The online editorial staff comprises Betsy Shirley, Jenna Barnett, Josiah R. Daniels, Mitchell Atencio, Heather Brady, Kierra Bennning, and Zachary Lee.
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Weekly Wrap 7.31.15: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week
1. Death of a Young Black Journalist
“The most basic instinct of a local reporter is to take the importance of her neighbors as a given. In a community like Anacostia—where more than ninety per cent of residents are African-American, one in two kids lives below the poverty line, and incarceration and unemployment rates are among the nation’s highest—this is another way of saying that black lives matter.”
2. Dear NBC, BBC, CNN, and Others: Mugshots Are for Criminals, Not for Their Victims
“Using a mugshot that has no relevance to the circumstances in which Sam DuBose was killed—up against a fully-uniformed photo of his accused killer—suggests that DuBose did something criminal to instigate the cop in his shooting. As yesterday’s grand jury decision confirms, this is blatantly not true. It warps the real story: a cop who allegedly killed an innocent man for no good reason.”
3. We Need to Talk About Feminism and Vocal Fry
“The clash here is not between anti-feminists and feminists. At its heart, the conflict over vocal fry is a clashing of feminist ideologies. … Wolf suggests that young women’s voices aren’t authoritative enough, and implies that they’re somehow squandering all the hard feminist work that came before them. But what’s really happening is a generational shift, both in feminism and in the workplace.”
Officer Charged in Murder of Sam DuBose Pleads Not Guilty
Photo via Brad Sauter / Shutterstock.com
The officer indicted for the murder of Samuel DuBose just blocks from the University of Cincinnati campus pleaded not guilty, NBC News reports. Outrage over the shooting death of DuBose, father of 10, during a traffic stop on July 19 has been widespread since video footage surfaced Wednesday, with calls for a murder conviction for officer Ray Tensing.
Weekly Wrap 7.24.15: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week
1. Pope Francis Is Making Americans Uncomfortable — Why That’s a Good Thing
According to Gallup, Pope Francis’ favorability ratings have dropped from 76 percent in 2014 to 45 percent in 2015. America magazine writer Kerry Weber explains the pontiff’s recent dips in the U.S. polls.
2. Why Kylie Jenner Gets to Be ‘Just a Kid,’ But Amandla Stenberg Does Not
"America loves to defend those it perceives to be the most vulnerable — i.e. young white girls — at the expense of and detriment to young girls of color. … Though some may say this is just a pointless Instagram beef between children, this mentality of putting white womanhood on a pedestal has violent, real-world ramifications."
3. NASA Finds ‘Earth’s Bigger, Older Cousin’
Wait … what, now? According to NASA, its Kepler spacecraft has identified a planet some 1,400 light-years away — the first "nearly Earth-size planet to be found in a habitable zone of a start similar to our own," according to CNN.
3 Dead, 9 Injured in Louisiana Theater Shooting
Police car, Bennian / Shutterstock.com
A gunman opened fire in a Lafayette, La., movie theater Thursday evening during a showing of Trainwreck, killing two and injuring nine, before turning the gun on himself, according to multiple news reports. Police say they know the identity of the shooter — described as a white, 58-year-old male — but are not yet releasing his name.
Dylann Roof Charged with Federal Hate Crimes for Targeting 'African-American Parishioners at Worship'
Photo via lastrhodesian.com
A federal grand jury in South Carolina indicted Dylann Roof today on 33 counts, including hate crime charges.
In a statement at the Department of Justice, Attorney General Loretta Lynch noted that Roof targeted not only black people, but black people inside a church.
"To carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof further decided to seek out and murder African-Americans because of their race," said Lynch.
Becky Hammon Becomes First Female Head Coach to Win NBA Summer League
Photo via Basket Streaming / Flickr
Last year Becky Hammon made history with the San Antonio Spurs when she became the first female full-time assistant coach in the NBA.
This summer, she became the first female head coach in the NBA summer league.
And yesterday she led the Spurs to the NBA summer championship.
We aren’t basketball experts here at Sojourners, but that sounds pretty damn good. A helluva rise.
WATCH — We Asked, They Answered: Presidential Candidates on How They Would Address Poverty
Sojourners is a founding partner in the Circle of Protection, a broad and diverse coalition of Christian leaders working together to tackle issues of poverty here at home and around the world. This year, we asked all the presidential candidates — Democrat and Republican — to submit a brief video answering the question: “What would you do as president to offer help and opportunity to hungry and poor people in the United States and around the world?” So far the candidates below have responded with videos. Others, including Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio, Martin O'Malley, and Rand Paul, have pledged to produce one soon.
Watch this space as we continue to post new videos when they arrive. They are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Four Killed, One Wounded in Naval Reserve Shooting
Image via Leonard Zhukovsky/Shutterstock
Four Marines were killed and one police officer wounded at a Naval Reserve center in Chattanooga, Tenn., on July 16, CNN reports.
The shooting occured at two sites — the first a military recruiting center — and lasted less than 30 minutes. According to CNN:
Investigators "have not determined whether it was an act of terrorism or whether it was a criminal act," Ed Reinhold, FBI special agent in charge, told reporters. "We are looking at every possible avenue, whether it was terrorism -- whether it was domestic, international -- or whether it was a simple, criminal act."
U.S. Attorney Bill Killian earlier told reporters that authorities were treating the shooting as an "act of domestic terrorism."
The suspected gunman is also dead. Read the full story here.
Woman Arrested for Traffic Violation Found Dead in Jail Cell
Image via Nebojsa Markovic/Shutterstock
A 28-year-old black woman driving from Naperville, Ill., to Prairie View, Texas, for a job interview ended up dead in jail, ABC7 reports.
Sandra Bland was pulled over in Waller County, Texas, for failing to signal while changing lanes. Video footage from the scene of the arrest shows two police officers restraining her on the ground, then taking her into custody. Three days later she was found dead in her jail cell. Police say her death appears to be self-inflicted.
According to ABC7:
In a press release from the sheriff's department, authorities say they applied CPR, but Bland was pronounced dead shortly after she was found.
"I do not have any information that would make me think it was anything other than just a suicide," says Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis.
Bland's friends disagree.
...Longtime friend LaNitra Dean tells the I-Team that Bland "was a warm, affectionate, outspoken woman" who spoke out about police brutality often on her Facebook page and was critical of injustice against African Americans.
..."The Waller County Jail is trying to rule her death a suicide and Sandy would not have taken her own life," Dean said. "Sandy was strong. Strong mentally and spiritually."
Texas State Rangers are now handling the investigation. Read the full story here.
Confederate Flags Greet Obama in Oklahoma
Image via zefart/Shutterstock
A crowd greeted the president in Oklahoma City, Okla., Wednesday night by waving Confederate flags, POLITICO reports.
Confederate flags are a rare sight in Oklahoma, which was not a member of the confederacy.
According to POLITICO:
Across the street from [President Obama's] hotel in downtown Oklahoma City, as many as 10 people waved the flags as his motorcade arrived. The group stood among a larger group of demonstrators, many of them there to support the president, who is in town ahead of a visit to a federal prison on Thursday as part of his weeklong push on criminal justice issues.
According to local news organizations, a man named Andrew Duncomb, who calls himself the “black rebel,” organized the Confederate flag demonstration. He also put together a similar protest on Saturday at the Oklahoma State Capitol — just a day after South Carolina removed its contested flag from the State Capitol grounds. His Facebook page features photos from that rally.
The president is scheduled to visit a federal prison today, the first acting president to do so. Read the full story here.
China Rounds Up Dozens of Human Rights Lawyers, Activists
Image via ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock
Nearly 150 human rights lawyers and activists have been detained and interrogated by the Chinese government in a nation-wide sweep this week, CNN reports.
At least 124 of those detained have now been released, but the actions have prompted condemnation from national governments including the United States. At least 22 reportedly still remain in custody.
Weekly Wrap 7.10.15: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week
1. Read the First Chapter of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Sequel
Happy Christmas in July! Read this excerpt of the much-anticipated Go Set a Watchman — due to be released on Tuesday. Or listen to the chapter, featuring narration by Reese Witherspoon, over at The Guardian.
2. Pope Apologizes for Catholic Church’s ‘Offenses’ Against Indigenous People
"I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offenses of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America."
3. When Algorithms Discriminate
So there’s this, from the Upshot: "Research from the University of Washington found that a Google Images search for ‘C.E.O.’ produced 11 percent women, even though 27 percent of United States chief executives are women. (On a recent search, the first picture of a woman to appear, on the second page, was the C.E.O. Barbie doll.)"
Viral Art Video Painfully Depicts How Slavery Led to Mass Incarceration
Screenshot via Youtube
A new video developed by artist Molly Crabapple and the Equal Justice Initiative shows exactly how slavery paved the way for our current system of mass incarceration.
In particular, the video highlights the horror of the domestic slave trade, tracing the development of an elaborate mythology of racial difference — a mythology that once perpetuated slavery and now sustains mass incarceration.
“In many former slave states, slavery did not end. It simply evolved,” says narrator Bryan Stevenson, who directs the Equal Justice Initiative.
Molly Crabapple, known for her artistic contributions to Occupy Wall Street, creates videos combining the fast-paced style of dry-erase animation with the intricate watercolors of an award-winning artist.
Most Americans Believe God has a Special Relationship With the U.S.
Image via LifeWay Research.
Following the Fourth of July weekend, a recent Lifeway Research poll shows that most Americans believe that God has a special relationship with the United States.
Evangelical Christians are particularly likely to believe that God has a special relationship with the U.S. — with two-thirds agreeing with that statement — but it has a broad base of support, with even a third of those identifying as not religious agreeing with it.
"53 percent of Americans say they believe God and the nation have a special relationship, a concept stretching back to Pilgrim days. Even a third of atheists, agnostics, and those with no religious preference believe America has a special relationship with God," says the report.
This belief in a special relationship, often called American exceptionalism, has a long history, from ideas of Manifest Destiny (and whiteness) to calls for justice and a moral responsibility, as in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech.
"Some Christians view America as an archetype of biblical Israel, chosen and uniquely blessed by God," Ed Stetzer, executive director of Lifeway Research, said.
And today, despite social, economic, and political crises regularly in the headlines, American optimism remains high — only 4 in 10 Americans think America’s best days are behind us.
Read the full report here.
Weekly Wrap 7.2.15: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week
1. Black Churches Are Burning Again in America
"[N]o matter why they happened, these fires are a troubling reminder of the vulnerability of our sacred institutions in the days following one of the most violent attacks on a church in recent memory."
2. Sitting Between Two Hashtags
The hashtags #lovewins and #propheticgrief simultaneously called the nation to celebration and mourning. Read how one woman is struggling to navigate between these feelings.
3. Bree Newsome Speaks For The First Time After Courageous Act of Civil Disobedience
Bree Newsome, in her own words.
Dear Congress: Support Nuclear Deal with Iran
Image via Aref.ahm/Shutterstock
"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." (Rom 12:18 NIV)
Together with forty other organizations, Sojourners is calling on Congress to support the nuclear deal currently being negotiated with Iran. Sojourn have choice to either act to promote peace and restrain Iran from building nuclear weapons or to slide towards war.
"The following organizations, representing millions of Americans, urge you to support the strong nuclear deal being negotiated currently between world powers and Iran," the letter reads.
Arson Suspected After Six Black Churches Burn In the South
In two weeks after Dylann Roof shot nine people at Emanuel A.M.E Church in Charleston, S.C., six church buildings in the south housing predominately black congregations were burned. The Southern Poverty Law Center suggested the string of nighttime fires “may not be a coincidence.”
Weekly Wrap 6.26.15: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week
1. You Must Read the Last Paragraph of Justice Kennedy’s Same-Sex Marriage Opinion
Well, and all of it, at the link.
2. WATCH: President Obama Sings ‘Amazing Grace’ to Close His Eulogy in Honor of Charleston Victim Reverend Clementia Pinckney
You'll need some tissues for this one.
3. We Need to Talk About White Culture
In his column for The Daily Beast, Sojourners board member, Joshua DuBois writes: “My brothers and sisters from the majority culture—White Americans—need to have the courage to drive this dialogue, and help us find some answers.”
WATCH: President Obama Sings ‘Amazing Grace’ to Close His Eulogy in Honor of Charleston Victim Rev. Clementa Pinckney
President Obama sings Amazing Grace. Photo via The White House / Youtube
After delivering a stirring eulogy on Friday for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, President Obama paused and simply said “Amazing Grace.” As the audience held its breath in expectation, perhaps waiting for another profound spiritual word on “grace,” the president broke out in song. The ministers of Emanuel A.M.E. seated behind President Obama immediately laughed with joy and jumped up as the entire congregation sang the course of the famous hymn.
Same-Sex Marriage Is Legal
Gay couples have a legal right to marry, SCOTUS ruled today.
“The court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. No longer may this liberty be denied to them,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Washington Post reports.
The 5-4 ruling comes as a legal confirmation of the rapidly changing tide of public sentiment towards legalizing same-sex marriage, which was legal in only four states until the last five years, but saw 33 more states rule in favor since 2010.