Civil Rights & Social Justice

Jay-Z Provides Ahmaud Arbery Lawyer With His Private Jet To Make Court Date

Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz While Jay-Z hasn’t necessarily been a visible figure during the current protests that’s been spreading across America for the past week, behind the scenes he continues to do what he can to make sure justice is served one way or another. His latest behind the scenes assist involved Ahmaud Arbery’s lawyer, S. Lee Merritt, and making sure he was in the right place at the right time. In a recent IG post the Civil Rights lawyer revealed that Hova provided him with a private jet on Thursday (June 4) to ensure that Merritt could make his court date at Glynn County Magistrate Court on time and in style. Holding up a shirt that read “Legal Observer” next to the aforementioned jet, Merritt captioned the photo saying, “When you absolutely have to be in Cou...

LeBron James Calls Out Laura Inghram For Obvious Double Standard When It Comes White Athletes Speaking Out

Source: Al Bello / Getty Even Stevie Wonder can see that Laura Inghram is full of sh*t. LeBron James is not shutting up and dribbling no time soon.  The “woke” GOAT hopped on Twitter and called out Fox News clown, Laura Ingrahm, for her insanely apparent double standard when it comes to how she reports on Black athletes compared to their white counterparts. Case in point, remember Ingrahm told Kevin Durant and Bron to “shut up and dribble” after they both criticized Trump. Bron responded by telling Ingrahm indirectly telling her he “I will not just shut up and dribble.” Fast forward to the Drew Brees incident when Bron called out the New Orleans quarterback for his heada** stance when it comes to players bringing back Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest in the wake of George Floyd’s f...

#HBCUs4BlackLives Protest Scheduled For Saturday In Atlanta

Source: HBCUS4BlackLives / HBCUS As we march into the eighth day of protests denouncing of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and police brutality, those committed to change show they aren’t giving up. According to published reports, on Saturday (June 6), #HBCUs4BlackLives: Centering Our Youth announced an HBCU protest will be taking place in Atlanta to give the youth a chance to share their thoughts on the current state of affairs in our country. [embedded content] In response to the incident that last weekend when two Atlanta students were drug out of their car and tazed by police, it’s clear both students and residents of the city have something to say. As previously reported, six Atlanta police officers are facing charges after reportedly pulling two colleg...

Beyoncé Urges Fans To “Remain Aligned & Focused” In The Continued Fight For Justice

Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty Beyoncé is urging fans to stay in formation as the fight for justice continues. Queen Bey hopped back on Instagram to address fans and, in her latest post, encouraged supporters to stay focus in the fight, telling them, “Let’s remain aligned and focused in our call for real justice.” In the post, the “Lemonade” crafter also points to the world coming together for George Floyd as well as Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others. At the same time, she makes it clear that there is still a long road ahead of us to ensure that justice will be served. Just 5 days ago, Beyoncé used her Instagram platform and asked her followers to sign a petition asking for additional charges against the officers involved in the fatal arrest of Floyd. “If you want to demand more charg...

Forever President, Barack Obama Shows Support For Protestors & Calls For Nationwide Police Reform

Source: – / Getty Even though he is no longer in the White House, Barack Obama is still presidenting. Yesterday (Jun.3), as part of a virtual online roundtable moderated by Brittany Packnett Cunningham, former President Barack Obama joined his former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and activists from Minneapolis, and his nonprofit group My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. Lacking anything remotely resembling leadership coming from the White House, Obama gave a speech from his home in Washington DC echoing his statements from Medium post, How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change where he said he was extremely optimistic about the nation’s future despite the civil unrest going on. “For those who have been talking about protest, just remember that this country was fou...

Kanye West Donates $2M To Families Of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor & George Floyd

Source: Consolidated News Pictures / Getty We’re up to day 10 of unrest across the nation and the world after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis cops, and Kanye West has been quiet. But it turns out Yeezy has been cutting checks—he reportedly has donated $2M to the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, who are all victims of racist violence. According to TMZ, a Kanye West reps says the “Jesus Walks” rapper has donated $2 million to set up a college fund for the late George Floyd’s daughter, Gianna, who is just 6 years old. Also, Yeezy has reportedly also made donations to cover the legal costs of the Arbery and Taylor families. West has also dropped coin on Black business back in his native Chicago as well as nationwide that have been affected by the protests a...

L.A. Police Encourage White Woman To Spray Paint “BLM” & “George Floyd”?

Source: Pacific Press / Getty It’s not secret that police officers treat white people a whole helluva lot different than Black and Brown Americans but encouraging vandalism in the name of George Floyd?! That a whole new level of “WTF?!” Yesterday TMZ posted a video of LAPD officers not only encouraging a white woman to continue spray panting “BLM” on a smashed store front, but even instructed her to include George Floyd’s name in her bombing. The video was shot in what appears to be downtown Los Angeles, where an LAPD squad car is parked up next to a curb alongside a lady who’s going to town with spray paint, tagging “BLM” messaging on the side of a building’s windows … taking up at least 3 panes. While the person who recorded this was filming from across the street, you can still make out...

Jay-Z & Team Roc Takes Out Full-Page Newspaper Ads Dedicated To George Floyd

Source: Jason Armond / Getty The time is way past making where you stand known. Today (June 2), Jay-Z and Team Roc have taken out full-page newspaper ads expressing their support of George Floyd, the Black man whose murder at the hands of police has inspired protests that have gripped the nation and the world. Team Roc is the philanthropic wing of the “99 Problems” rapper and mogul’s Roc Nation. The ad features a long quote from the speech Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered during a sermon in Selma, Alabama, on March 8, 1965. That makes it the day after “Bloody Sunday” when peaceful civil rights protesters were attacked and beaten by police on Edmund Pettus Bridge. Sound familiar? “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for jus...

#BlackLivesMatter: How You Can Help From Home Locally & Nationally

Source: David Woods / Radio One Indianapolis The racist deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other Black people caused protesters in cities across the country to pour into the streets and demand justice in the midst of a global pandemic. We put together a list of vetted organizations that do on-the-ground work and other credible resources including bail funds, petitions, and contacts that you can use to help make a difference in this fight for justice and against racism and oppression. National Resources Black Lives Matter: The national movement that builds power to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe. Bail Fund Networks National Bail Fund Network: The National Bail Fund Network is made up of over sixty community ba...

Spike Lee Releases Powerful Video Juxtaposing ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Murders Of George Floyd & Eric Garner

Source: Timothy Hiatt / Getty When it comes to speaking out about social injustice, Spike Lee is known for not holding his tongue. On Monday (June 1), during an interview with CNN over the current unrest taking place in cities across the country, Spike Lee premiered a short video featuring clips from the intense and crucial scene in his iconic film, Do The Right Thing, Juxtaposed with the real videos of the murders of both Eric Garner and George Floyd at the hands of police. “What we’re seeing today is not new,” Lee said. “We’ve seen this again and again and again, and people are asking the same questions, like: ‘Why are people rioting? Why are people doing this?’ Because people are fed up and people are tired of the debasing, the killing of black bodies. That’s what this country is built ...

How to Support the Movement for #BlackLivesMatter?

Source: Getty Images / Getty Images iOne Digital stands in solidarity with all things Black. Activism is multifaceted. We need soldiers on the streets. We need financial backers. We need organizers. We need pray warriors. And, we need storytellers. iOne Digital has long been committed to sharing Black stories, fighting for Black lives and championing Black success. Each day our team remains committed to magnifying one simple truth: Black lives have always mattered. As we move into a different phase in the fight for social justice, we implore our community to finance the movement, engage in the movement, and to remain devoted to those who tell our stories, from our lens. Here’s how. Donate Your Dollars, Consistently. Our leadership and activism must have funding. Find Black-led organization...

JAY-Z Called Minnesota Governor To Demand Justice For George Floyd

Source: Kevork Djansezian / Getty As arguably the A1 rapper in the game and a business mogul, many have called for the JAY-Z to speak up in regards to the protests across the nation. Minnesota Governor Walz revealed that the “99 Problems” rapper gave him a phone call to discuss justice for George Floyd, who was murdered by Minnesota cops on May 25. Walz revealed the phone call during a press conference on Sunday (May 31). “I received a call last night, to understand how big this was, from Jay-Z,” said Walz. “Not international performer but dad—stressing to me that justice needs to be served.” During a press conference, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told the media that JAY-Z called him to demand justice for #GeorgeFloyd “I received a call last night from JAY-Z, not international perform...