A year after Lagos bloodshed, Nigerians say police reform promises prove hollow
Lagos, NigeriaReuters One year ago, Adebanjo Akinwunmi gleefully waved a Nigerian flag at the Lekki Toll Gate, a stretch of tarmac in front of toll booths on a highway on the outskirts of Lagos. Joined by thousands of his countrymen, he demanded an end to what demonstrators said was endemic police brutality. But the ebullient […]
Postcards: Black American families strive to build a town free from racism
CAREY L BIRON, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on a bid to create a new community in central Georgia called Freedom…
Death toll from Colombia protests rises; UN, EU call for calm
Bogota, ColombiaReuters The United Nations and European Union on Tuesday urged calm and warned of the use of excessive force amid further protests against the administration of Colombian President Ivan Duque, while local authorities in epicenter Cali reported a further five deaths and 33 injuries. The protests – originally called in opposition to a now-cancelled […]
Essay: Why the US needs to declare a national emergency on deadly policing
In an article first published on Religion News Service, KELLY BROWN DOUGLAS, dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and author of ‘Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God’, says it’s time for greater action on the issue of lethal police action…
March on Washington events to focus on racial justice, police brutality, voting
RNS Over the years, throngs of protesters – many of them people of faith – have assembled to remember the March on Washington. This year, the gatherings will both resemble and differ from the first one on 28th August, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr, addresses a crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where […]
South Africans go online to document police brutality
Johannesburg, South AfricaThomson Reuters Foundation Strict enforcement of South Africa’s coronavirus lockdown by police and the army has placed the spotlight on official brutality, a cause of anger among the majority Black population for decades. Now a coalition of human rights organisations called C19 is seeking to document those abuses, hoping the data gathered will […]
Outrage in India over Dalit farmers’ suicide attempt after police beating
Lucknow, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation A lower-caste Dalit couple in India attempted suicide after police beat them and destroyed their crops, triggering calls on Thursday for an end to brutal evictions of poor minorities. An online video showing half a dozen police officers dragging and beating the couple with sticks to evict them from government-owned land […]
‘India’s George Floyds’ spur calls for end to police brutality
Chennai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation The rare arrest of six police officers on murder charges over the death of two men in custody has emboldened victims to speak up against targeted police brutality in India, and demand an end to impunity. Shopkeeper J Jayaraj, 59, and his son Bennicks Immanuel, 31, were beaten so badly for […]
Essay: Prayer is essential. Protest is required. Policy is necessary
Sojourners founder JIM WALLIS, in an article published on Religion News Service, says he’s never seen more white people engage with issues of systemic racism, structural injustice and the violent policing and killing of black people in the US…
Does Trump encourage white supremacists? Faith groups divided in survey
Washington, DCRNS A new survey shows a sharp racial and religious divide over whether the actions of President Trump are encouraging white supremacist organisations. Three-quarters of black Protestants say Trump’s behavior and decisions are emboldening white supremacists while slightly more than a quarter of white evangelicals agree with that view. Overall, more than half of […]