Latest news with #CivilRightsMovement
Axios
2 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
George Floyd protests 5 years later: A night that shook Cleveland
Five years ago, the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer set off full-scale protests in cities around the country, including Cleveland. Why it matters: Several hours of violence and civil unrest downtown changed the way law enforcement handled public demonstrations moving forward. Flashback: In the early afternoon on May 30, 2020 — five days after Floyd's death — more than 1,000 people descended the Free Stamp downtown, according to the city of Cleveland's detailed accounting of events. By 3pm, a growing crowd had marched to the Justice Center on Ontario Street, home of police headquarters. Within the next hour, protesters began hitting windows at the Justice Center and throwing garbage cans, bottles and eggs at officers gathered in front of the building. Officers used pepper ball canisters, pepper spray and rubber bullets to try to push protesters back. Yes, but: Violence escalated with protesters reportedly attacking officers and setting fire to police vehicles. Just after 4pm, police chief Calvin Williams ordered all active officers to go downtown in full riot gear. The big picture: As violence continued at the Justice Center, riots spread to areas including West 6th Street and Public Square. Over the next several hours, businesses, vehicles and other properties throughout downtown were looted and vandalized. There were reports of people wielding weapons, including guns. Mayor Frank Jackson issued a downtown curfew that went into effect at 8pm. An hour later, Williams ordered officers to arrest anyone still downtown. Rioting continued until police had cleared most of downtown around midnight. More than 70 people were arrested, according to the city's report. What they said:"I believe we did the job that we needed to do at that time," Jackson said during a briefing the following day. "Were there lessons learned? Yes. Could we do things better now than we did then? Yes. Did we desire a better outcome? Yes. But what happened, happened. And our police officers stepped up and did their job." 💭 My thought bubble: Watching the events of May 30 via live feeds on social media was surreal. Cleveland resembled what you would see watching documentaries on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The aftermath In February 2021, the team monitoring Cleveland Police's adherence to the 2015 consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice to reform the police division, filed a report on the events of May 30. State of play: An investigation found inconsistencies in the police reporting its use of force and inconsistent use of body cameras. In 2022, Cleveland was ordered to pay a $540,000 civil settlement to a dozen arrested protesters. Between the lines: It was also determined that police were not adequately prepared to handle such protests, especially given that other similar demonstrations had already occurred around the country. The Downtown Cleveland Alliance reported that over 100 businesses suffered more than $6 million in riot damages. In 2023, the Cleveland Division of Police revised its policies in dealing with civil disturbances. An order called for police to "protect constitutional rights related to assembly and free speech, effectively manage crowds to prevent loss of life, injury, or property damage and minimize disruptions to persons who are not involved." By some accounts, local progress on police reform has been slow, though steady in recent years. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's recent desire to end consent decrees has cast uncertainty about the future of police reform in several cities. Yes, but: While unveiling the city's 2025 summer safety plan, Mayor Justin Bibb reasserted a focus on police reform and accountability.
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
Here's a radical idea to avoid speed camera tickets - forget vandalism and just don't speed
Throughout the annals of human struggle, there have been iconic acts of heroic protest. Acts such as Gandhi's Salt March in 1930, the Civil Right's Movement's Montgomery Bus Boycott of the 1950s and Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution in 1989. Will the 'Parkside Speed Camera Decapitations of 2025' one day be recorded alongside such illustrious acts? What's that you say? You've never heard of the 'Parkside Speed Camera Decapitations?' Think of them (there's no way a single individual is responsible) as 'Robin Hoods' but instead of stealing from the rich to give to the poor, these champions cut down the defenseless Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras under the cover of darkness. Their sacred quest? To preserve their right to speed and jeopardize people's safety. The Parkside Vandaliers, as I'll call them, get their name from the picturesque Toronto street that runs along the east side of High Park, struck their latest blow sometime during the night of May 22. While the good people of the west end slumbered, they toppled over the Parkside Drive speed camera. It was the fifth time in six months that the Vandaliers had struck. Credit where credit is due. What they lack in integrity they make up for in consistency. The Vandaliers have sawed the speed camera down, hacked it down and dragged it 200 metres to deposit in a duck pond. The attacks on vulnerable speed cameras have Torontonians in shock, dumbfounded by yet another example of man's inhumanity to soulless metal objects that can't feel anything. 'It's just Groundhog Day,' Faraz Gholizadeh, co-chair of the community group Safe Parkside, told The Toronto Star, alluding to the 1992 comedy starring Bill Murray as curmudgeonly weatherman Phil Connors who must repeat February 2 over and over until he experiences spiritual growth. Spiritual growth seems unlikely for the Parkside Vandaliers, a group of people who get their jollies lurking around at night lopping the heads off speed cameras. The Parkside Camera massacres are not isolated incidents. These are just a few of many acts of man-on-speed-camera vandalism in Toronto. There are 150 speed cameras in the city. Municipal officials say there have been 325 acts of speed camera vandalism so far in 2025. Though they have not issued a manifesto; it's a fair bet that the Vandaliers target the Parkside speed camera because it is emblematic of what they consider a 'cash grab.' It's Toronto's top-grossing ASE device, having issued 65,000 speeding tickets worth around $7-million since 2021. All 150 cameras bring in $40-million. Speed camera advocates note that Parkside Drive is one of Toronto's most dangerous streets. It's a 2.5-kilometre north/south arterial road that runs between a residential area and a park. According to a report by the city, about 21,000 motor vehicles and 1,000 transit passengers travel daily on Parkside Drive. 'Over the 10-year period between August 2014 and August 2024 there have been 1,487 collisions on Parkside Drive between Bloor Street West and Lake Shore Boulevard West. Of the collisions, five resulted in serious injuries and two resulted in fatalities.' The Parkside speed camera was erected in 2021 after a terrible five-car crash claimed the lives of two seniors. The driver responsible, Artur Kotula, had been told by an emergency doctor that he should not drive because he was suffering from seizures caused by alcohol use disorder. Kotula drove anyway, going more than 100 kilometres an hour in a 50 zone. In March, Kotula was found guilty of two counts of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. You might think that the Parkside Vandaliers would be angry at folks like Kotula (who, along with his sentence, was given a 15-year driving suspension) but apparently not, because his head is still attached to his body. They're angry at speed cameras. Their ire is not exclusive to Toronto. In 2020, someone spray-painted the lens of Hamilton's first photo radar camera. In 2021, three speed cameras were vandalized in the Niagara region. Nor is it exclusively Canadian. In Italy, a person or a group calling itself 'Fleximan' spent 2024 cutting down photo radar devices. The BBC reported that Fleximan – a pun on the Italian word for angle grinder, 'flessibile' – had cut down 15 'autovelox' and left a note saying, 'Fleximan is coming.' When I imagine the Parkside Vandaliers at work, I picture them celebrating the decapitation of an automated speed enforcement device by exclaiming at the top of their lungs, 'Take that, lifeless speed camera machine that can feel nothing and will be replaced shortly!' And yet, while I admire the Parkside Vandaliers' out-of-the-box thinking – Don't like speed cameras? Decapitate them – I question their logic. Surely there are other ways to avoid getting speeding tickets that do not involve power tools and the nocturnal maiming of automated speed enforcement devices. You know, like not speeding. Maybe I'm just not radical enough.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Susan Brownmiller Asked Us to Rethink Everything We Thought We Knew
Last Saturday, after a long illness, the radical feminist Susan Brownmiller died at 90. She leaves behind a few distant cousins, loving friends, and a public conversation about sex and gender that was transformed by her journalism, books, activism, and media presence. The author of seven books, Brownmiller is best known for Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, still in print 50 years after its 1975 publication. This surprise bestseller came on the heels of a boomlet in radical feminist theory, criticism, and fiction marketed to a commercial audience. Brownmiller was, hands down, one of the savviest feminist media figures of the twentieth century. The architect of a savage takedown of Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner that aired on the March 26, 1970, episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she was a star in a movement that deplored self-appointed leaders or spokespeople. Accounts of Susan Brownmiller's life, as they have emerged in the press and in popular culture, rightly note the controversial stances she took over the course of her life in feminism. But perceiving Brownmiller as singular in this regard misses important context. Radical feminists were inherently controversial, not only because they promoted a gender revolution but because their insights emerged from intimate conversation, conflict, and arguments. Clashes over ideas and personal styles were also consistent with the radical political movements that Brownmiller and her sisters were forged in before feminism: Communist and Communist-adjacent groups, Fair Play for Cuba, anti-nuclear politics, the Civil Rights Movement, and the mobilization to end the war in Vietnam. Although she did not anticipate, or accept, some of the criticisms that would be aimed at her, Brownmiller also knew that the claims about male power that structured Against Our Will would be broadly controversial. Its project was to create a national debate about sexual assault based on facts that already existed, a debate that had not yet happened outside radical feminist circles. By recasting rape as a political act, Brownmiller asked her readers to rethink everything they thought they knew: Western civilization, their own attitudes, the law, and social science—among other things. In the introduction, Brownmiller also foregrounded the radical feminist principle that talking and listening can change minds. She, for example, had not believed that rape was a feminist issue. Yet other women 'understood their victimization,' she wrote. 'I understood only that it had not happened to me—and resisted the idea that it could. I learned that in ways I preferred to deny the threat of rape had profoundly affected my life.' From conflict came transformation, and the idea for the book that commercial editors had been soliciting from her since Brownmiller's 1970 insider account of the women's movement in The New York Times Magazine. Against Our Will was widely praised but also had its detractors. Black feminist intellectuals such as bell hooks and Angela Davis pointed out that Brownmiller's attempts to weave the crime of lynching into her theory of gender and power were clumsy and confounded history. For example, Black men were historically controlled not by the fear of rape but by the fear of being put to death by a false rape charge, a fact that Brownmiller acknowledged but then displaced in a tortuous section on the Emmett Till lynching. It isn't true, however, that only Black feminists thought Against Our Will was flawed. Some male, and a few female, reviewers were outraged by Brownmiller's conclusion that the patriarchy was promoted and preserved by the ever-present possibility of sexual assault. Some radical feminists who had always been uncomfortable with Brownmiller's high media profile deplored her use of ideas developed in consciousness-raising sessions, and challenged her to take her name off the book. Brownmiller's theory that the patriarchy is propped up by the possibility of sexual assault, as well as positions she took later—her fight to push sex workers and the adult entertainment industry out of Times Square; her assertion that Hedda Nussbaum, a battered woman and the subject of Brownmiller's 1987 novel, Waverly Place, was not an innocent victim; and most recently, her skepticism about the #MeToo movement—remain controversial, particularly among younger feminists who are fighting these fights in their own way. But what is often missed in accounts of Susan Brownmiller's life is that, in addition to her deep commitment to social justice, she was a fundamentally generous, good person with a terrific sense of humor. She loved dogs, the theater, movies, poker, and baseball. When she became prosperous, she put money back into political causes she cared about and took her friends on international trips. Brownmiller was profoundly loyal to, and generous with, those friends. Her archived correspondence is full of instances in which she connected other women with agents and editors, encouraged them to write books, and boosted their self-confidence. When she worked for ABC in the 1960s, assigned to the Washington bureau over one weekend, she asked the female assistant tasked with orienting her: 'Why aren't you in charge?' This woman quit her job, went on to her own career as a journalist, and became a lifelong friend. For the last 25 years, Susan Brownmiller played that role for numerous researchers too. In 2009, long before I imagined the biography of her that I am now writing, I went to interview Brownmiller. Nervously stepping off the elevator, I saw the woman on the back of the book I read back in 1975, draped against her door jamb. 'Welcome to Jane Street,' she greeted me, flashing a warm smile designed to put me at ease. By the end of the afternoon, I had not only a terrific interview but a fistful of appointments with other veterans of a political movement who are justifiably wary about how they will be represented. 'Her name is Claire Potter,' Susan would say, waving a lit (or sometimes unlit) cigarette with one hand and holding the phone in the other. 'She's a feminist—the real deal. Talk to her.' She would then thrust the receiver at me, and I would make another appointment. It was, to paraphrase a classic film, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I was not Brownmiller's best friend, or her most daily friend, or the person who helped her the most in her final years. I'm the biographer. But as a feminist who will be in dialogue with her until my book is done and a new generation can argue with her, I will nevertheless miss the living, breathing Susan Brownmiller terribly.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
15 cities where it's more affordable to buy a home
Buying a house is stressful, even without factoring in high prices and competition. However, there are a few places with more affordable homes, according to a WalletHub report. It found Flint, Michigan, is the most affordable place to buy a home. If browsing home prices in Seattle or San Francisco feels like an exercise in unattainability, consider expanding your search outside the West Coast. Using a combination of factors, including median house prices, annual household incomes, real-estate taxes, and cost of living, WalletHub created a list of the most affordable cities to buy a home. Many of the cities are in the Rust Belt, which has struggled with economic recovery but has seen revitalization more recently. Others are in literal hotspots, like regions of Arizona that are experiencing booming population growth. For each city in the top 15, BI identified the population using 2024 US Census estimates, median household income from 2023 Census data, and median house prices from April 2025 listings. Here are 15 cities where the housing prices aren't as sky-high as in other regions. 15. Montgomery, Alabama Population: 195,818 Median home price: $195,000 Median household income: $55,687 A little about Montgomery: Known as the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, Montgomery has a wealth of museums, monuments, and sites dedicated to this chapter in its history. Maxwell Gunter Air Force Base is a major employer, as is the state government. Hyundai also has a manufacturing plant where the Tucson, Santa Fe, and other vehicles are assembled. Parts of this capital city have views of the Alabama River. Riverfront Park is a popular destination, especially during the hot, humid summers. 14. Toledo, Ohio Population: 265,638 Median home price: $135,000 Median household income: $47,532 A little about Toledo: The city has deep ties to the automotive industry and is sometimes called "The Glass City" thanks to its history of glass manufacturing, hence the name of its riverwalk. Both the Toledo Zoo and the Toledo Museum of Art are popular attractions. The landscape isn't all industrial, either. The Maumee River travels through Toledo before feeding into Lake Erie. Over 200 miles of trails are found in the city, including some that double as cross-country ski areas during the snowy winters. 13. Warren, Michigan Population: 137,686 Median home price: $187,400 Median household income: $63,741 A little about Warren: About 15 miles north of Detroit, Warren is one of the state's most populous cities. It's the location of the Detroit Arsenal, the first facility in the country built to mass produce tanks. The Army's Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command is still headquartered there. GM's Global Technical Center is another major employer. Warren lacks much of a downtown. It's something the city's leaders are hoping to change by bringing in restaurants and shops to the area around the city hall, CBS News reported in January. It's slowly becoming more diverse as well, overcoming years of discriminatory housing practices, the Michigan Chronicle reported in 2019. 12. Cleveland, Ohio Population: 365,379 Median home price: $144,900 Median household income: $39,187 A little about Cleveland: Notorious for catching fire several times, most notably in 1969, the Cuyahoga River twists through Cleveland before reaching Lake Erie. The waterway is now much cleaner than in the manufacturing city's past. The Flats also sit on the river. The former industrial area now hosts bars and restaurants that provide lively nightlife, especially for the city's younger demographic. At the center of the city's downtown is the Public Square, a 10-acre park with a splash pad in the summer and ice rink in the winter. When residents aren't hanging out, they might be working at the Cleveland Clinic, a medical center with over 50,000 employees. American Greetings, Great Lakes Brewing, and Sherwin-Williams are also based there. 11. North Las Vegas, Nevada Population: 294,034 Median home price: $425,500 Median household income: $76,772 A little about North Las Vegas: Though not far from the frenetic energy of the Strip, North Las Vegas is a bit more sedate. It shares the same desert climate, though. It's not unusual for temperatures to reach triple digits in the summer months. Both Amazon and Sephora have distribution centers in the area. They're located near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which holds racing events for NASCAR, IndyCar, and others. Events like an annual mariachi competition celebrate the city's diverse population, while North 5th brews up local beer. 10. Indianapolis, Indiana Population: 891,484 Median home price: $259,900 Median household income: $62,99 A little about Indianapolis: Indiana's capital is perhaps best known for the Indy 500. The annual car race takes place in an enclave town, Speedway. The city's sports fans also cheer on basketball teams the Pacers and the Fever. Other leisurely ways to spend time include walking or biking the 10-mile Cultural Trail, which connects White River State Park, museums, and art pieces like the Talking Wall. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly started in Indianapolis and remains headquartered there today. 9. Fort Wayne, Indiana Population: 273,203 Median home price: $289,900 Median household income: $60,293 A little about Fort Wayne: Less than 20 miles from the Ohio border, Fort Wayne is a Midwestern city that experiences all four seasons. Healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics are some of its major industries. Fort Wayne residents can enjoy dozens of parks throughout the city, including some with a water view. A trio of rivers flows through the city, and St. Marys' riverfront has green spaces, museums, and boat rentals. 8. Augusta, Georgia Population: 201,737 Median home price: $224,900 Median household income: $53,134 A little about Augusta: The Masters golf tournament calls Augusta home, so it's perhaps not surprising that Textron has its E‑Z‑GO golf cart headquarters there. Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and American Concrete all have a presence in the city as well. This Southern city has long, hot summers, with an average of 80 days over 90 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. When the weather is nice, residents who like to putt can enjoy numerous public golf courses in the area. 7. Memphis, Tennessee Population: 610,919 Median home price: $219,900 Median household income: $51,211 A little about Memphis: It's nearly impossible to separate Memphis from its musical past, due to the presence of Sun Studio. B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and many others recorded there. Elvis' Graceland home remains a draw for his enthusiastic fans. There are still countless venues in the city to catch live music. For those who don't make their living performing, several Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Memphis, including FedEx, AutoZone, and International Paper. Elon Musk has also said his AI startup will build the world's largest supercomputer in the city. 6. Yuma, Arizona Population: 103,559 Median home price: $353,700 Median household income: $60,417 A little about Yuma: When you enjoy crisp broccoli or lettuce during the chilly months of the year, chances are the leafy greens came from the country's "Winter Salad Bowl." Yuma grows 90% of these vegetables between November and March, and agriculture accounts for 20% of jobs in the southwestern Arizona county, according to the University of Arizona. That's also the season for snowbirds who flock to the desert climate from the north, swelling the city's population. Summer temperatures can reach an average high of 106 degrees, so residents grab paddleboards or kayaks in the Colorado River. 5. Akron, Ohio Population: 189,664 Median home price: $145,000 Median household income: $48,544 A little about Akron: When Goodyear, B.F. Goodrich, Firestone, and General Tire all set up shop in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the industry would eventually lead to Akron's "Rubber Capital of the World" nickname. Now, only Goodyear's headquarters remain in the city, which is about 40 miles south of Cleveland. The tire companies' legacies remain in park names like Firestone and Goodyear Heights. Some of these scenic spots have ideal hills for sledding on snowy days. Some residents have been less eager to embrace a newer industry, bitcoin mining, with some worrying how the energy-heavy operations will affect electricity rates and the environment. 4. Surprise, Arizona Population: 167,564 Median home price: $459,900 Median household income: $93,371 A little about Surprise: About 45 minutes from Phoenix, you'll find Surprise. The suburban city is proud of its sports facilities, which include a tennis and racquet complex; golf courses; and Surprise Stadium, which hosts MLB spring training each year. The founder, Flora Mae Statler, reportedly gave Surprise its unusual name because she didn't think it would amount to much. However, it's had explosive growth over the past two decades, going from just under 31,000 people in 2000 to over 167,564 by 2024. Arizona is one of the US' fastest-growing states. Its lower home prices are likely one of the reasons over 630,000 Californians have moved there over the past decade, the Phoenix Business Journal reported last year. Surprise is trying to expand while also preserving some of the desert ecosystem, The Arizona Republic reported in February. 3. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Population: 307,668 Median home price: $269,000 Median household income: $64,137 A little about Pittsburgh: The Steel City once owed much of its livelihood to manufacturing and industry. Its location, where the Monongahela and Allegheny converge to form the Ohio, shaped its identity as the "Gateway to the West." The waterways provided a route to ship timber, coal, and other resources to other parts of the country. You can catch a great view of them from Mount Washington. As the steel industry declined, healthcare grew, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is now a major employer. A number of tech companies, including Duolingo, are headquartered in the city. 2. Detroit, Michigan Population: 645,705 Median home price: $109,000 Median household income: $39,575 A little about Detroit: Detroit's history as both the Motor City and the home of Motown music continues to impact its reputation for being cool yet burdened with economic challenges, resulting from the loss of much of the automotive industry. Rocket Mortgage, General Motors, and Little Caesars are all headquartered in Detroit. The Detroit River divides the city from Windsor, Canada, and the area provides a crucial link between the two countries. It's the site of a picturesque island park, Belle Isle, which invites plenty of visitors in the warmer months. As parts of the city rebound, it's become known as a foodie destination, thanks to its diverse selection of cuisines. 1. Flint, Michigan Population: 79,735 Median home price: $70,000 Median household income: $36,194 A little about Flint: Flint is synonyms with its water crisis. When the city began sourcing from the Flint River, the distribution pipes started corroding and leaching lead into the water supply. It's been over a decade since the switch, and some pipes still need replacing and people remain sick from years of drinking contaminated water, The Guardian reported last year. At the time, the City of Flint said in a statement that it had significantly upgraded its monitoring and infrastructure. Though its water meets federal standards for lead levels, they stated that "no amount of lead in water is safe." Like Detroit, which is less than 70 miles southeast, Flint relied heavily on the auto industry in the past. In the summer, residents and visitors celebrate this history with the "Back to the Bricks" classic car event. Today, fast-food chains YaYa's Chicken and Big John Steak & Onion both have ties to the city. Sources: Population and income data are from the US Census, and median home prices are from Read the original article on Business Insider
BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Quiz: Could you pass Leaving Cert Irish history?
The Leaving Certificate curriculum for history covers a lot, from the eclipse of Old Europe (1600s) to the Civil Rights Movement in the US in the 1950s. However, a large amount of knowledge of Irish history, from both the Early Modern period (1490s-1810s) and Later Modern period (1810s-1990s), is required to do well in the subject. Advertisement So how much do you know about Irish history? Would it be enough to pass the Irish history section of a Leaving Cert exam? Take our quiz and find out!
