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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

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      Cori Bush: progressive activist beats 20-year Democratic incumbent in Missouri primary

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      Cori Bush, one of the leaders of protests against the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, defeated longtime representative William Lacy Clay in the state’s Democratic primary election on Tuesday.The progressive candidate ended a half-century political dynasty in one of several notable results to emerge from primary elections in five states on Tuesday. Results were still coming in on Wednesday morning, but Donald Trump’s ally, Kris Kobach, had already suffered a defeat in Kansas.Roger Marshall won Kansas’s Republican primary for the Senate. Kobach, Kansas’s former secretary of state, lost the state’s governor race to a Democrat in 2018 and Republicans were fearful his win in the Senate primary would ensure another defeat to Democrats in November.Kobach is best known for his hardline anti-immigration policies and effort to weaken voting rights. Republicans have held the Senate seat for more than 100 years, but the party was still fearful Kobach would polarize voters in the November race. The Democratic candidate, Barbara Bollier, left the Republican party in 2018.In Missouri, Bush’s win in the district representing St Louis marked another progressive ousting of a Democratic incumbent. Clay was elected in 2000, taking over the post from his father who had served for 32 years before.Bush, a 44-year-old nurse and pastor, is almost guaranteed to win the seat in the November election because the district is heavily Democratic.Bush addressed supporters after her win and said her campaign had been written off, “they counted us out,” she said.“They called me – I’m just the protester, I’m just the activist with no name, no title and no real money,” Bush said. “That’s all they said that I was. But St Louis showed up today.”Bush entered politics after the Ferguson protests in 2014 and first ran for the representative seat in 2018, ultimately losing to Clay.Her foray into the 2018 election earned her comparisons to another progressive who took on a Democratic incumbent, New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She campaigned on issues such as a $15 minimum wage, free college tuition and Medicare for all.She was also one of four candidates, including Ocasio-Cortez, to be the focus of the documentary Knock Down the House – which trailed their 2018 campaigns.Bush was a surrogate for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and helped organize Black Lives Matter protests against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In a tweet, Sanders hailed Bush as a “true progressive”.Congratulations to @CoriBush on her primary victory tonight! 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. pic.twitter.com/Q3hJGasjXe— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 5, 2020
      Voters in Missouri also approved expanding the government health insurance program for low-income Americans, Medicaid. This could give 250,000 Missourians access to the program, starting next year, according to the state’s auditor.The state’s Republican governor, Mike Parson, opposes Medicaid expansion but because the expansion won through the initiative process, it can only be changed if lawmakers go back to voters.In another victory for progressives, the Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib won her Democratic primary.Tlaib, a member of the group of progressive house members known as “the Squad”, held off her opponent Brenda Jones, president of the Detroit city council.“Headlines said I was the most vulnerable member of the Squad,” Tlaib said on Twitter. “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.” More

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      WNBA players' shirts urge fans to vote against Dream owner and senator Loeffler

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      The standoff between WNBA players and Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler continues with players wearing shirts in support of the Republican senator’s rival in an upcoming election.Loeffler, a keen supporter of Donald Trump, wrote to the WNBA last month opposing the league’s support of Black Lives Matter. She said the organization supports “the defunding of police, called for the removal of Jesus from churches and the disruption of the nuclear family structure harbored anti-Semitic views, and promoted violence and destruction across the country.”Black Lives Matter is a decentralized movement and does not have official policies. Loeffler’s reference to Jesus may be due to the objection of some supporters to depictions of Jesus as a white European.In response, the WNBA released a statement saying it would “continue to use our platforms to vigorously advocate for social justice”.This week the opposition to Loeffler has stepped up, with WNBA players wearing “Vote Warnock” t-shirts to games, in reference to Raphael Warnock, who is running in George against Loeffler for her US Senate seat.Elizabeth Williams, a forward for Atlanta Dream, told ESPN the players had wanted to avoid talking about Loeffler directly, while still supporting her rival.“I think when all this stuff started happening with her, we didn’t want to feel like we were pawns,” Williams said. “We can only control so much about what the league does [in regard to Loeffler], and so for us, we wanted it to be bigger than that.“That’s kind of been the theme of this season. So we wanted to make sure we could still keep the focus on our social justice movement, and funny enough, Rev Warnock is somebody who supports everything that we support and just happens to be running in that seat. So it just worked out really well.”Warnock, a pastor and Democrat, said in a statement that he was “honored and humbled by the overwhelming support from the WNBA players. This movement gives us the opportunity to fight for what we believe in, and I stand by all athletes promoting social justice on and off the court.”Loeffler, meanwhile, condemned the move.“This is just more proof that the out-of-control cancel culture wants to shut out anyone who disagrees with them,” she said in a statement. “It’s clear that the league is more concerned with playing politics than basketball, and I stand by what I wrote in June.”There have long been objections to Loeffler’s ownership of the Dream among WNBA fans and players, who see her conservative views as antithetical to the league’s progressive policies. More

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      Removing monuments is the easy part. We must make America a real democracy | Rev William Barber and Bernice King

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      Flags and statues may fall, but the real struggle is for genuine voting rights, equal healthcare and truly integrated schoolsOne hundred and fifty-five years after Confederate troops surrendered at Appomattox and Bennett Place, their battle flag has finally come down in Mississippi and their statues are retreating from courthouse squares and university quads. As the children of generations of Black southerners who fought against the lies of the Lost Cause, we celebrate this most recent surrender and look forward to walking down streets that are not shadowed by monuments to men who claimed to own our ancestors. But we cannot understand why these monuments lasted so long without challenging the inequities they were erected to justify. In fact, many who support flags and statues coming down today also advocate voter suppression, attack healthcare and re-segregate our schools. We must attend to both the systems of injustice and the monuments that have justified them if we are to realize “liberty and justice for all”.If you examine the bases of statues that are being hauled away, most bear a date between the 1890s and 1920s. These monuments did not rise in defiance of the federal troops who were sent by Congress and Ulysses S Grant to enforce Reconstruction and guarantee political power to the new Black citizens of the south in the 1860s and 1870s. If a statue of Robert E Lee or Jefferson Davis had been proposed during Reconstruction, the very suggestion would have sparked a riot. But after the compromise of 1876, when Rutherford B Hayes agreed to remove federal troops from the south, newly established Black and white political alliances were subjected to the violence of white terrorist organizations and the propaganda of white supremacy campaigns. Continue reading… More