Not Fucking Around Coalition comes to Louisville: Demands faster investigation into Breonna Taylor’s death
Hundreds of members of the Black militia, the Not Fucking Around Coalition, came to Louisville on Saturday to demand a speedier investigation of the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor. The Black militia based in Atlanta also joined protesters to demand more transparency in the investigation. The militia got into formation in Baxter Park and…
Protesters target NuLu: Demand more Black representation in businesses
Protesters for racial justice and equality took their demands to NuLu on Friday around evening rush hour, closing off a section of Market Street to highlight gentrification there and lack of Black representation by businesses. By evening, 76 people had been arrested. The protest, Occupy NuLu, was aimed at focusing attention on gentrification that allowed…
How To Support Racial Justice and Diversity This Week In Louisville (7/27)
MONDAY, July 27 Dismantling Racism Monday Study Circle Zoom Free | 6:30-8:30 p.m. Unity of Louisville church is offering a new study circle on increasing racial awareness. Taking place on alternating Mondays, Tuesdays and Sundays, its goal is to raise your racial literacy and to “inspire action for racial equity in our community.” TUESDAY, July…
#Justiceforbreonna: Mamas’ March for racial justice
Rain wasn’t about to stop these moms from marching to demand justice for the Black lives that have been lost to police brutality and excessive force. On Thursday, roughly 100 moms, children and other supporters in the Mama’s March began at Brook Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard and made their way to Jefferson Square Park…
How To Support Racial Justice And Diversity This Weekend (7/24)
FRIDAY, July 24 Justice for Breonna Taylor Colorado Caravan Louisville Metro Hall Free | 2 p.m. “Freedom Riders,” including the mother of Elijah McClain, are traveling from Colorado to Louisville to demand speedy justice for Breonna Taylor. Join them for a march after they arrive in Louisville at 2 p.m. LGBTQ for Black Lives KFC…
My racist ass got handed to me just off I-40 In Lupton, Arizona
Day 2 of my quarterly-ish ActorDriveBackToLA began pre-dawn at the Motel 6 in west Oklahoma City. Probably ‘93 or ’94, winter — calling for the heavy jeans and the good sweatshirt, the one with my hometown’s NFL team logo. 863 miles, and I had to push hard that day — despite my history with Texas…
For Prof. Jones, due process is bad process
Imagine that you are accused of a possible crime anonymously. You do not know you are being investigated. You are not asked to defend yourself. You are not allowed to question your accuser. You are given no route to appeal. If that sounds like something out of the 1600s, you are right — It is…
My thoughts on Mayor Fischer, the Conference of Mayors and Black people
Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, was a Jefferson County District judge and chief of community building in Mayor Greg Fischer’s administration. Below is a post she made on social media about Fischer’s handling of the Breonna Tayor case, followed by the mayor’s response. Black people have not just suffered, we…
LMPD Blues: Civil disobedience and abuse of authority
Civil disobedience constitutes a bargain between protesters and government. Since civil disobedience involves breaking the law, protesters who engage in it accept the reality that the government may respond to their civil disobedience with arrests and prosecutions. As Henry David Thoreau wrote in his famous essay “Civil Disobedience,” “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly,…
Photo Set: All-ages protest
Louisville youth are proving that you’re never too young to stand up for racial justice. On Friday, kids and their adults began at the Louisville Science Center and marched to Jefferson Square Park in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Many of the kids held signs with popular phrases such as “no justice, no…
Thorns and Roses: The Worst, Best and Most Absurd (7/22)
Make up yer mind! | Rose + Rose + Absurd A rose goes to Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell for dismissing felony charges brought by police against the 87 protesters who sat on Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s lawn. A rose goes to O’Connell for saying his office will help expunge those charges. An absurd goes to…
Zoo animals get sick, lonely — Just like people
When the coronavirus pandemic reached Kentucky, most people were worried about themselves and their loved ones getting sick. Steve Taylor, assistant director in charge of conservation, education and collections at the Louisville Zoo, was also thinking about the wellbeing of his animals. “With a lot of unknowns, you want to pay attention to what’s going…
COVID dashed hopes for a profitable zoo year
This year was going to be different. The Louisville Zoo ran a deficit in 2018 and 2019. Record-breaking rainfall kept guests from visiting the zoo, said Director John Walczak. And, in 2019, a mine collapse on zoo property shut down its revenue-generating train attraction, which remains closed. That year, the city started talks of finding…
Are you a cat person or a dog person? Your answer says a lot about you.
Cats vs. dogs is a big deal. People can debate this for hours. And no one would win, except the cats and dogs. More than 49,000 pets were licensed here last year, but, alas, that number is not broken down by cats and dogs — so no telling which is more popular. Regardless of where…
An 8-song playlist of new local music
We could soon be in a television and film drought, since the pandemic has forced those creative industries out of their studios, but, in terms of music, we’ve been getting a steady stream of new songs, which seems likely to continue, since technology has made making music easier. This is the third playlist of new…
Funmi’s, a deep, yummy dive into Nigerian cuisine
Here’s something important to keep in mind about supporting Black-owned restaurants and other Black-owned businesses: We can’t do it just once. To make this right, we need to get into the habit of dining and shopping regularly at businesses owned by our Black, indigenous and other brothers and sisters of color. According to U.S. Census…
Savage Love: Committed
Q: Is it terrible to believe you can still have a truly monogamous and loving relationship with one partner after twenty years? Or can we walk into a relationship knowing that within those decades of being together that situations like infidelity or being attracted to another is completely unavoidable? And if we acknowledge that in…
StageOne Family Theatre’s 3 new virtual plays
At the end of January, Andrew D. Harris was named interim producing artistic director of StageOne Family Theatre after Idris Goodwin left the position to take up another job in Colorado. Six weeks later, it was clear to Harris — who had been part of StageOne’s artistic leadership for nearly two decades — that the…
Meeting a hero: Rep. John Lewis
On one occasion early in the Obama presidency, while I was a graduate student at American University, I was my dad’s plus-one to a happy hour-of-sorts at the White House. There, we were free to socialize and roam the main floor. That evening I got to shake the president’s and Michelle Obama’s hands, Vice President…
