Sixteen year old Brooklyn youth shot and killed , protests held
Kimani Gray was shot and killed last week in Brooklyn, after being hit by 7 bullets fired by two plain clothes New York City police detectives. Autopsies so far revealed that 3 bullets entered the teen from the rear. According to police the teen pointed a pistol at two plainclothes officers. Commissioner Ray Kelly said the department has three “ear witnesses” who heard officers tell Gray to “freeze” and “don’t move” before firing 11 shots.
However another eyewitness Tishana King interviewed in the New York Daily News who said she saw what happened from her window reported that she is “certain [Gray] didn’t have anything in his hands” when he was shot.
Young people and activists organized a vigil and a protest later in the week. Many of the protestors accused the police of brutality and called for an end to New York’s “stop and frisk” policy which many believed led to Gray’s death. Neighbors, and friends say Gray was a highly popular and well-liked figure in his neighborhood.
From News Sources
Black Farmers still being discriminated against says Alabama NAACP
The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP has received several complaints from Black Farmers that they continue to be denied equal treatment by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Black farmers are being denied equal access to farm loans. While this discrimination is well documented, the USDA has not settled thousands of claims.
Many people believe these claims were settled with the Pigford Class lawsuits. This is untrue, according to the NAACP. There are a group of Black farmers in Alabama and other states who were discriminated against when they applied for loans from the USDA. These farmers filed separately from the Pigford group and some have received favorable judgments by the USDA. However, the Alabama NAACP said the USDA has reneged on the agreement they negotiated and, 10-15 years later, there is still no settlement with the USDA.
From the Alabama state NAACP
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