(2020-06-28). The Stonewall Riots Didn't Start The Gay Rights Movement. popularresistance.org Despite what you may hear during this year's fiftieth anniversary commemorations, Stonewall was not the spark that ignited the gay rights movement. The story is well known: A routine police raid of a mafia-owned gay bar in New York City sparked three nights of riots and, with them, the global gay rights movement. In fact it is conventional to date LGBTQ history into "before Stonewall" and "after Stonewall" periods—not just in the United States, but in Europe as well. British activists can join Stonewall UK, for example, while pride parades in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are called "Christopher Street…
(2020-06-28). Activists Charged With Felonies After Delivering Formosa Plastic Pollution To Lobbyists. popularresistance.org Two Louisiana environmental activists, Anne Rolfes and Kate McIntosh, were taken in handcuffs and leg irons from a Baton Rouge police station to jail after they voluntarily surrendered themselves on felony charges after months' earlier delivering plastic pollution pulled from Texas waters to fossil fuel lobbyists' homes. The two posted bond and were released later the same day. | "The women are accused of terrorizing oil and gas lobbyists by giving them a file box full of plastic pellets found in Texas bays near a plastic manufacturing facility owned by Formosa Plastics," NOLA.com reports. | Rolfes and McIntosh a…
(2020-06-28). The Struggle To Protect The Sacred Place Where Life Begins. popularresistance.org As the Trump administration neared the end of its first year in office in 2017, it seemed environmental activists had lost one of the most hard-fought battles in the movement's history. Thanks to a last-minute maneuver by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Congressional Republicans succeeded in passing legislation allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. Some of the worst fears of environmental and Indigenous rights groups for what might happen under the administration appeared to be coming true. | However, two and a half years later, no drilling or seismic testing has taken place in the re…
(2020-06-27). Police Under Pressure To End Training Programmes With Israel. popularresistance.org The video of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, an unarmed African American, for nearly nine minutes as he slowly died, gasping for air, has struck a familiar chord with many Palestinians and anti-occupation activists. | Since his death in late May, footage of Floyd pleading: "I can't breathe" and "they're going to kill me," has emerged alongside videos and stills of Israeli security forces taking similar positions over the necks of unarmed Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip. | The Israeli police force has tried to distance itself from any perceived similariti…
(2020-06-27). Saturday 7/4: 4th of July SF Car Caravan: "Defund Police, Defund Pentagon, Fund Life!" indybay.org Meet up 2pm at SF City Hall, Polk St. between Grove & McAllister; Caravan to Stop 1: Defund Police, Black Lives Matter street painting, Fulton & Webster; Caravan to Stop 2: Defund Pentagon, Nancy Pelosi's House, Broadway @ Divisadero; Caravan to Stop 3: Fund Life!, Bayview Hunters Point.
(2020-06-26). How Is Biden Different From Trump When It Comes To Palestine? therealnews.com 
Biden pledges to keep the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, boasts of "unstinting support" for Israel, promises to fight the BDS movement and send military aid, and spins it as a way to somehow fight anti-Semitism in the U.S.
(2020-06-26). The 'New' American Mercenary: A Pocket History. popularresistance.org Though the bizarre story has been subsumed by other events, last month's aborted invasion of Venezuela should've hardly shocked anyone. The United States has long used mercenaries to do its bidding. They have provided Washington distance and deniability for unsavory operations. During the Cold War, the U.S. hoped this would limit domestic and international protest. Policymakers also discerned mercenary alternatives to bloody, expensive quagmires like the Vietnam or Iraq Wars. Traditionally, most of these hired guns were foreigners — ex-soldiers of declining European empires. | Much of this parallels the lat…
(2020-06-26). Headlines for June 26, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Sets Another Daily COVID-19 Record as Infections Surge in 31 States, Supreme Court Ruling Will Deny Asylum Seekers Their Day in Court, Trump Admin Asks SCOTUS to Annul Obamacare Even as Millions Lose Health Coverage, India Nears 500,000 Confirmed Coronavirus Cases as Pandemic Worsens Globally, WHO Declares End to Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo, House Democrats Pass Sweeping Police Reform Bill That Trump Promised to Veto, Activists Demanding $1B Cut to NYPD Budget Occupy City Hall for Third Straight Night, NC Police Dept. Fires Officers Caught on Tape Discussing "Slaughtering" Black Reside…
(2020-06-26). Activists Urge US Dept of Agriculutre to Deny Deadly New Monsanto GMO-Herbicide Combo. mintpressnews.com The US is considering approving the product even as Monsanto juggles multiple multi-million dollar lawsuits from cancer patients over its deadly Roundup herbicide.
(2020-06-26). Colombia's Other Pandemic: Unchecked State Violence in the Time of COVID-19. counterpunch.org 
The human rights group Indepaz reports that 800 activists have been killed in the past three and a half years in Colombia, since November 24, 2016, the date the government signed "the Peace Accord" with the FARC.[1] Taking advantage of society's fear and distraction, and the demobilization caused by the novel coronavirus, state and paramilitary
(2020-06-26). Facebook bends the knee, agrees to censor Trump ads after mass advertiser boycott. rt.com 
Facebook will change its policies to ban "hate speech" in advertisements on the platform, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced, after activists brigaded a number of major corporations to pull their ads from the platform. | "I am committed to making sure Facebook remains a place where people can use their voice to discuss important issues," Zuckerberg said on Friday. "But I also stand against hate or anything that incites violences or suppresses voting, and we're committed to removing that content too, no matter where it comes from." | This will include ads critical of "immigrants, migrants, refugees and asylum seeker…
(2020-06-26). US House of Representatives passes police reform bill named after George Floyd. peoplesdispatch.org Republicans and president Trump have opposed the bill as a move to weaken the police and law enforcement, while activists claim the bill does not sufficiently tackle the issues at hand…
(2020-06-26). Jailed Mexican Labor Activist's Immediate Release Demanded by Major U.S. Unions, Faith and Civil Society Groups in Letter Delivered Today to Human Right Commission. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-06-26). "Free Speech" In The US Empire Is As Illusory As "Free-Range" Eggs. thealtworld.com Shadowproof's Kevin Gosztola calls "a not-so-subtle effort to criminalize the journalism of an adversarial media organization that the United States has spent the last decade working to destroy," WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Shadowproof,
(2020-06-26). Afghanistan, Garden of Empire: America's Multibillion Dollar Opium Harvest. globalresearch.ca By
(2020-06-26). Chicago School Board Votes To Keep Police Contract — For Now. popularresistance.org Chicago's school board has voted against ending a program that puts police officers in public schools, following the wishes of the mayor and top Chicago Public Schools leadership while rejecting the demands of students and activists who for years have called for police-free schools. | While the narrow 4-3 vote, the most suspenseful by the Board of Education in years, keeps intact a scrutinized $33-million contract between the school system and the Chicago Police Department, another vote is likely in the next two months on whether to renew the contract that's set to expire at the end of August. | Ahead of the high…
(2020-06-26). We Must Defund Militarization From the Local Police to the Pentagon. truthout.org In the wake of the global protests against the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, activists have begun to reclaim public spaces by destroying statues of conquerors, slave traders, white supremacists and colonizers. In the United States alone,
(2020-06-26). 'Free Speech' in the US Empire Is as Illusory as 'Free-Range' Eggs. strategic-culture.org Caitlin JOHNSTONE | Shadowproof's Kevin Gosztola calls "a not-so-subtle effort to criminalize the journalism of an adversarial media organization that the United States has spent the last decade working to destroy," WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Shadowproof,
(2020-06-26). 'Outrageous and Chilling': Police Condemned for Charging Peaceful Environmentalists With 'Terrorizing' in Louisiana. commondreams.org At least 40 U.S. climate and environmental advocacy groups on Friday rallied behind two Louisiana Bucket Brigade activists who are facing felony "terrorizing" charges for leaving a box of plastic pellets collected from Texas waters near a Formosa Plastics facility on the doorstep of a fossil fuel lobbyist in December 2019. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-06-25). Boycotting Israel Is Not A Crime, Says European Human Rights Court. therealnews.com 
The EHRC overturned the French court's convictions of 12 BDS activists for "incitement to discrimination" in a watershed ruling for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
(2020-06-25). Colonial Drug Trafficking and the British Empire. globalresearch.ca When China's Qing Emperor Daoguang ordered the destruction of opium stocks in the port of Canton (Guangzhou) in 1838, the British Empire declared war on China on the grounds that it was obstructing the "free flow" of commodity trade.
(2020-06-25). Repair & Revive: Rev. William Barber on Fighting Racism, Poverty, Climate Change, War & Nationalism. democracynow.org 
The Poor People's Campaign offered a counterpoint to President Trump's sparsely attended Tulsa campaign rally with a mass digital gathering that unveiled a policy platform to spur "transformative action" on five key issues of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy and the threat of religious nationalism. "We have to repair and revive," says Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign. "That has to be a part of if we're truly going to ever be the democracy we claim to be on paper."
(2020-06-25). Democratizing Energy To Counter The Climate Catastrophe. popularresistance.org Youth climate activists have been striking to demand immediate climate action from political powers. They conjoined the issues of climate and labor by calling for a global climate strike in September, 2019, in which a historic 7.6 million schoolkids, (grand)parents and workers from 185 countries participated. Over 70 trade unions around the world supported the strike and the number of climate groups that are demanding a just transition for fossil fuel workers are also steadily increasing. | The European landscape of climate activism is becoming densely populated. Numerous communities are defending nature together…
(2020-06-25). LaborFest 2020 – Labor: Resist, Revolt, Building a New Future. indybay.org LaborFest opens its 27th annual festival on July 1, 2020 with a month of timely events inspired by local and international labor activists and labor history. The program schedule includes both international and local films and videos, a labor history walk and bike tour, lectures, forums, readings, theatrical and musical performances. Most events are free of charge but donations by the public will be accepted.
(2020-06-24). "Six Months To Avert Climate Crisis": Climate Breakdown And The Corporate Media. dissidentvoice.org 
In his classic science fiction novel, Foundation, Isaac Asimov posited a future in which 'psychohistorians' could predict outcomes based on past history and the large-scale behaviour of human populations by combining psychology and the mathematics of probability. Using 'psychohistory', the protagonist Hari Seldon discovers that the 12,000-year-old Galactic Empire will collapse in 500 years. He …
(2020-06-24). Fight to Vote: COVID-19 threatens activist's opportunity to vote. splcenter.org …