Tag Archives: Charlotte

All-star politics and the messy influence of protest; Black Lives Matter and basketball

The National Basketball League plays its annual All-Star Game in New Orleans this long weekend, offering an odd window into an impact of protest movements. (Note: David Zirin has been writing about this for a while.) Despite its charms, New … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Persistence, part III: William Barber is ready

As the demonstration and discussions about the killing of Keith Scott continued, The New York Times found an activist voice to explain what was going on. On the Op-Ed page, Rev. Dr. William Barber published “Why are we protesting in Charlotte,”  … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Persistence, part II: Kaepernick’s anthem protest and police violence

Most attempted campaigns stall out quickly, but sometimes… Almost no one noticed when San Francisco 49 back-up quarterback Colin Kaepernick started his protest of police violence. Conservative media and the professional football commentariat pilloried Kaepernick, suggesting that his protest was … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Persistence, part I: Charlotte videos

The big story that activists always face is one in which authorities tell them that their efforts are inappropriate, ill-considered, and ineffective–or even counterproductive. (And, sometimes, they are.) It takes a certainty that comes from courage, social support, and stubborness to keep at … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fighting religious freedom (to discriminate)

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced that he was ordering all City departments to suspend paying for travel to North Carolina unless it is essential to the City. The problem is the new religious freedom (to discriminate) law that North … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Strike the flag; direct action version

Just in case all those rainbow flags flying everywhere had obscured the Confederate flag still flying at the state capitol in South Carolina, Bree Newsome climbed the flag poll and took it down.  Police were on top of the situation, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Small protests in Charlotte, so far

The protest story from the Democratic convention so far is pretty similar to the stories from the Republican convention–minus the storms.  There are fewer demonstrators than organizers promised or journalists expected, lots of police, and scattered relatively small events mostly … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment