Today on Sojourner Truth:
For two weeks, millions of people have been taking part in a global uprising against systemic racism and police killings. The protests continue to rage on. On Monday, June 8, as the final of three memorial services for George Floyd began in his hometown of Houston, large demonstrations were held in major cities across the country. These protests marked the 14th day of the uprising since Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Thousands of people in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, and other metropolitan areas peacefully hit the streets. Protests have also spread into smaller, rural and predominantly white towns in the United States. These include places like Norfolk, Nebraska, with a population of 24,000, and Benton, southern Illinois, with a population of 7,000, where hundreds of protesters demonstrated over the weekend. Protests also took place in other Southern Illinois cities and town, including Carbondale and Anna. Also, the small Mississippi town of Petal. Rural areas in California, Nebraska, Montana and other states have also seen protests.
The uprising is being embraced by a wide cross-section of society. On Monday, June 8, for example, dozens of Catholic leaders gathered at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, standing in solidarity with Black lives. And on Wednesday, June 10, more than 3,000 physicists, astronomers, and other academics have pledged to forgo research, classes and meetings to pursue a day of action dedicated to protecting the lives of Black people. One of their hashtags is #ShutDownSTEM. In Seattle, a predominately white city, the Black Lives Matter movement is calling for a statewide general strike and a March for Black Lives on Friday, June 12. Teachers, nurses, truck drivers, grocery workers, Indigenous communities, and other diverse sectors have already issued statements in solidarity with the uprising.
Our guests are Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Dr. Brian D. Nord and Georgeann Hartzog.
