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      Portland protesters set police building on fire and clash with authorities

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      A fire lit inside a police union building by a small fraction of protesters in Portland overnight led the authorities to declare the situation a riot and then use flashbang munitions and smoke canisters to force hundreds away from the area.The flare-up in the Oregon city marred demonstrations that took place across Portland this weekend as part of protests that have continued daily, calling for police restructuring and systemic anti-racism reforms, since George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis in May.Portland protests had been in a calmer vein since federal law enforcement agents withdrew in late July, but early Sunday saw a clash at the scene of the arson attack.It was the second time such a fire has been set in recent days. Though both fires were quickly put out, the incidents brought criticism of individuals who have been provoking police by damaging property and other belligerent tactics, in contrast to much wider, calmer protests, according to a report by the Oregonian.Three officers were hurt during efforts to clear a crowd of several hundred people outside the Portland Police Association building, police said in a statement.Rallies had been held earlier in the afternoon and evening throughout the city.Seneca Cayson, a black business owner who helped lead peaceful gatherings in downtown Portland, worries that incidents of vandalism and taunting of law enforcement by a tiny minority of the many thousands of white protesters turning out distracts from the main aims of the Black Lives Matter movement.But he speculated that such clashes also draw more attention to racial injustice and said of white rebels: “We are fighting alongside them to … be equal.”Many cite competing voices and the harsh glare of a national spotlight, which has reduced the situation to a culture war when the reality is much more complex.“It happens so much that the things that we care about get hijacked and get put on the back burner. And that just gets put into a big barrel with everything else,” said Neil Anderson, another local Black business owner. “We all want the same thing. But so often we get drowned out.”For many, part of breaking down racial barriers means taking funds from and restructuring the police entirely.Portland’s population is less than 6% black but people of color have been disproportionately stopped by a city program that created a gun violence reduction team.An analysis of police use of force published last month found that in 2019 officers were much more likely to use force against black people and particularly young black men than other groups, despite overall trends towards less use of force.“It is the entire culture of the Portland police bureau that is fundamentally unmanageable and must change,” said Jo Ann Hardesty, the city’s first black councilwoman and an activist who has pressed for police reform for three decades.“Thirty years is a long time to be asking for the exact same reforms. The difference now is there are tens of thousands of Portlanders who want the exact same thing,” Hardesty said.Police said demonstrators broke into the union building late Saturday, set the fire and were adding to it when officers made the riot declaration.Democratic mayor Ted Wheeler said violent protesters are serving as political “props” for Donald Trump in a divisive election season where the president is hammering on a law-and-order message.Meanwhile, Oregon state politicians will discuss on Monday in a special session passing a broader ban on police use of chokeholds and further restricting other use of force, the Oregonian reported on Sunday. More

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      Cori Bush has proved progressives are gaining strength – and that gives me hope | Arwa Mahdawi

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      The Squad is only getting strongerCori Bush used to be homeless – now she’s on her way to the House of Representatives.On Tuesday the nurse, pastor and Black Lives Matters activist defeated the powerful long-term incumbent William Lacy Clay, a centrist, in Missouri’s Democratic primary election. As Bush’s district is heavily Democratic, the progressive activist is almost guaranteed to win in November, and will become the first black woman to represent Missouri in Congress.When Bush won a very strange thing happened to me: I felt a glimmer of hope. It has been hard to feel hopeful about politics lately. The pandemic has accelerated already unconscionable inequality: billionaires have seen their wealth surge while the poor get poorer. The inequality we’re seeing now, of course, is nothing compared with the hell that the climate crisis will unleash. And yet the Democratic establishment doesn’t seem to see the urgency of the moment. They keep telling progressives to calm down and carry on with business as usual; that incrementalism rather than bold ideas are the way forward. That you must water down your progressive views if you want to connect with the American voter.Bush refused to do that. She refused to water down her views on defunding the police; she refused to cater to corporate interests; and she refused to be cowed by underhand attacks. When Clay criticized Bush for being sympathetic towards the non-violent Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to pressure Israel to comply with international law, she did not back down. “Cori Bush has always been sympathetic to the BDS movement, and she stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people, just as they have stood in solidarity with Black Americans fighting for their own lives,” her campaign said days before the election.Clay, who is part of a half-century political dynasty, levelled a number of disgusting personal attacks against Bush. His campaign circulated a mailer stating that Bush had failed to pay taxes four times, been evicted three times and had her nursing license suspended. But Bush’s personal history is exactly why we need her in politics. We need politicians who understand what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck and get caught up in a cycle of predatory loans. We need politicians who understand what it’s like to get into debt working for a nursing degree only to then have your license suspended because you couldn’t afford to pay state taxes. (Bush’s nursing license was restored after she made her necessary payments.) We need politicians who understand the urgency of the moment and are fighting for people’s lives, not corporate interests.“Tonight, Missouri’s first has decided that an incremental approach isn’t going to work any longer,” Bush declared at a victory party. “We decided that we the people have the answers, and we will lead from the frontlines.”Bush’s victory wasn’t the only win American progressives have had lately. In July Jamaal Bowman, a former teacher, ousted 16-term Eliot Engel, a committed centrist, in New York. And this week congresswoman Rashida Tlaib beat her centrist opponent by a landslide, in what was supposed to be a close primary. “Headlines said I was the most vulnerable member of the Squad,” Tlaib tweeted. “My community responded last night and said our Squad is big. It includes all who believe we must show up for each other and prioritize people over profits. It’s here to stay, and it’s only getting bigger.”For far too long centrists have sneeringly considered leftwing voices part of a bothersome fringe rather than a growing movement. Nancy Pelosi, for example, has dismissed the progressive congresswomen known as the Squad as “like, five people”. But, as is becoming increasingly clear, it’s a lot more than five people. “Progressives are on the move”, Bernie Sanders tweeted on Wednesday. “Don’t let anyone fool you … we are transforming American politics. The political revolution is gaining more and more support.” Let’s hope the establishment is paying attention.Lisa Rendle named Clorox’s first female CEORendle’s appointment brings the total number of women running Fortune 500 firms to 38, an all time high. While women are often made CEOs when a company is going through a tough time (a phenomenon known as the “glass cliff”), Rendle is taking up the mantle as sales of Clorox soar amid the pandemic.Trump calls AOC ‘real beauty’ who ‘knows nothing’ about economyYet another example of how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lives rent-free inside Trump’s empty head.Female doctors in menopause retiring early due to sexismExperienced doctors are leaving the profession early because they are struggling with menopause symptoms and getting no support from their management or peers, a study by the British Medical Association has found. A significant number of women surveyed said they would be “ridiculed” if they spoke about the menopause and worried bringing it up would damage their career.Study measuring the attractiveness of women with endometriosis has been retractedI thought this was an Onion article when I first saw it. Alas it is all too real. It took seven years for the “study” to be removed.Nigeria’s first lesbian feature film goes onlineLGBT Africans are growing “increasingly vocal and visible”, Reuters reports.The US air force now allows women to wear pantsUntil now women in the air force have only been able to wear floor-length skirts during formal ceremonies.The week in paw-triarchy: drug smuggling cat escapes prisonA cat that was detained at a high security prison in Sri Lanka on suspicion of smuggling drugs to inmates has reportedly escaped. Police reckon the cat had been trained by the same cartel that once used an eagle to smuggle drugs and had hoped the sneaky feline would lead them to the purrpetrators. More

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      Cori Bush: leading organizer and 'true progressive' on course to make history

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      Missouri activist Cori Bush ended a half-century political dynasty in Tuesday’s primary elections and is now on track to become the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress.Bush, a 44-year-old nurse and ordained pastor, gained local prominence as one of the leaders of protests against the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. She has been deeply involved with this year’s protests against racial injustice and has promised to continue demonstrating if she is elected to Congress.Tuesday’s primary was Bush’s second attempt to unseat the Democratic incumbent William Lacy Clay, who took over the role from his father and held off Bush in the 2018 election. Missouri’s first district is a Democratic stronghold and Bush is expected to win in the November general election.Bush said in her victory speech: “We decided that we the people have the answers, and we will lead from the frontlines.”Bush has spoken about how being a single mother shapes her understanding of what the district’s families need.We’re sending a Black, working-class, single mother all the way to the halls of CongressCori BushWhile pregnant with her second child in 2001, Bush had to quit her job at a preschool and her family was evicted from their home. For several months, she, her then husband, their newborn and 14-month-old son lived out of a car.“It is historic that this year, of all the years, we’re sending a Black, working-class, single mother, who’s been fighting for Black lives since Ferguson, all the way to the halls of Congress,” Bush said.On the campaign trail, Bush has also spoken about her fight against Covid-19 this spring and how her concerns about the cost of hospital visits during that time helped underscore her support for the healthcare reform plan Medicare for All.Bush was a surrogate for Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, and the Vermont senator hailed her victor in a tweet. Sanders said: “She is a true progressive who stands with working people and will take on the corporate elite of this country when she gets to Congress.” More