. It’s not," a BLM activist said.

They Marched In A Black Lives Matter Protest And It Changed Their Politics
“You could see which side cared about the Black Lives Matter movement,” said one first-time protester, “and which side couldn't embrace it.”

A Mother Was Brutally Separated From Her Young Son And A Police Union Used Him For Content
“They're trying to give people a sense that they're the protectors and it's not lost on us that this has just come days before the election,” the mother's attorney told BuzzFeed News.

Mariah Carey's New Video Honors Breonna Taylor And The Black Lives Matter Movement
"Isn't it time that we start rebuilding all of the things that have basically crumbled?"

This Is What Hope Sounds Like
After finding myself in the ER in March, I had to learn to listen to the world again.

The Presidential Debates Gave People Of Color Old Fights Over The Past And Little Insight Into The Future
The debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump focused less on their plans for Black and brown Americans than on their pasts.

Trump Once Again Mischaracterized The Black Lives Matter Movement By Falsely Linking It To An Anti-Police Chant
During the final presidential debate, Trump falsely associated the national Black Lives Matter movement with the anti-police chant "Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon."

Nigeria’s Military Shot And Killed Peaceful Protesters Who Were Calling For An End To Police Brutality
The #EndSARS movement has swept across Nigeria and the world — but the country’s president won’t acknowledge it even after protesters were slaughtered.

Protest Is Part Of The Black American Tradition. Young Activists Are Reshaping The Movement In Their Image.
“Who exactly was this a reckoning for? Not for me.” Four very different young Black activists doing the work on why we’re here and what comes next.

This Is The Backstory Of The Viral Photo Of A Black Woman Holding Her Son While Waiting In Line To Vote
"This is everything, everything that is going on in America with Black people," she told BuzzFeed News.

I Told Civil Rights Activists I Was Feeling Hopeless. They Responded: “Are You Kidding Me?”
"Despite abject slavery of the most vicious, degenerate, immoral type, we stand taller, see further, and reach higher because we stand on the shoulders of giants.”

Barbie Addressed White Privilege On Her YouTube Channel And It's So Important
I didn't know I was such a strong Barbie fan until this moment.

A Man Who Allegedly Posed As A Federal Officer At A Protest Will Go To Trial To Face Charges
Police realized the 28-year-old was not a real federal officer after a newspaper published a photo of him with a Nazi tattoo, court documents said.

27 Of The Most Powerful Photos Of This Week
From Trump's brief hospital stay, to treat the coronavirus to the ongoing fight against systemic racism and climate change, these were some of the most powerful photos of this week.


How Non-Black People Of Color Can Work To Be Anti-Racist
This isn’t only a whiteness problem.

27 Of The Most Powerful Photos Of This Week
From the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the indictment announcement regarding Breonna Taylor's death, these are some of the most powerful photos of this week.

Emotional Photos Show Louisville's Reaction To The Announcement Of Charges In Breonna Taylor's Killing
The much-anticipated announcement of charges was met with anger and sadness by protesters, who have been calling for justice for Taylor for months.

A Cop Was Charged With Firing Into Breonna Taylor's Neighbor's Apartment. No One Was Charged With Actually Killing Her.
No police officer has been charged directly over Breonna Taylor's death.

The Victims Of Violence During The Kenosha Protests Are Suing Facebook
Citing a law that dates from the Reconstruction era, four people, including the partner of a man killed during the protests, are taking the company to court.

We Need To Cool The "Karen" Memes Because They Represent More Than Just A Stereotype
"Karen" is much more than a meme — the term represents white women asserting their privilege and using their power at the expense of others.

Sandra Oh's Emmys Outfit Actually Included A Gorgeous And Subtle Black Lives Matter Message
"I wanted to express my support for the Black community in a way that felt personal to my community."

Kerry Washington Said People Think She Shouldn't Share Her Opinions Because She's An Actor: "Nobody Should Be Silenced Because Of Their Job"
"I still have that very real fear."