In January 2020, a former member of the EVAC Movement, Reginald Boston, was killed by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. BOLES: But that argument might face an uphill battle in court, says Rachel Arnow-Richman, a professor of labor and employment law at the University of Florida. And so, a cynic would look at this and say, "Boy, it seems like you're just setting him up. New York, NY 10158-3650 In March, Khan-Cullors purchased a 2,370 square-foot home with “soaring ceilings, skylights and plenty of windows” in Los Angeles for $1.4 million. Students run an Instagram page to document racism they experience at school. Sponsored By. This March, Jacksonville's public school district told Donofrio to take the flag down, saying it violated district policy on political speech by employees. Tax ID/EIN: 13-1818723 How Should I Talk about Race in My Mostly White Classroom? But a lot has changed since the 1970s: Now, the student body is 70% Black. Donofrio said it's stressful to sue her employer, but it also feels like a relief. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGN) is a decentralized organization with multiple chapters based in various cities dedicated to organizing and continuing activist activities in the Black Lives Matter movement. Then in May, just days after the death of George Floyd, she said, "The conduct of the police officers in the George Floyd matter should be investigated," and stated that "she believes all lives matter." Students will learn about the history of the Black Lives Matter movement and how it evolved. Participants used posters and slogans with phrases such as "Justice for George", "I can't breathe", and "Black Lives Matter". A motorcyclist told police that Rocco Wong of Portland displayed a gun in a threatening manner during a … DONOFRIO: There are educators all over this country that want to stand with our children, that are advocating for our children and are being retaliated and pushed back upon as a result. Donofrio is now represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. An online petition to bring her back to the classroom has garnered more than 16,000 signatures. Trump claimed Black Lives Matter wants to “achieve the destruction of the nuclear family." AMY DONOFRIO: His life mattered - period. Amy Donofrio stands in front of Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla. She was suspended from teaching duties after she refused to take down a Black Lives Matter flag from outside her classroom. KAZU HD2 Classical Music Stream - Click Here, killed by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, A Community Service of California State University Monterey Bay. Should Corporations Speak Out on Voter Suppression Laws and Other Injustices? The movement became more widely known and popularized after two high-profile deaths in 2014 of unarmed African-American men (Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY and Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO). More than ever before in the movement that began with Martin’s killing in 2012, white people are chanting, posting, even screaming: Black Lives Matter. (Ep. Amy Donofrio (center) and former students stand outside Robert E. Lee High. The school district says it won't comment because of ongoing litigation. She said she missed seeing Donofrio at school. Donofrio said no, so she was taken out of the classroom and reassigned to nonteaching duties. All rights reserved. In Jacksonville, Fla., a white high school teacher was disciplined after she put one up outside her classroom and refused administrators' orders to take it down. Why are States Trying to Ban Transgender Student Athletes? Arnow-Richman said the law may not have fully wrestled with society's conflicting goals. Black Lives Matter/George Floyd Demonstration in Fairfax District . Donofrio is wearing a shirt that reads "Black Lives Matter at school." Students reflect on perspectives about the role corporations and other powerful entities should play in speaking out on social justice issues. Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions … Photo: Starmax/Zuma Press In recent weeks Americans have gathered that the leaders of the Black Lives Matter … >> if you take someone who … Donofrio alleges that the school district consistently undermined the EVAC program by demoting it from a class to a club to an informal group, turning down private funding and blocking her from using non-teaching days to take students on field trips. "Walking beside his family, his mom, and seeing what it looks like in real life, there's no possible way that you can't stand by the belief that Black lives matter.". April 20, 2021. CATHLEEN SCOTT: It's a question of whether or not there's a matter of great public significance as to whether or not the speech is protected. Black women and girls are also targets of police violence, a reality that sparked the "Say Her Name" movement to highlight how this violence often goes unnoticed. All lives matter but right now and for the last 400years black lives haven't so yes the answer to the stupid question in the headline black lives do matter. Here's Donofrio. The pendulum has … But in 2006, the Supreme Court took the position that when they're on the job, public employees speak for the government, not themselves. But, she argues, the law may not have fully wrestled with society's conflicting goals. Black Lives Matter Los Angeles’s account has gone from around 40,000 followers on Instagram to 150,000 in the past few weeks, surpassing the popularity of … The conflict over the flag was just the final straw. Support Israel: A Jewish and Democratic State, Antisemitism Uncovered: A Guide to Old Myths in a New Era, Sign Up for Additional ADL Email Newsletters, Support ADL through a wire transfer donation, Support ADL through your Donor-advised Fund. Yet to effect the necessary social and institutional change that the Black Lives Matter movement calls for, conversations surrounding racism and oppression need to continue, particularly by those who are normally too distracted with day-to-day life and responsibilities (work, family, etc.). Some of the signs read, "Pigs out of the country," "Stop killer cops," and "white lives matter too much." Activists gather to continue asking for … Students will reflect on their perspective of Black Lives Matter and write a letter to a person of their choice which reflects their new knowledge and point of view. He saw technological disruption as inevitable. And I think walking beside his family and his mom and seeing what it looks like in real life, there is no possible way you can't stand by the belief that Black Lives Matter. 605 Third Avenue 49) ... you have to give him witness statements from all the other witnesses that you talk to. "Ms. Donofrio was speaking out against racism. Until recently, the free speech rights of public employees were balanced against the interests of the government as an employer. "Since we are a Title I school, not everybody has access to the right resources. Black Lives Matter Protests: Hope for the Future? : The Black Lives Matter movement was born on the working-class streets of Ferguson, Mo., but its strongest foothold may now be in a far more elite environment: the American university. On March 4, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the findings in two separate investigations related to Ferguson. Because of that case, Arnow-Richman said, "public employment is one of the most profound limitations on First Amendment rights.". The movement became more widely known and popularized after two high-profile deaths in 2014 of unarmed African-American men (Eric Garner in … That argument might face an uphill battle in court, said Rachel Arnow-Richman, a professor of labor and employment law at the University of Florida. Ms. Donofrio was speaking out against racism. It includes school and campus police, too… BLM Global Network Foundation Launches Campaign to Stop Militarization of Police. For Amiyah Jacobs, a senior at Robert E. Lee High, the Black Lives Matter flag was comforting and she felt the school taking it down was disrespectful. Lindfield Learning Village, a public K-12 school in North Sydney had one teacher assign students to make social justice posters that contained controversial anti-police and racist statements according to News 7 Australia. The movement has been criticized for appearing to tolerate violent demonstrations in its name, for stoking racial tensions, and for creating an unsafe environment for police. Black Lives Matter’s full statements about family show that it wants people to support one another broadly beyond the nuclear family. And so my goal, my hope, is that by doing this, we can empower more educators to stand beside our kids.". Black Lives Matter is an activist movement which began as a hashtag (#BlackLivesMatter) after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American teenager killed in Florida in July 2013. "We think of the First Amendment as a foundational principle of our democracy, and it is, but it's subject to many limitations," Arnow-Richman said. For Amiyah Jacobs, a senior at Robert E. Lee High, the Black Lives Matter flag was comforting and she felt the school taking it down was disrespectful. College campuses have become fertile ground for the movement, a network of provocative activists who are clamoring for an overhaul of the nation’s criminal-justice system and other social changes aimed … So she was taken out of the classroom and reassigned to non-teaching duties. The school district declined to comment for this story. She said she missed seeing Donofrio at school. Now the case is in court. In her lawsuit, Donofrio is pushing back against that, citing a Florida statute that says school districts may not infringe upon school staff's rights under the Constitution in the absence of written consent. It felt like the school didn't support its Black students. And that's a very important value.". You have to give him all the camera footage. Women who have died as a result of police interactions include Sandra Bland (2015), Deborah Danner (2016), Atatiana Jefferson (2019) and Breonna Taylor (2020). "There are educators all over this country that want to stand with our children, that are advocating for our children, and are being retaliated against and pushed back against as a result. Courts could consider, on a case-by-case basis, whether a public employee's speech was disruptive to the government's interests in that workplace. BOLES: Then this March, the Duval County School District told Donofrio to take the flag down, saying it violated district policy on political speech by employees. Bill Gates reminded people y ears ago that banking would be necessary, but banks would not be. RACHEL ARNOW-RICHMAN: We think of the First Amendment as a foundational principle of our democracy, and it is, but it's subject to many limitations. Ongoing local and national protests and other actions—often sparked by the deaths of other unarmed African Americans—have brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the public consciousness and conversation. Period," Donofrio said. For NPR News I'm Sydney Boles in Jacksonville, Fla. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. Jacobs is one of more than 16,000 people who have signed a student-led petition to bring the teacher back to the classroom. BOLES: Meanwhile, Donofrio's students are leading their own campaign. It wasn't always just about 'Do your work.' The suit alleges the flag's removal was a violation of her First Amendment rights. Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized non-profit making movement that seeks to engage society with the situations of violence and injustice that black people have been suffering in the US for thousands of years.. There is a larger context and history of African American men and boys who were killed at the hands of the police, many of whom, like George Floyd (2020), were unarmed. One report found a pattern of civil rights violations on the part of the Ferguson Police Department. A lawsuit filed in federal court by the Southern Poverty Law Center alleges the flag's removal was a violation of Donofrio's First Amendment rights. From member station WJCT news in Jacksonville, Sydney Boles reports. A Black Lives Matter protest in New York City on July 11. Contact Us: www.adl.org/contact "Somebody sent me a flyer that Black Lives Matter were going to be protesting our Coffee with a Cop and we all have seen and heard those images of … So she helps out with kids who need hygiene or food or even help applying to college," Jacobs said. The following statement was shared with Rochester Public School families Monday afternoon directly and via social media: Dear RPS Families, We have heard about the misinformation circulating on social media, stating that the RPS Cabinet directed administrators to have staff remove any Black Lives Matter (BLM) messaging in the classrooms. Categories: News, KCBSTV, Top Story. BOLES: Back at Robert E. Lee High, Donofrio says it's stressful to sue her employer, but it also feels like a relief. (212) 885-7700 we reached out to black lives matter by phone, email, and social media to get a comment for our story but have not heard back. In 2016, her life skills class met with then-President Barack Obama and presented at Harvard University. On September 18, the Minneapolis City Council approved designating the section of Chicago Avenue between 37th and 39th Streets as George Perry Floyd Jr. Place , with a marker at the intersection with 38th Street where the incident took place. Black Lives Matter: #BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. © 2021 Anti-Defamation League. ". Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a movement ostensibly seeking to reform police conduct especially as it involves use of force against African-American suspects and civilians. Students will analyze the controversy around politicians and other people using the term “All lives matter” instead of or in addition to “Black lives matter.”. Students at the predominantly Black, low-income school counted on her for everything from packets of ramen noodles to career counseling. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. This high school lesson provides an opportunity for students to learn more about Black Lives Matter and the activists involved, explore the controversy about using the term “All lives matter,” and posit their point of view in writing to a person of their choice. “White Lives Matter” is a white supremacist phrase that originated in early 2015 as a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which arose to protest against police brutality against African-Americans and garnered considerable publicity in 2014 for protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting death of Michael Brown at the hands of a Ferguson police officer. She was reassigned to non-teaching duties after refusing to take down a Black Lives Matter flag she had put up outside her classroom. "It's a question of whether or not this is a matter of great public significance, whether or not this speech is protected," said Cathleen Scott, a civil rights attorney who is representing Donofrio alongside the Southern Poverty Law Center. "That's to say, this general rule that public employees do not speak for themselves but speak for the government and lack First Amendment protections is at odds, I would say, with our societal interest in wanting teachers to have leeway to communicate and teach students about current issues, bringing to bear their expertise as educators," the professor said. That fall, Amy Donofrio, an English teacher at Lee and co-founder of the EVAC Movement, hung a Black Lives Matter flag outside her classroom to mark it as a safe space for students to process Boston's death. Black Lives activists released “Campaign Zero,” which includes ten policy solutions developed in conjunction with activists, protestors and researchers across the country, integrating community demands, input from research organizations and the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Amid the increased awareness of racial justice issues across the country, displaying a Black Lives Matter flag has sometimes generated arguments over free speech. The latest national headlines, alerts and more. Black Lives Matter: From Hashtag to Movement, George Floyd, Racism and Law Enforcement (in English and en Español), Teaching about Racism, Violence, Inequity and the Criminal Justice System, Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations about Race and Racism. Originally published on April 30, 2021 3:38 pm. "Since we are a Title I school, not everybody has access to the right resources. And a student group called the EVAC Movement, focused on reframing Black youth in Jacksonville from "at risk" to "at hope," met with then-President Barack Obama in 2016 and presented before the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Britney Spears has shown her support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement via a new Instagram post. Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla., was segregated — whites only — until the 1971-1972 school year. Drawing on the case of Black Lives Matter (BLM), we use a mixed methods research design to explore how social media platforms, in particular Facebook and Twitter, can provide opportunities for activist groups to broaden movement impact. Black Lives Matter is an activist movement which began as a hashtag (#BlackLivesMatter) after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American teenager killed in Florida in July 2013. ARNOW-RICHMAN: And that's to say this sort of general rule that public employees do not speak for themselves but speak for the government and lack First Amendment protection is at odds, I would say, with our societal interest in wanting teachers to have leeway to communicate and teach students about current issues, bringing to bear their expertise as educators. Photo by Tito Texidor III on Unsplash of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in Portland, OR following the death of George Floyd. Those statements have gotten conflated with the Black Lives Matter movement, said Terrence Johnson, a Black religion and politics professor at Georgetown University. Black Lives Matter continues to pursue policy solutions beyond the events of Ferguson. And when one of her students, Reginald Boston, was killed by the local police last year, the Black Lives Matter flag outside Donofrio's classroom marked it as a safe space for students to process his death. Kaman — May 30, 2020 Except none if these numbers came for the DOJ stats. "His life mattered. Two employees in the courtroom at the time, who were Black heard those comments. Donofrio said no. Neither of the police officers involved in their deaths were indicted (i.e., formally charged with a crime). Civil rights attorney Cathleen Scott is representing Donofrio alongside the SPLC. And so my goal, my hope, is that by doing this, we can empower more educators to stand beside our kids. High school students will learn about bills that aim to limit transgender athletes from participating in school sports and reflect on how their own experiences with playing sports and participating in other activities affects them. Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors, a self-styled Marxist, spent $3.2 million on four luxury homes in America’s most expensive neighbors, the New York Post reported.. SYDNEY BOLES, BYLINE: In her nine years teaching at Jacksonville's Robert E. Lee High School, Amy Donofrio has built up a reputation. These latest statements, discouraging ways of accountability, make all of banks’ actions and multi-million-dollar commitments ring hollow to the general public and their customers. Teach students about the law Georgia passed that restricts and suppresses voting across the state. The Black Lives Matter movement was the impetus for a shift in implicit and explicit racial feelings, according to a 2018 study conducted by Jeremy Sawyer and Anup Gampa. That's a very important value. Since 2014, other high-profile deaths include Tamir Rice (2014), Laquan McDonald (2014), John Crawford (2014) Freddie Gray (2015), Walter Scott (2015), Alton Sterling (2016), Philando Castile (2016), Terence Crutcher (2016), Antwon Rose (2018) and others. When Perception and Reality Collide: Implicit Bias and Race, Exploring Solutions to Address Racial Disparity Concerns. Anti-Defamation League Prosecutor dismisses gun charge against Black Lives Matter protester. And she cared for the students. "She was just very sweet. A second report determined that “the evidence examined in its independent, federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Michael Brown does not support federal civil rights charges against Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson.” Two weeks later, on March 17, the Department and the city of Ferguson formally announced an agreement “aiming to remedy the unconstitutional law enforcement conduct that the Justice Department found during its civil pattern-or-practice investigation.” The announcement resolved a pending federal lawsuit against Ferguson, and addressed a range of issues including bias-free police and court practices, protecting all individuals’ First Amendment rights, and reorienting Ferguson’s use of force policies. “This is not the agenda of the Black community. BOLES: Arnow-Richman says public employers, like school districts, have a lot of leeway to regulate their employees' speech. Its school colors are blue and gray, the colors of the Confederacy, and its sports teams are called the Generals.