After the murder of George Floyd, many people wanted change. Some attempts at reforms and some reforms existed during the aftermath of the historic 2020 protests. There were calls for more defunding and abolishing the police. That proposal would be controversial among many segments of the American population. Some wanted laws changed to protect human beings from police brutality. During the protests, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, at least 100 journalists have been arrested while covering the protests, while 114 have been physically attacked by police officers. Although some journalists have been attacked by protesters, over 80% of incidents involving violence against the news media were committed by law enforcement officers. The Committee to Protect Journalists has accused police officers of intentionally targeting news crews in an attempt to intimidate them from covering the protests. Some journalists covering the protests in Minneapolis had their tires slashed by Minnesota State Patrol troopers and Anoka County sheriff's deputies. During the week of May 30, 2020, 12 people, including protesters, journalists, and bystanders, were partially blinded after being struck with police projectiles. By June 21, 2020, at least 20 people had suffered serious eye injuries. The American Academy of Ophthalmology has called on police departments to stop using rubber bullets for crowd control, writing in a statement that "Americans have the right to speak and congregate publicly and should be able to exercise that right without the fear of blindness." More people had an awareness of the issues of school to prison pipeline and inequitable school funding.
The events in 2020 made many people faced the issues of racial injustice, economic inequality, and police brutality. In June 2020, best-selling books were increasingly read about race. We saw more racists monuments being removed, scrutiny of, discussion of removal, and removal of civic symbols or names relating to the Confederate States of America (frequently associated with segregation and the Jim Crow era in the United States) has regained steam as protests have continued. On June 4, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced the Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond would be removed. On June 5, making specific reference to events in Charlottesville in 2017, the United States Marine Corps banned the display of the Confederate Battle Flag at its installations. The United States Navy followed suit on June 9 at the direction of Michael M. Gilday, the Chief of Naval Operations. California Governor Gavin Newsom wanted new police crowd control procedures for the state and the banning of carotid chokeholds. The Minneapolis police department banned the police from using chokeholds along with the Denver police departments.
In June 2020, Democrats in Congress introduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, a police reform and accountability bill that contains measures to combat police misconduct, excessive force, and racial bias in policing. The impetus for the bill were the killings of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other African Americans at the hands of police. It passed the House of Representatives one month after Floyd's killing, 236 to 181, with support from Democrats and three Republicans. A Republican reform bill was blocked in the U.S. Senate by all but two Democrats; neither party negotiated the contents of the bill with the other. Speaker Nancy Pelosi summarized Democratic opposition to the Senate bill: "it's not a question that it didn't go far enough; it didn't go anywhere." On June 16, President Trump signed an executive order on police reform that incentivized departments to recruit from communities they patrol, encourage more limited use of deadly force, and prioritize using social workers and mental health professionals for nonviolent calls. The order also created a national database of police officers with a history of using excessive force. On September 10, Ted Wheeler, the mayor and police commissioner of Portland, Oregon, banned city police from using tear gas for riot control purposes, but reiterated that police would respond to violent protests forcefully. Portland had seen over one hundred consecutive days of protests since they began on May 28. The Brennan Center for Justice reported that in the year after the death of Floyd, over 20 states including Maryland, passed legislation to address the use of force, the duty for officers to intervene in instances of police brutality, reporting requirements or officer decertification.
Five years later, there has been a far-right MAGA backlash against any attempts to confront racism, police brutality, and economic inequality. This movement is like the Reagan movement on steroids made up of at least 30 percent of the American population. Many MAGA supporters and closet Trump supporters, and some are hypocrites. Back in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center, 2/3s of American adults supported the Black Lives Matter movement. Almost 70 percent of Americans were talking about racial justice issues with their families and friends, and about 70 percent were recognizing tensions between the police and Black Americans. In 2025, we have a different story with an increased hostility to the BLM and any progressive discussion about racism. In 2025, hate crimes will be crimes with new school racists like the Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, the 5 Percenters, and other far-right people who desire no racial justice. Pro-Trump trolls regularly harass and threaten judges, progressives, black people, and other people who disagree with the Trump agenda. It has gotten so bad that the Department of Justice under Trump's 2nd term announced that it was ending consent decrees and investigations of police terrorism in many cities, including Minneapolis. The myth that numerous white conservatives promote is that if we don't talk about race, then racism will go away. Racism will never go away until true education about the greatness of black people, structural oppression is abolished, and other actions are used to advance justice for real. Trump now has deleted black history facts on federal websites, wants the Washington Commanders to change its name to a racist slur against Native peoples, desires to abolish birthright citizenship, and seeks to cut out certain histories found in black museums nationwide. The White House issued an executive order aimed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, because the museum exposes systematic racism, the evil of the Maafa, the evil of the genocide of Native Americans, exposes the wickedness of white racism, and the desire of black people to be free from oppression.
On January 12, 2010, people dug through rubble to help rescue survivors and recover bodies from the 2010 Haitian Earthquake. During the night, many people were digging through the rubble, using flashlights or torches. The Argentine Air Force Mobile Field Hospital, already deployed at Port-au-Prince, was the only medical facility still open. Argentine helicopters from the United Nations forces were helping evacuate the gravely injured people to Santo Domingo. By January 2010, Haitian rescuers searched the collapsed buildings for victims. The wounded were taken to the hospital in ambulances, police pickup trucks, wheelbarrows, and improvised stretchers. Many hospitals collapsed: on 13 January 2010, the Argentine military field hospital remained open in Port-au-Prince, and it was struggling to attend to the huge numbers of injured. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported that at least two hospitals were still in good shape, and their doctors would begin treating about 500 people who needed emergency surgery. The bodies of the victims were piled on the streets. Heavy equipment was needed to dig through the ruins; many people were still trapped in collapsed buildings. A triage center was set up in a parking lot, but the wounded were forced to lie in medical tents to await treatment due to the many patients, and water was scarce. In Pétion-Ville, people used sledgehammers and their hands to dig through a collapsed commercial center.
The first international team to arrive in Port-au-Prince was ICE-SAR from Iceland, landing within 24 hours of the earthquake. Some rescue teams, such as the ones from Cuba, arrived in Haiti and started their mission. The Peruvian government sent rescue teams, dogs and 50 tons of food transported by two Peruvian Air Force airplanes. Peruvian companies were providing food donations and other basic aid. However, the scale of rescue and relief efforts was yet to meet the need. Because of difficulties reaching some affected areas, some rescue teams tried to enter Haiti through the Dominican Republic. The United States Coast Guard deployed helicopters and several aircraft and cutters to the region to aid in relief work and perform reconnaissance flights over Haiti, which aided in assessing the worst damaged areas. The Coast Guard Cutter Forward arrived in the waters off Port-au-Prince at about 8 a.m. on Wednesday, and together with a Maritime Intelligence Support Team was able to assess some of the damage caused to the port. The Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk also arrived in the coastal waters of Haiti on Wednesday afternoon. The International Committee of the Red Cross set up a special website to facilitate family contacts, which allowed people in Haiti and abroad to register the names of relatives whom they wanted to contact. It incorporated responses to those queries as they became available. Catholic Relief Services, which has worked in Haiti for 50 years, prepared food and other aid to help those affected, committing US $5 million to help survivors. There was a team of United States Air Combat Controllers landing at Toussaint Louverture International Airport and formed control of Air Traffic Control duties within 28 minutes to assist in humanitarian aid efforts. The Combat Controllers directed over 2,500 flights without incident from a card table using only hand radios. They were directing planes to take off and land every five minutes, bringing in over 4 million pounds of supplies. The team leader of the Combat Controllers, Chief Master Sergeant Tony Travis, was later recognized as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2010 because of their efforts.
By January 14, 2010, many relief supplies came from the neighboring Dominican Republic. Dominican president Leonel Fernandez visited Haiti to form an emergency plan for assistance with President Rene Preval to reestablish communications, rescuing the victims, burying the dead, clearing the rubble, reestablishing the supplies for electricity and water and coordinating the Dominican army with the United Nations Stabilization Mission for the relief operations. Jamaica and Colombia helped Haitian victims, too. Staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross already in the country distributed medical items to hospitals, and two ICRC-chartered aircraft carrying specialized staff and 40 tons of relief supplies – mainly medical items – left Geneva for the island. At the same time, the organization made its forensic expertise available to organizations attempting to recover and identify the dead. The destruction caused by the earthquake made it difficult to deal with infrastructure and communication. Dead bodies were in the streets, gangs acted violently when, and then the UN intervened, and it was hard to distribute food, water, temporary shelter, and medical supplies. Twitter and Facebook helped to spread messages about helping Haitians.
However, Haitians updating their Facebook statuses were blocked for repeatedly sending messages to tell people that they and their friends or family members were alive, which triggered spam guards on the website. The American Red Cross generated $7 million within 24 hours by offering an option to text message $10 donations by cell phone, setting a record for mobile donating. The OpenStreetMap community responded by greatly improving the level of mapping available for the area using post-earthquake satellite photography provided by GeoEye. By January 15, 2010, about 9,000 corpses were cleared off the street by Haitian government crews and buried in mass graves. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will consider fast-tracking immigration to help Haitian refugees. In the US, Haitians were granted Temporary Protected Status after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the earthquake "a disaster of historic proportions". Temporary protected status will allow about 100,000 Haitians in the United States illegally to stay for 18 months, will stop the current deportations of 30,000 more, but will not apply to Haitians outside the US. The USS Carl Venson used helicopter relief operations.
During the USS Carl Venson first day on-scene, the ship transferred about 35,000 gallons of fresh water to shore; the vessel has the overall capability to distill 400,000 gallons daily. Carl Vinson will also provide medical, air transport, and food preparation facilities; she offloaded combat aircraft in order to provide more space for relief supplies and an increased complement of 19 helicopters. The carrier is transporting 600,000 emergency food rations and 100,000 ten-liter water containers; 20,000 containers of water were distributed on 15 January 2010. The US Marines and the Israel Defense Forces' Home Front Command sent supplies to Haiti. The USNS Comfort arrived in Haiti by January 20, 2010. By late January 2010, the Haitian government declared an end to relief efforts. More aid is coming to Haiti, but relief efforts fall short of the need. This comes when UN Peacekeepers fire rubber bullets to try to control the crowds while distributing rice. The UN, EU, and other military forces patrol Haitian streets. The single We Are the World 25 for Haiti was released and debuted on February 12, 2010, during the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The US relief force has been reduced from roughly 20,000 troops to approximately 13,000 troops. The 190th Civil Engineering Squadron of the Kansas National Guard has returned home after relief efforts in Haiti on February 14, 2020. By May 2010, many foreign relief agencies had left Haiti. It is no secret that back then and today, Haiti faces the evil agenda of Western neocolonialism. The U.S. and the UN once supported the ruler Jovenel Moise. Moise came to power through an illegal proposed referendum. Moise was killed by assassination on July 7, 2021. On February 20, 2024, the Associated Press reported that Haiti's investigating judge had indicted several suspects in Moïse's murder, including his widow Martine, former acting prime minister Joseph, and former police chief Léon Charles. Now, rival gangs run most of the Haitian land.
The United States Outdoor National Championships is taking place in Eugene, Oregon over on the West Coast. The winners will go on to the World Track and Field Championships. So, in the 100m for the men, Kenny Bednarek won gold with 9.79 seconds, Courtney Lindsey won silver with 9.82 seconds, and T'Mars McCallum won bronze with 9.83 seconds. For the women's 100m, we have Melissa Jefferson-Woodson winning gold with a world record of 10.65 seconds, Kayla White with 10.84 seconds, and Aleia Hobbs winning bronze with 10.92 seconds. For the 10,000m men's race, Nico Young won gold, Grant Fisher won silver, and Graham Blanks won bronze. In the 400m race, Sydney McLaughlin-Levorne won gold, Isabella Whittaker won silver, and Aaliyah Butler won bronze. For the discus throw, Reginald Jagers III won gold, Sam Mattis won silver, and Marcus Gustaveson won bronze. For the women's heptathlon, Anna Hall won gold, Taliyah Brooks won silver, and Allie Jones won bronze. For the women's long jump, Tara Davis-Woodhall won gold, Claire Bryant won silver, and Quanesha Burks won silver. For the women's high jump, Vashti Cunningham won gold, Sanaa Barnes won silver, and Emma Gates won bronze. For the men's 100m race, Noah Lyles won with a world leading score of 19.63 for this year, Kenny Bednarek won silver with 19.67 seconds, and Robert Gregory won a personal best with the time of 19.80 seconds. It is no secret that Lyles and Bednarek have had a personal track and field rivalry. Lyles is confident and cocky at times, but Bednarek has no right to push him in the back for no reason. He could have seriously injured the man seriously. Keeping your hands to yourself is a valuable truth. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won the women's 200m race with the time of 21.84 seconds in a personal best, Anavia Battle won silver with a time of 22.13 seconds, and Gabby Thomas won bronze with a time of 22.20 seconds. Valarie Allman won the women's discuss throw in gold, Laulauga Tausaga won silver, and Gabi Jacobs won bronze. For the 5000m's men race, Cole Hocker won gold, Grant Fisher won silver, and Nico Young won bronze. In the 110m's men hurdles Ja'Kobe Tharp won gold, Cordell Tinch won silver, and Dylan Beard won bronze. For the women's 100m hurdles, Masai Russell won gold, Grace Stark son silver, and Alaysha Johnson won bronze. For the 400m women's race, the icon Dalilah Muhammad won gold with a time of 52.65 seconds, the young lion Anna Cockrell won silver with 52.89 seconds, and Jasmine Jones won bronze with 53.23. Dalilah Muhammad inspired a whole generation of women and men 400m runners, and Muhammad's contributions in the 400m should be acknowledged and appreciated. For the men's high jump, Tyus Wilson won gold, Shelby McEwen and JuVaughn Harrison won silver, and bronze wasn't awarded. For the men's long jump, Isaac Grimes won gold, Will Williams won silver, and Jarrion Lawson won bronze. As for the women's triple jump, Jasmine Moore won gold, Agur Dwol won silver, and Euphenie Andre won bronze. For the women's long jump, Tara Davis-Woodhall won gold, Claire Bryant won silver, and Quanesha Burks won bronze.
By August 2011, Viola Davis played Aibileen Clark or a housemaid in 1960s Mississippi in the film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help, directed by Tate Taylor, and co-starring alongside Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Jessica Chastain. Davis described her performance in the film as channeling her mother and grandmother saying, "I feel like I brought my mom to life; I've channeled her spirit. I channeled the spirit of my grandmother, and I've kind of paid homage to how they've contributed to my life and the lives of so many people." She has since expressed deep regret over taking on the role; although she still admires the people she worked with, she does not think the story or portrayal is truthful about the lives of the black characters. The film was controversial, and it was successful in the box office. Davis gained praise for her work. She won two Screen Actors Guild Awards and earned her second Academy Award nomination. She had Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award nominations too. In 2012, Time magazine listed Davis as one of the most influential people in the world. Also in 2012, Glamour magazine named Davis Glamour's Film Actress of the year. On June 12, 2012, Davis received the Women in Film's Crystal Award. In 2014, Davis reunited with The Help director Tate Taylor in Get on Up, a biopic of James Brown, playing Brown's mother. Her daughter, Genesis, also appeared in the film.
It is important to show inspiration to human beings, too. Every American is either a descendant of a slave, an immigrant, or a migrant from another continent. That is the reason why we have to be clear and fair to all people. Some stoke fear and hatred based on race, immigration status, sex, or background, but we shouldn't follow folks who embrace such retrograde views. Our ancestors were heroic people. They have fought slavery, Nazis, and other tyrannies to liberate humanity from oppression. Our ancestors made inventions, created governmental structures, and stood up for basic human rights. There are many truisms in the Universe. One such truism is that positive action is better than doing nothing. Reading, studying how the world works, growing in spirituality, and just helping people in your community don't require fanfare, don't require a big ego, and don't require anything but legitimate action. We have to be inspired to protect democracy. When Texas Democrats leave the state for Illinois to break quorum because the Republicans want an unjust gerrymandering scheme, then we have to acknowledge that the Democrats are doing the right thing in that regard. We must never give up during this new Gilded Age. There are many people in America and the world, from Virginia, New York, Illinois, Nebraska, etc., who are appalled at what is happening to America done by Trump. They are appalled at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They abhor the problems with detaining people without due process of law. That is why we must not only expose Trump (which we must do). We must advocate for legitimate policies like increasing the minimum wage, fighting poverty, allowing corporations to be accountable if they do something wrong, promoting paid family leave, advancing elder care being affordable, creating more affordable housing, having health care for all, and pursuing racial and economic justice.
As a Black American, it is important to acknowledge Afro-Caribbeans as being greatly part of the global Black African Diaspora. Many Afro-Caribbean people are people that tons of folks didn't know. For example, many people don't know that Naomie Harris is of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Harris's mother emigrated from Jamaica, and her father emigrated from Trinidad (with Grenadian, Guyanese, and British ancestors). Eric Holder Jr., the first black Attorney General in the history of the United States, has parents with roots in Barbados. Shirley Chisholm is the first black woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. She stood up against economic, social, and political injustices. She was of Afro-Guyanese and Afro-Barbadian descent. Even the hip hop icon LL Cool J has a grandfather of Barbadian descent. The professional wrestler Jade Cargill has Jamaican heritage. Civil rights lawyer and law professor Deborah Archer is the first African American to be elected President of the American Civil Liberties Union. She is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica.
By Timothy
