Month: August 2020

BY NICOLE LAPORTE,

Earlier this year, a heartfelt short film about an African American father who has to endure the (arduous and terrifying) task of doing his young daughter’s hair for the first time captured the entertainment industry’s attention by taking home an Oscar. The film, created and directed by Matthew A. Cherry, had originated as a Kickstarter campaign in 2017, where it raised $300,000—its goal was $75,000—and then was brought to the attention of Lion Forge Animation, which came on board as a producer.

When it debuted online, the film, which is voiced by Issa Rae, went viral, and it was added as a short before theater screenings of Angry Birds 2. (Sony Pictures Animation also came on as a producer.)

Then came the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.

Hair Love not only made a name for Cherry, who has since forged a production deal with Warner Bros. Television, but for Lion Forge Animation, a mission-driven animation studio based in St. Louis that is dedicated to bringing diverse voices and stories to both small and large screens.

The company is one of the few Black-owned animation studios in existence and was created as a sibling to Oni Lion Forge Publishing Company—an independent publisher of comic and graphic novels such as Puerto Rico Strong, Stumptown, and Tea Dragon Society—that was originally founded in 2011 to reflect and champion the voices of underrepresented groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, members of the LGBTQ community, and women. The animation studio, which was established a few years ago, carries on that mandate, specifically as it relates to the notoriously white, male-dominated animation industry. Not only is there a severe shortage of Black directors and creators, but animated films themselves, particularly older ones, are rife with stereotypes and plots in which African American characters are relegated to the funny sidekick role, at best. At worst, they’re depicted as racial stereotypes or victims in need of rescue by white savior figures.

Lion Forge Animation seeks to change this narrative. “We’re really challenging the expectations of what we’re currently seeing in the media,” says Lion Forge founder Dave Steward II. (Steward is the son of tech billionaire David Steward and the brother of Manchester By the Sea producer Kimberly Steward.)

But if Hair Love put Lion Forge Animation on the map, the company is now coming into its own and flexing its muscles at a time when the culture at large is becoming more invested in shining the spotlight on underrepresented voices, thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement and the discussion it’s instigated across the nation. As Hollywood makes strides to self-correct its racial and ethnic lens, Lion Forge offers an opportunity to invest in content that tells stories from the perspective of African Americans and other creators who are not typically given a seat at the table.

Indeed, it represents a far more authentic answer to the problem than some of the awkward (if well-meaning) gestures that the entertainment industry is making in response to BLM—such as changing out white voice actors who have been voicing Black roles on animated shows such as Big Mouth, Family Guy, and The Simpsons.

Lion Forge Animation’s projects, in contrast, not only reflect the stories of underrepresented voices but are created and overseen by individuals from those groups. “We have our own kind of brand of diversity where just being allowed to be in front of the camera, I don’t think that’s enough,” says Carl Reed, president of Lion Forge Animation. “Or just being able to tell stories about Black people and their environment. I don’t think that’s enough. We’ll really feel like we’ve done our job when we can have an animated show with maybe even all white characters, but you don’t know that behind the scenes is Black writing. What does that do to the traditional narrative that says, Hey, there are no new stories. Everything’s been told. It hasn’t been told from every perspective.”

This approach, combined with Lion Forge Animation’s reputation for high quality, has captured the entertainment industry’s attention. HBO Max recently announced that it is turning Hair Love into an animated series—it will be called Young Love—with Cherry serving as showrunner along with TheBoondocks co-executive producer Carl Jones. Lion Forge Animation also has formed a partnership with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment to create content for Imagine Kids+Family. Projects so far include Puerto Rico Strong, which will delve into issues such as the effects of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico; Chippy Hood, a preschool series about four little chipmunks; and a Black anthology series that will feature Black creators telling stories based on their experiences. It is also working with the Chinese entertainment company Starlight Media to take Chinese IP and turn it into content that melds Chinese and American sensibilities.

As Lion Forge expands in size and scope—it has production studios in Argentina and India and has plans to open another facility in South Korea—it has the potential to do far more than just create memorable short films that expose viewers to worlds not typically examined in mainstream media. Due to its relationship with Lion Forge’s comics arm, the studio is poised to create multimedia franchises, some based on its own comic book IP, on par with what big-league animation studios such as Pixar and Illumination are cooking up. Its partnership with foreign companies such as Starlight Media expands its reach to a global level.

“Our inherent structure kind of lends itself toward franchising,” says Steward II. “Because we have both the publishing side and the animation side. So we’re able to co-develop things that have a far, far reach. We’re always looking at, ‘How do we engage our audience on multiple levels?’”

MAINTAIN CREATIVE AND EXECUTIVE AUTHENTICITY

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Even as it begins its path toward global domination, Lion Forge Animation stands by its primary philosophy, which is that minority-focused content must be created, played, and overseen by minorities and not left up to mainstream artists and executives whose perceptions about other groups are ultimately that—perceptions.

“If you kind of break it down, there are three parts to this,” says Steward II. “It’s representation on the screen. It’s representation on the producing side of things. But then also, and I think what’s always missed, is, there needs to be representation in the executive teams that have the power to be able to push the content through.

“Because if you have content that’s, let’s say, is from a Black creator and has a Black cast, but you have non-Black executives overseeing the projects, all too often, I mean, there are stories of those executives using their power to change that content based off of their perception and portrayal of a particular group,” he continues. “So those three things need to happen. As companies really look at this and get serious about it, it’s about changing those three aspects in order to have meaningful content with a meaningful voice that gets put out.”

This formula proved successful for Hair Love. “We had an African American producer, we had an African American director, and we were all kind of pulling for a singular vision,” says Steward II. “We were in our own kind of creative bubble that we were able to work in, free of any kind of outside interference.”

Even Sony Pictures Animation “did not seek to have any kind of approval of what we ended up making,” he adds.

This pure creative space may be hindered somewhat with Young Love, which is “entering into the machine” of HBO Max. But Steward says he’s hopeful given Cherry’s track record and the acclaim garnered by the original short. “Coming into this process from, I guess, success, is helpful. When you have a new project that’s unproven, you’re going to walk into these situations and inherently have” less power. “Given the fact that we have the track record of success in doing this definitely gives us a better opportunity and vision. At the end of the day, that’s what Sony and HBO bought into for the series. Making sure that we capture that same magic that we had in the short.”

A MULTIMEDIA APPROACH

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Lion Forge’s multipronged media structure means that it can do much more than just release a movie or TV show. A few years ago when it had the license to Voltron, the 1980s animated series, it partnered with DreamWorks Animation, which rebooted the show for Netflix in 2016. To complement the show and feed fandom, Lion Forge created a Voltron comic book spinoff that was published alongside the Netflix series.

“We were able to create a derivative series that worked with the main stories [DWA] was telling and were able to extend the content over the year, versus having the content released twice,” says Steward II. “So you had a constant feeding to the marketplace of content. That worked very well for us and is kind of the basis of our plans for how we’re releasing content from an animation standpoint going forward.

“If you’re releasing something, it only exists for that certain period of time. Whether you have a yearly or a multiyear series that’s being released on SVOD or a movie coming out and it’s going to be a couple more years ’til the next movie, how do you bridge those moments that you’re releasing content and keep your audience engaged? Comics offer that unique opportunity to keep in contact with fans.”

In the case of Voltron, some fans were outraged when the Netflix series maintained loyalty to the original series by burying the storylines of gay characters in the final season. Lion Forge Animation had no creative input on the series, but the incident points to how the company and its brand are best served when Lion Forge is in the driver’s seat, and the importance of having that creative bubble.

Nonetheless, the Voltron model points to how the company can mine both its own IP and create new titles that it can then blow out across two platforms in order to build and support fan bases.

A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

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Don’t be fooled by Lion Forge’s St. Louis address. Although that’s the company’s hub, where preproduction and development all take place, the company’s growing global footprint of production studios means there is not only more manpower but more influence from other pockets of the world.

“We’re all about perspectives and challenging those expectations,” says Reed. “So there are creators in Korea and Malaysia who don’t necessarily get the spotlight either. What stories are we missing out on there? We’re excited to play in all these waters and be able to hopefully get access to some of the best stories globally.”

Meanwhile, when a particular piece of content speaks to a particular geographic location, the company can leverage its breadth. “Our teams are strong across the board, and content that might be appropriate for Asia or Latin America—we have those teams in-house. So we’re able to really lean on them when we have a story to tell from those perspectives,” Reed goes on.

Steward says that the company has not been hindered by COVID-19, other than a week or so when artists and executives had to take their laptops home and set up a new workspace. Beyond that, production marches on, all the more so as “content distributors and platforms are more voracious than ever needing content and are looking more to animation for opportunities,” he says. He points out how the series The Blacklist, whose production schedule was interrupted by the pandemic, turned to animation to create the final episode.

Reed echoes this, saying it’s business as usual these days. “Hopefully we all social distance by nature. We get behind a computer and start working.”

Original article was published here.

By Walnut Hills History,

William DeHart Hubbard was born in Walnut Hills on November 25, 1903, the first of eight children. His middle name honored Andrew DeHart, principal of the school recently named after Frederick Douglass. The name indicates the esteem in which the neighborhood held the school; Hubbard in fact dropped the William went by DeHart throughout his career. When the time for school came the boy went to Frederick Douglass.

DeHart Hubbard was always the fastest runner in his class. Before he finished the eighth grade at Douglass he had a citywide reputation. At Walnut Hills High School, he continued to be a star. Douglass paid rare tribute in its commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the 1911 building with a picture and a caption beginning “DeHart Hubbard is the community’s premiere athlete.” Along with his many cups, medals and ribbons, the shout out noted: “In addition his general average for three years in high school is above ninety.” During his senior year at Walnut Hills he was turning in times competitive with college track champions.

In the days before we think of big money in sports, a graduate of the University of Michigan hatched a plan to recruit Hubbard. One of the Cincinnati newspapers ran a contest promising $3000 scholarships to the ten high school students who brought in the largest number of new subscriptions. The Michigan alumnus ran a nationwide campaign to add subscribers in Hubbard’s name. The campaign succeeded in placing him in the top ten and secured a place at Michigan.

Hubbard dominated the Big Ten in sprints and the long jump in his sophomore year, winning a place on the US Olympic team in 1924. He was allowed to compete only in the long jump. On the ship to France he wrote his mother to tell his father “I’m going to do my best to be the FIRST COLORED OLYMPIC CHAMPION.” True to his word, he won his event, the first African American to take an individual gold medal. Returning to Michigan he continued his winning ways: he tied the world record in the 100 yard dash, and broke the world record in the long jump.

DeHart Hubbard returned to Cincinnati after he graduated, with honors, from Michigan. He joined the Cincinnati Recreation Commission as the supervisor of the Department of Colored Work, serving his community in that capacity until 1941. That year he became the manager of Valley Homes, a housing project built for war workers in Lincoln Heights. Lincoln Heights was at the time the largest self-governing Black community in the country. (After the war Valley Homes was the only such project where African American buyers purchased homes built as part of the war effort.) In 1942 he moved to Cleveland to serve as the Racial Relations Adviser for the Federal Housing Authority, a position he held until his retirement in 1969. He died in 1976.

Original article was published here.

by Terry Carter Jr.

Modern Love actor Brandon Kyle Goodman has emerged as a powerful voice in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Many of his Instagram videos addressing systemic racism and how to be effective allies have gone viral during the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial inequality in the US.

Last week, Brandon spoke with BuzzFeed about how the movement has inspired him, shared his thoughts on police reform, and how he’s utilizing his role as a writer on Big Mouth to deliver more inclusive storylines in the forthcoming seasons. Read on for more.

BuzzFeed: The Black Lives Matter movement has become one of, if not the most, influential movement of our time. How have you been personally inspired by it?

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Brandon Kyle Goodman: “I would say the inspiration comes from the resilience of Black people and Black people banding together to demand that people respect our lives. The inspiration comes from the conversations that I get to have with my Black friends [and] with my family, just about how to overcome all of this, how to push through all of this, and how to navigate. This [movement] is not just with policy, politics, and law, but also with heart, emotion, and spirituality. I think that our ancestors had to have a lot of heart, a lot of fucking passion, a lot of resilience to make it past what this country has put Black people through. So yeah, that is where my inspiration comes from.”

BuzzFeed: Something about this time feels distinctively different from all of the other protests that we’ve seen in recent years regarding police brutality against Black men and women. Why do you think that is?

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BKG: “When I was 12 years old, Amadou Diallo was shot. When I was 25, Trayvon Martin was shot. So this isn’t a new thing that’s been happening. My theory is that there’s something about the fact that the world is under this pandemic and we have been trapped at home. And so, there’s no distraction. You can’t look anywhere else. All we’ve been talking about for the last few months has been COVID-19. And then amidst COVID-19, here comes this tragedy with Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and you just can’t look away from that. You just can’t pretend like that isn’t happening.”

BKG: “I think, possibly because people are at home, that the consciousness had space to open up and awaken in the people who, up until this point, just thought that the killing of [Black] people was happening somewhere else and not inside of their own communities. [Or that] the danger wasn’t for their friends, as well for their communities.

Finally, it’s like no, no, this is something that impacts every single Black person that you come in contact with. No matter how rich or how poor, if they’re gay, straight, trans, it doesn’t matter. Our lives are all at stake. And it’s time for our colleagues, our neighbors, our friends, our lawmakers, and our politicians to step up.”

BuzzFeed: We’ve heard of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and unfortunately countless others. But, I also wish everyone knew and said the names of the endless amount of Black trans women who are killed every year with no justice. What are your thoughts on the erasure of Black trans people and how can the movement be more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community going forward?

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BKG: “It’s devastating. I think it’s tragic. I think it’s part of the problem. I live in LA and [I have been] protesting. At rallies, I’ve been very grateful and thankful that the names of trans women have been said and the names of Black women have been said, because I think so often we either separate Black women or we don’t talk about Black women and Black trans women in this conversation. I think that there’s a larger problem in our society in which we disregard women, period.”

BKG: “To me, it’s about social conditioning. And people needing to unlearn this idea that certain lives are of value and other lives aren’t. And that is a conscious choice that we all have to make. I’m really excited about this All Black Lives Matter solidarity march happening in LA, and more of our Black leaders and Black voices saying the names of our trans brothers and sisters. I think that is so vital and so important, and I’m grateful that’s beginning to happen, but it is not enough. We definitely need to not leave people behind in this fight. For this fight to be successful, it’s about all of us. We all have to come together for it to actually be true justice and true Black Lives Matter.”

BuzzFeed: As you know, on top of everything else, this is also an election year. What do you say to people, specifically in the Black community, who feel like their vote doesn’t count, or Black people who are just not happy with either of the two presidential candidates?

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BKG: “One, I would say I understand, but two, it’s not an excuse. Too much is at stake. Our lives are at stake. We are legally being murdered. We have been legally murdered in the street, and that has to change. And the current leadership isn’t going to do that. I encourage people to realize that you’re not by yourself. So maybe you think that your vote doesn’t matter, but your vote plus my vote plus those 10,000 other votes, that matters. That 1,000% matters. To dismantle the system, I keep saying it is not going to happen overnight. This thing isn’t going to get fixed by the end of the summer. This is going to be a long-term [process], and how we operate in this country is going to have to shift majorly. This upcoming election is one step in that shift. It’s not the final step.”

BuzzFeed: There have been calls from some people in the movement to defund the police, and even calls to abolish it. What would you like to see happen in regards to police reform?

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BKG: “Well, I think police reform has already happened and it was trash. It doesn’t work. We’re still being killed. It hasn’t worked. If it did work, we wouldn’t be having this moment in history, where people are protesting in every single state across the country. I do think the next step is defunding police. I believe that [the NYPD] has a $6 billion police budget as opposed to investing that money and making sure that our kids have full-time nurses in their middle schools. Or that our communities have mental health and social services. That doesn’t make sense to me.”
“How we police has to shift.”

We’re talking about actually doing something that will better a community, that will help a community thrive, that will give a community the resources that they so desperately need. And quite honestly, that white counterparts get and we don’t. I think it’s absurd that there are schools that don’t have full-time counselors, with all of the trauma, all of the pain, and all the things that Black people have to wade through.

Defunding the police is not saying get rid of police altogether. It’s not saying all cops are bad, but it is saying that a lot of y’all are, and the ones that aren’t doing their job right are dangerous enough to the entire community. And that has to shift. How we police has to shift.”

BuzzFeed: Shifting gears a bit, let’s talk about some of the projects you have going on. You’re one of the newbie writers on Big Mouth, which is major. Having a Black queer voice in the room is always important. How have you pushed for inclusive storytelling in the writers room?

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BKG: “I just finished up my second season of the show on Monday. And I have to say that when I walked into the room last year for Season 4, my bosses were already starting to have this conversation, trying to figure out how do we start telling stories that aren’t just [centered] around cisgender, white heterosexual characters?”

BKG: “[They were asking] how do we push and tell stories about our queer characters and our characters of color without it being oppressive narratives? So they were already having those conversations.

For me, stepping into the room, it was just about adding my voice to it. Speaking up when it’s like, ‘Oh, that doesn’t sound right.’ Or giving kind of a new lens to talk about something different. If this is starting to feel like yet another coming out story, which those are important, but also, I always say ‘Yes, I’m gay. Yes, I’m Black, but I also have seven plants and I have a dog. And I watch Real Housewives.’

I have other things going on in my life besides coming out or fighting against police brutality. There are other things that I do as well. And it’s important that we start to see that in the stories that we’re telling.”

BKG: “What I will say, and this is a problem that Hollywood has to work on but I imagine this happens in all kinds of fields, is that you can’t hire a Black person, a queer person, or a queer POC and not listen to them. And what I will say is that Big Mouth listens. They listen to us, they value our voices. And that’s how we continue to push the needle, as opposed to what I do think happens a lot of times. People will be told, ‘You need to diversify your room.’ So they hire somebody who becomes their token, and they don’t listen to that person. And on the flip side, that person then has all of the pressure because they’re the only one.”

BuzzFeed: Are there any storylines in particular that we can look forward to in the upcoming season that showcases how they’ve been willing to listen to the diverse voices in the writers room?

BKG: “I don’t know how much I can tell you, but I will say that in Season 4, there are a couple of episodes that I’m very proud of. I co-wrote one of the upcoming episodes [which] is about Matthew, our queer character, and an experience that he’s having in terms of realizing, not his sexuality, but his sexual-ness. Like, you know, that part in puberty where it’s time to touch people and kind of recognize what that means. I’m really proud of the work that we’re able to do on on that episode, telling that specific story about Matthew.”

BKG: “And then there’s another episode that Jak Knight wrote about our character Missy, who is the biracial character, and she’s also going on this journey. I always say, for Black people race is a part of puberty. That moment where you realize that you are a color, especially within white spaces. There’s a beautiful journey for Missy to kind of discover that, explore that, and reckon with that [next season]. Among other episodes, those will be really, really special, especially given everything going on right now.”

You’re starring in the new Netflix film Feel the Beat, where you play Deco, who is a gay man who lives out loud. What drew you to the role, and what do you hope viewers will take away from the character?

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BKG: “What drew me to the role was my director, Elissa Down. We were talking about [my character] beforehand. Deco is so funny. I didn’t want him to be a trope. I didn’t want — because he’s not the main character — I didn’t want him to feel like he just came in, was fabulous [and] glammed people up and then left. Which is so often what happens with especially Black queer characters, where we play the part of the glam squad [in films] and then we peace out.

We had some really long, beautiful conversations [and] what we discovered about Deco is how fearless and brave he is. One of the first things that I shot is a scene where I’m wearing a leather kilt that Deco made and some Gucci boots. He gets out of a pickup truck in the middle of this small country town and he says, ‘I’m here,’ and no one flinches. Everyone in the town goes, ‘Oh, he’s great.'”

BKG: “When I watched it, I was like, ‘Oh, this is so important.’ His queerness nor his blackness was talked about. That wasn’t part of the storyline. What people saw was a human. And I’m not saying that we need the validation of straight people to know that we’re fabulous. But I am saying for, especially for young people, and this being a family film, there is an importance in seeing yourself in spaces and knowing that you’re not there just because you’re the Black guy. You’re not there just because you’re a queer person, but knowing that you are there because you’re special and that you deserve to be there. Knowing that you’re worthy of being there and that you bring something exceptional to the table.”There is an importance in seeing yourself in spaces.”

And so Deco’s fearlessness and his fullness of himself is something that I really took with me when we were done and ran with it because I realized I hadn’t fully stepped into myself. I felt like in my life maybe I was quieting myself or code-switching myself or trying to make myself palatable in white spaces, and Deco does not care about being palatable in your straight, heteronormative space. And that is, that is my wish for every queer person, every queer person of color. My wish is that you do not feel like you need to make yourself palatable for the hetero gaze, or for the white gaze; that you can really authentically be yourself.”

Feel the Beat, starring Brandon Kyle Goodman, is now streaming on Netflix.

Original article was published here.

By Bruce C.T. Wright,

Whether through sheer coincidence — or not — “Uncle Tom” was one of the top trending topics on Twitter Tuesday morning following the opening night of the Republican National Convention (RNC) that featured several Black men making the case for Donald Trump to be re-elected.

More than 6,000 “Uncle Tom” tweets were posted following speeches from Democratic Georgia State Rep. Vernon Jones, former professional football star Herschel Walker and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. They each took turns trying to dispel any notion of racism in America or among its leadership despite Trump’s repeated personal demonstrations to the contrary.

Uncle Tom and his brother Tom. If you were a slave trying to escape slavery these are the two people that will rat you out to the slave owner. Running back and telling the Slave owner your plan to escape. pic.twitter.com/YrR53a7ajT

— Christi (@ChrisAd09390788) August 25, 2020

“The Democratic Party does not want Black people to leave their mental plantation,” Jones, who has been called an “embarrassment” to Democrats, said Monday night at the RNC. “We’ve been forced to be there for decades and generations. But I have news for Joe Biden: We are free. We are free people with free minds.”

Walker, who was one of Trump’s employees when he played in the USFL — another of Trump’s failed business ventures — said his “soul” was hurt when he learned people called the president racist.

“I take it as a personal insult that people think I would have a 37-year friendship with a racist,” Walker said Monday night with a straight face during his official endorsement of Trump’s re-election.

Racist on here saying not to call Herschel an Uncle Tom because that breaks the illusion of his tokenism. Lmaoo gn pic.twitter.com/4YmZzgwDTl

— Javon 🇯🇲 (@JavonBOS) August 25, 2020

Not to be outdone, though, Scott, the sitting U.S. senator who has previously dared to broach the topic of race with his commander-in-chief, said that Trump gives citizens the best chance “to live the American dream.”

For brevity’s sake, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of Trump’s treatment of Black people in America: a decades’ long streak of discrimination that pre-dates his White House stint; repeated attacks against Black women, in particular; and referring to white supremacists in part as “fine people.” The president is racist by the very definition of the word, making the speeches from Jones, Walker and Scott both predictable in the context of Black Republicans and disingenuous whether they truly believe the words they told America or not.

If that’s not proof enough, Vox created a whole comprehensive timeline of Trump’s racism for readers to refer to in case there is still any confusion.

To be clear, the term “Uncle Tom” comes from a fictional slave in the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” written by abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. Over the years, the character became synonymous with subservient African Americans who sell out their people to curry favor with white folks.

Republicans on Twitter took it upon themselves to try to change the “Uncle Tom” narrative on social media Tuesday morning.

Uncle Tom is trending on Twitter because black & brown people rocked the Republican National Convention. The Left freak out when minorities don’t toe the line – they are the racists. @nikkihaley @senatortimscott @herschelwalker @kimkbaltimore @uncletomdoc #truthtalking pic.twitter.com/WnqNyvEeoV

— Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO (@nyunggai) August 25, 2020

You, the reader, can decide whether Jones, Walker and Scott fit the criteria for such a designation.

Prior to the RNC’s start, Scott was the only Black person who was listed on the convention’s official schedule of speakers. However, what might be more telling than the RNC’s overtures to Black voters was its invitations to people who have been accused of having a racist agenda.

That includes: Nick Sandmann, the MAGA hat-wearing teenager who found himself at the center of a racially charged confrontation with a Native American elder and Black Hebrew Israelites at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., last year; and Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the married couple of lawyers who brandished and aimed guns at nonviolent Black Lives Matter protesters marching peacefully past their home in St. Louis in June.

Original article was published here.

By Jordyn Dunlap,

Two powerhouse women, who also happen to be moms, have teamed up to create a platform for mothers and soon-to-be mothers of color. Sugaberry is a new lifestyle brand cofounded by award-winning business executive Thai Randolph and actress and producer Tika Sumpter. 

The mission of the newly launched community is to “serve as a daily love letter to Black moms all over the world” by celebrating all aspects of Black motherhood through year-round events, newsletters, podcasts and product recommendations. 

While Black celebrities including Serena Williams and Beyoncé have opened up about the difficulties they faced during their pregnancies, spaces catered to women of color are few and far between. This is despite data showing Black mothers are the most at-risk demographic for pregnancy and birth complications.

“When I was pregnant with my daughter, I found myself searching for a community that looked like me and was talking about all things motherhood,” says Sumpter. “Black women don’t usually get to delight in mommyhood, which is why I wanted to build a safe and sweet destination for modern moms of color, regardless of what stage they are in.”

Earlier this month, Randolph and Sumpter announced Sugaberry’s latest initiative: The virtual Milk & Suga summit, which will bring moms, doctors, doulas, nutritionists and midwives together for a day of candid conversations about the highs, lows, joys and challenges of breastfeeding for moms of color. The event will take place during Black Breastfeeding Week on Friday, August 28, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. PT. 

“There is a significant disparity in the rate at which Black mothers and white mothers breastfeed,” says Randolph. “That gap is not driven by a mere matter of ‘preference,’ but rather is the byproduct of complex chasms in access to healthcare, representation and societal support that marginalizes Black moms and their babies during what’s supposed to be a special time in the mother/child development journey.”

Lower rates of breastfeeding among Black mothers is indeed a reality. On average, 66% of Black women breastfeed compared to more than 82% of white and Latinx moms. 

“As a mom who faced challenges breastfeeding—and out of frustration ultimately opted not to—I am thrilled to create a space where Black women can be supported, celebrated and guided through their options to nourish their babies,” says Randolph.

Original article was published here.

By Dartunorro Clark,

Former President Obama delivered his most blistering speech yet against President Trump in his prime-time appearance on Day 3 of the DNC, becoming visibly emotional during his roughly 20-minute remarks. 

Obama spoke from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy. With the Constitution as his backdrop, he slammed Trump, saying he has proven he cannot do the job — speaking directly to disaffected and undecided voters. 

“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe,” Obama said. “One-hundred-and-seventy-thousand Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.”

Obama said Biden and Harris will “restore our standing in the world” and move the country forward, and continued to hammer Trump and “those who enable him.”

“They understand that in this democracy, the commander-in-chief doesn’t use the men and women of our military, who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation, as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil,” he said. “They understand that political opponents aren’t ‘un-American’ just because they disagree with you; that a free press isn’t the ‘enemy’ but the way we hold officials accountable; that our ability to work together to solve big problems like a pandemic depends on a fidelity to facts and science and logic and not just making stuff up.”

He called on Americans to make a plan on how they will vote, stressing the importance of voter turnout. As he spoke about voting rights and democracy, noting the conversations he had with the late civil rights advocate and congressman John Lewis, Obama appeared to get teary-eyed, with his voice almost cracking.

“I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala’s ability to lead this country out of these dark times and build it back better,” Obama said. “But here’s the thing: No single American can fix this country alone. … So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability — to embrace your own responsibility as citizens — to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure.” 

“Do not let them take away your power,” he later added. “Do not let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you’re going to get involved and vote.”

Original article was published here.

By Adam Edelman and Deepa Shivaram

Joe Biden has chosen Kamala Harris, the prominent senator from California whose political career has included many barrier-breaking moments, as his running mate, his campaign announced on Tuesday.

The decision comes more than a year after Harris, who was also a 2020 Democratic candidate, clashed with Biden over racial issues during the first primary debate. If elected, she would be the nation’s first female, first Black and first Asian American vice president.

Picking Harris, who is 55, provides the ticket with some generational diversity. Biden, 77, would be the oldest president-elect in U.S. history.

The announcement from Biden caps weeks of speculation and is Biden’s biggest decision to date as the presumptive Democratic nominee — a detail Biden himself noted in his announcement.

“You make a lot of important decisions as president. But the first one is who you select to be your Vice President. I’ve decided that Kamala Harris is the best person to help me take this fight to Donald Trump and Mike Pence and then to lead this nation starting in January 2021,” Biden wrote in an email from his campaign to supporters.

“I need someone working alongside me who is smart, tough, and ready to lead. Kamala is that person,” he wrote. “I need someone who understands the pain that so many people in our nation are suffering. Whether they’ve lost their job, their business, a loved one to this virus.”

“This president says he ‘doesn’t want to be distracted by it.’ He doesn’t understand that taking care of the people of this nation — all the people — isn’t a distraction — it’s the job,” Biden continued. “Kamala understands that. I need someone who understands that we are in a battle for the soul of this nation. And that if we’re going to get through these crises — we need to come together and unite for a better America. Kamala gets that.”

Biden and Harris will appear together and speak in Biden’s home town of Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday, the campaign said.

Harris, the only Black woman in the U.S. Senate, was elected in 2016 after serving as California’s attorney general and, before that, San Francisco district attorney. A native of Oakland, California, and the child of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, Harris has said she was inspired to attend law school after joining civil rights protests with her parents.

“She’s been a fighter and a principled leader and I know because I’ve seen her up close and I’ve seen her in the trenches,” Biden said of Harris at a virtual fundraiser in June.

As attorney general, Harris worked closely with Biden’s late son, Beau Biden, when he was Delaware’s attorney general, particularly in challenging big banks in the wake of the housing crisis. In her book, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,” Harris says the pair “talked every day, sometimes multiple times a day.”

Because of their friendship, Harris’ attack on Biden during the first Democratic primary debate for his record on busing and working with segregationists came as a shock to the Biden campaign, his family and the candidate himself.

“I was prepared for them to come after me, but I wasn’t prepared for the person coming at me the way she came at me. She knew Beau, she knows me,” Biden said in an interview later that summer. He said Harris had “mischaracterized” his position.

The surprise and backlash of that debate moment in Miami was still top of mind for Biden’s wife, Jill, as recently as March. Jill Biden said in a virtual fundraiser, “Our son Beau spoke so highly of her and, you know, and how great she was. And not that she isn’t. I’m not saying that. But it was just like a punch to the gut. It was a little unexpected.”

The Trump campaign pounced on that moment immediately after Biden’s announcement in a freshly cut ad — which Trump himself tweeted moments after the announcement — that alleged Harris attacked “Biden for racist policies” and that slammed the pair as “Slow Joe and Phony Kamala.”

Both Biden and Harris allies have acknowledged that, in the months after she left the race, Harris has given her full support to the Biden campaign. She has often campaigned virtually for Biden, holding joint fundraisers with the candidate and roundtables around issues like the racial disparities in coronavirus cases and protecting the Affordable Care Act. In a June virtual fundraiser, she raised $3.5 million for the campaign.

Harris was praised for her pointed questioning of Attorney General Bill Barr and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during their respective confirmation hearings, highlighting her record as a prosecutor.

But that record, especially on issues like marijuana convictions and truancy, has also been a source of criticism, especially from younger, more progressive voters.

Biden made the selection public after weeks of considering several other women for the job. Other top contenders included former national security adviser Susan Rice, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Many of them offered their congratulations after Biden made his selection known.

“Senator Harris is a tenacious and trailblazing leader who will make a great partner on the campaign trail. I am confident that Biden-Harris will prove to be a winning ticket,” Rice said in a statement.

Whitmer tweeted that Biden and Harris “will be a fierce team to Build America Back Better.”

Other top Democrats also offered praise for the pick.

“Joe Biden’s naming of Senator Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for vice president marks an historic and proud milestone for our country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. “As the vice president of the United States, Senator Harris will continue her legacy of trailblazing leadership to move our nation forward.”

Prominent Democratic groups also applauded the selection.

“Today is a spark of hope and a watershed moment for Black women and women of color. Kamala Harris — a woman of Jamaican-American and Indian-American descent — as vice president is nothing short of historic,” said Aimee Allison, Founder of She the People.

“Senator Kamala Harris is nothing short of an exceptional choice for vice president,” said Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David.

Harris had faced pushback in recent weeks from some Biden allieswho said the former presidential candidate is too ambitious — criticism that many were quick to point out was sexist.

“Our campaign is full of ambitious women going all out for Joe Biden,” Biden’s campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a tweet. “Whoever he chooses from the very qualified options to help him win & unite the country, she’ll be one too.”

Harris responded during a virtual conference with Black Girls Rock earlier this month. 

“There will be resistance to your ambition,” she said. “There will be people who say to you, you are out of your lane. But don’t let that burden you.”

Harris ended her presidential bid in December, dogged by fundraising problems and reports of power struggles in the top leadership of her campaign.

Throughout the pandemic, Harris has been living in her Washington apartment with her husband, Douglass Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer. She attended Howard University for her undergraduate degree and was a Capitol Hill intern in the very same office she occupies today.

Original article was published here.

By Trevor Hughes,

Federal law enforcement agents clashed repeatedly with protesters early Friday morning, pushing through the streets to disperse crowds approaching the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse in a running battle of tear gas, fireworks and pepper spray, the surreal atmosphere exacerbated by multiple people playing the “Imperial Death March” from “Star Wars” on portable speakers.

Two months after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests against racial injustice and a week after President Donald Trump sent federal officers toPortland to confront activists, another night of chaos unfolded in this largely liberal, mostly white city where residents have continuously taken to the streets to demand substantive police reform.

“There’s not a lot of things people like us can do. We can vote, but does that really make a difference when the system is so stacked against us?” said Fae Preston, 21, a protester who described herself as a minimum-wage worker. “Government’s purpose is to serve the people. This is showing they are not serving us.”

Preston, who is white, said that while it’s clear there are some “bored white kids” at the protest, the majority truly want systemic change.

The violence unfolded only a day after Mayor Ted Wheeler tried Wednesday night to talk protesters down. Hours later, he was tear-gassed by federal officials alongside activists after a small number of the thousand-person crowd threw flaming garbage over the fence. 

It remains unclear whether federal agents knew the mayor was in the crowd when they began tear-gassing activists, although at the time he was accompanied by television cameras and a security detail.

“What I saw last night was powerful in many ways. I listened, heard, and stood with protesters. And I saw what it means when the federal government unleashes paramilitary forces against its own people,” Wheeler said in a statement Thursday. “It is unconscionable and un-American. We are all committed to change – this must stop so the work can move forward.”

Trump said he sent in the federal agents to restore order across Portland, arguing that Wheeler hasn’t done enough to rein in protesters. Speaking on FOX News Thursday, the president called Wheeler’s presence at the protest “pathetic” because the mayor is so unpopular among protesters demanding change from the city’s police department.

“He wanted to be among the people so he went into the crowd and they knocked the hell out of him,” Trump said. “That was the end of him.”

Of particular concern for protesters is that the federal agents are not wearing any identification aside from patches denoting which department they work for. Members of Congress have prompted the Inspectors General of the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to open an investigation into whether agents from the agencies were properly trained, deployed and identified. 

For more than an hour on Thursday evening, activist Edreece Phillips, 48, a Black hip-hop artist who’s been protesting for weeks, had been keeping protesters and sightseers off the fence enclosing the federal courthouse. He said he’d talked to federal officials earlier in the day and said they’d agreed that if protesters stayed back, agents would stay inside the courthouse.

“They don’t come out unless we try to get in,” Phillips said. “All that stuff people are doing is making it so that Black voices are being heard less and less and less.”Get the Coronavirus Watch newsletter in your inbox.

At one point, Phillips warily watched as other protesters drifted closer to the federal building. He then snatched a sign from a young man and stomped on it. 

“I am sick of you doing this,” Phillips yelled to the protester, who was dressed in all black, goggles atop his head and a respirator dangling from his neck. “I have warned you already. I’m sick of it.”

The young man responded with some quiet words but didn’t move. In reply, Phillips punched the man several times, knocking him to the ground.

Another protester, Teal Lindseth, 21, then turned on Phillips. 

“Do not come out here to fight!” she screamed at him as a crowd surrounded them. “We can’t afford violence.”

The night before, small groups of white protesters aligned with Black Lives Matter had thrown water bottles at the federal court building, shot fireworks at the front doors and tried to shake the fence loose.

“A lot of the people who are doing it are not Black. They throw shit and start shit and run away and yell ‘Black Lives Matter,’ and then go home and take off their clothes. But I can’t take off my black,” Phillips said. “And the more damage they do to this building— well, everyone thinks it’s people of color doing all this and it’s not. “

As in many cities, the protests in Portland began following the death of Floyd, a Black man who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes over a 911 call reporting an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

Critics questioned whether the president was testing out heavy-handed enforcement in Portland before moving on to more diverse cities such as Detroit or Chicago. Portland is 77% white and 6% Black, with roughly 40,000 Black people in the city.

Ellayna Morris, a 35-year-old white college professor and protester, said some were content to march peacefully, while others prefer to take more direct action. She said it wasn’t her place to tell others how to express themselves. 

“Black people are tired of dying in the streets,” said Morris.

Original article was published here.

By Amelia Holowaty Krales and Vjeran Pavic

First, boards covered businesses in New York and Oakland. Then, so did art. Graffiti artists, muralists, and others, including artists who’d never before put up large-scale works — famous and not — used the boards as blank canvases. Memorials to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as others who were killed by police, graced many walls; another way of saying Black Lives Matter. Other art included calls to defund the police, poems, and expressions of all kinds. Some neighborhoods became ersatz outdoor galleries, often empty of the usual crowds, unless protesters passed through.

Above, Gaia WXYZ’s mural Black Girls Deserve Better. As Gaia was painting the base coat on her mural in downtown Oakland, she wasn’t quite sure what the end product was going to look like. But all that changed very quickly as a passerby tapped her leg and said, “Do you need any help, sexy?“

Gaia told him that touching people without consent isn’t something he should do. That particular incident just reminded Gaia of all the times she was disrespected as a girl. “Growing up in Florida, men would sexualize me and objectify me. I wish that Black girls today could live and be girls. I wanted to channel that frustration into a message that could uplift,” she said over Instagram. Instagram: @gaiaw.xyz

It’s Murder painted by Liliana Rivera “was inspired by the anger I felt towards people trying to justify what is happening to black people, I wanted to simplify that truth – it’s murder. That’s what’s happening, law enforcement doesn’t have the right to murder people” she said over Instagram.

Liliana Rivera stands for a portrait in front of her piece called Dominique Alexander, named after the man who was found hanging in Fort Tryon Park. His death was declared a suicide. In a message over Instagram she wrote, ”I never thought I would hear of a man being lynched on a tree in NYC, to me that’s something that always happened in the south or in middle America. For something like that to happen in our own backyard was really disheartening, and literally in people’s backyards at home.” Instagram: @lilianariveradesigns

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Left, Fabio Esteban Amador commented about his piece Hope (Esperanza) by Instagram message: “The power of the image in times of uncertainty becomes the impetus for change in our society.” Instagram: @fabioesteban. Right, artist(s) unknown.

Mural artist Lola Lovenotes writes about her mural commemorating Breonna Taylor, who “was murdered over 3 months ago by police officers and they still have not been charged,” she said in a message over Instagram. “There have been countless racial injustices against Black women, girls, [transwomen + girls], and yet their names are forgotten. Their murders don’t seem to get the same attention as Black men and boys. When we say Black Lives Matter, we need to make sure Black women are included in our demands for justice too!” (The brackets are hers.) Instagram: @lovenotes.

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Left, mural by @sotethegoat @art_stocks. Right, mural of Ida B. Wells by @maevecahill who explains her inspiration for the piece via Instagram message: “Ida B Wells once said ‘There is no educator like the press,’ which became the catalyst for my train of thought regarding the lack of truth in the media we experience and consider educational in the 21st Century. The press is the quintessential example of how easily stories can continue to be spun and history can continue be erased, especially in regards to Black history. With this I pose the question…Is Truth Dead?”

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Left, piece by @hektad._official. Right, piece by Nick C Kirk @nickckirk.

Artist Konstance Patton poses for a portrait in front of her unfinished mural, Kendra. “My inspirations for the Kendra mural was peace, beauty, diversity and being seen” She wrote in an email. This painting is part of Patton’s ongoing Goddezz Projekt that encompasses works produced around the world and in different mediums. The goal of the series “is to create art works that are beautiful and dynamic, while they also reflect the diversity of the women in America. I love when people just stop, take a breath and smile with the art during this fast changing historic moment. Finally art is back in Soho. I am proud to contribute. Artists are essential, we are creating moments of peace, and we are finally being seen.” See the finished piece here. Instagram: @konartstudio

A mural by Konstance Patton on a boarded-up storefront on Broadway in Soho. Instagram: @konartstudio

In a message over Instagram Amir Diop gives insight into a large scale mural he painted on Broadway in Soho. “The meaning of we make all your shit is the fact that African Americans make all these things to make profit for big business. The fact that we still don’t get justice for the men and women we lose is absurd. So I use my imagination to create a unrealistic looking painting and make it talk about very real topics.” Instagram: @amir.diop99

Left, Amir Diop’s 400 Years “represents that throughout America history people didn’t think about what black people go through in America. America continues to fail us and it took us being locked down in the house from corona for 3 months to say enough is enough and things need to change.” Instagram: @amir.diop99. Right, piece by @melvinqphysique.

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Left, piece by @ronhaywoodjones. Right, street artist Sacsix’s piece on a boarded-up storefront is the backdrop to empty cafe tables which mark the first day of “phase 2” in the reopening of New York’s economy since the shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic. Instagram: @sacsix.

Artist Nick C. Kirk writes, “I’ve recently been working on pieces surrounding unnecessary police brutality. The piece on Broadway, let’s just call it ‘Demilitarize The Police,’ with several VIP riot gear figures was a single figure piece I made back when Trump was elected. I felt that he fought the people versus working with the people. Sad how even more true this piece has become since 2016. The figure is called ‘VIP Citizen Trump,’ standing proud in his presidential riot gear. ‘VIP’ references quite a few things including how he sees the USofA in comparison to other countries, the southern Mexico ‘Great Wall,’ how he handles government and it’s officials, etc. While protesting day and night, I’ve observed first hand the unnecessary force used by the New York City Police on peaceful protestors.”

“It’s sad and sickening to see the local police act the way they do. They are obviously trained to behave this way. They should be taught to open dialogue instead of not caring and respond only with physical force. The tactics and weaponry they use at will need to be discarded and set in place a new standard. They do not feel like they are part of society, rather against it and that needs to change.” Instagram: @nickckirk.

Kalima poses for a portrait in front of What is the price of our life. “This piece was actually written in 2016 because of the murder of Philando Castile which is why this piece is so important,” Kalima says in an email. “It allows you to see that nothing has changed, and that instead racism, law enforcement, our judicial system has shown it’s true colors into their intentions and unwillingness to do what’s right by black people.“ Instagram: @7soulsdeep.

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Left, piece by Moving on earth (Moe) writes via Instagram message about his work: “I feel that at the end of the day we are all human beings. And it saddens me deep down inside that Black people have been murdered. Choked, shot and recently hung from trees. If I can help by asking questions through my art I feel like it’s my duty.” Instagram: @itsthatfuckingfaceagain. Right, artist(s) unknown, NYC.

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Left image: New York is Closed Until Justice is Real by @tylerivesnyc, and piece to the right by @saralynne.leo. Right image: unfinished piece by @jessekreuzer, see the completed work here.

Left panel painted by Shaina Eve Cintron, who said over Instagram message, “She is the mother to all lost children and the guidance we needed in this time. She is the protector of us all. She is Yemaya.” Instagram: @bl_a_nk_doe2.0. Gil Scott-Heron muralist, right, unknown.

After finishing a mural of George Floyd on Broadway in downtown Oakland, Matt Hunter started painting his second one when The Verge caught up with him. This time, he decided to paint a mural of Breonna Taylor. It took him about three days to finish this monochromatic piece of Taylor depicted as “a new monument for a new future,” he said. “I feel as though there is a cycle of things and we are at a boiling point of ignored pain.”

Later, Hunter sent photos of the finished piece. Taylor is now surrounded by thousands of people behind her, which he says represent an unstoppable movement to create change and bring justice to all people. The Moon and Sun on each side of her are a reminder that the Earth keeps turning. “Things move towards evolution, however slowly,” he said. “Evolution of the spirit. Evolution of justice.” Instagram: @matthuntering.

Artist(s) unknown, Oakland, CA.

Artist(s) unknown, Oakland, CA.

Shara Shimabukuro, a UX and product designer by trade, got into painting about three years ago. Above is her first mural ever. The sheer size of it felt daunting at first, she says. Shimabukuro’s idea with the mural was to give residents of Oakland something that offered hope and inspiration. Through consultation with her friend, a Bay Area native, she decided Gianna Floyd’s quote from a now-famous video would do just that. “The color kind of came together afterwards. I just started elements here and there and that’s how it turned out,” she said.

Shimabukuro, who spent the last five years in the Bay Area, is currently in the process of moving to Tulsa. She wanted to contribute something to the city of Oakland before she moves.

Artist Matthew Mazur told The Verge in an Instagram message “Angela Davis is a living legend that has personally moved me to wake up and fight for the social injustices I have ignored for far too long.” This tribute to Davis is on Wooster Street in Soho, New York City.

Piece by Matthew Mazur, @leggomymeggoz and @diegolawler 

Original article was published here.

By Ryan Grenoble,

Police in Aurora, Colorado, detained and handcuffed a Black mother and four children at gunpoint Sunday after mistakenly identifying the SUV she was driving as a stolen motorcycle.

Video of the incident shared by witness Jenni Wurtz shows Brittany Gilliam and four children, including her sister, two nieces and 6-year-old daughter, lying face down on the asphalt in a strip mall parking lot, surrounded by officers.

“I actually didn’t know what I was watching when I first started seeing what was happening. I’d never seen a gun that close,” Wurtz told CBS Denver. “I went from seeing kids in a car to seeing a gun pointed at the kids in the car.”

“I am not anti-police,” she added to ABC 7. “I am anti what happened yesterday, and that was ridiculous.”

The Aurora Police Department told 9News Gilliam’s license plate matched up with one belonging to a motorcycle from a different state that had been reported stolen earlier Sunday morning.

Adding to the confusion, Gilliam’s own car was also reported stolen in February, though it was recovered the next day.

Aurora PD handcuff and held family at gunpoint. pic.twitter.com/GkTWKFZqkI

— Joshua Rodriguez (@Joshuajered) August 3, 2020

That explanation is of little solace to Gilliam, who is upset about the officers’ tactics.

Gilliam said she and the children were trying to get their nails done when officers approached the car with their guns drawn and ordered them out of the vehicle. The family was uncuffed and the officers apologized after they realized the mistake.

“I’m livid. I’m angry,” she told CBS Denver. “Those kids are not OK. They’re never going to be OK. That was a traumatic experience. Would your kids be OK after that? Having a gun pulled on them and laid on the ground. Especially a 6 year old.”

In a statement, interim Police Chief Vanessa Wilson apologized to the family and said that APD officers are trained to treat suspected stolen cars as “a high-risk stop.” That involves drawing their weapons and forcing all occupants to exit the vehicle. She acknowledged that moving forward, officers should be allowed to alter their approach when circumstances clearly call for it.

“I have called the family to apologize and to offer any help we can provide, especially for the children who may have been traumatized by yesterday’s events,” she said. “I have reached out to our victim advocates so we can offer age-appropriate therapy that the city will cover.”

Wilson was appointed Chief of Police Tuesday, taking the top job at an embattled department. Last August, Aurora officers stopped 23-year-old Elijah McClain as he was walking home from a convenience store, setting off a chain of events that led to McClain’s death. McClain was never accused of a crime.

Original article was published here.