June 9, 2019 – Bridge Agents

The Racist Roots of American Policing: From Slave Patrols to Traffic Stops

June 9, 2019 Bridge Agents

United States (Conversation) – Outrage over racial profiling and the killing of African Americans by police officers and vigilantes in recent years helped give rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. But tensions between the police and black communities are nothing new. There are many precedents to the Ferguson, Missouri protests that ushered in the Black Lives Matter movement. Those protests erupted in 2014 after a police officer shot unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown; the officer was subsequently not indicted. The precedents include the Los Angeles riots that broke out after…

Tribal Leaders, Lawmakers Push Bill to Ban Mining Near Grand Canyon

June 9, 2019 Bridge Agents

United States (Cronkite) – Tribal and environmental officials urged House lawmakers Wednesday to protect sacred land and natural resources by supporting a permanent ban on mining on just over 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon. The “Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act” would prohibit all mining in the affected area, but supporters were focused on the uranium mining that has a troubled history on tribal lands. “Uranium mining has already poisoned and will continue to poison the springs and waters of my Grand Canyon home,” said Havasupai Councilwoman Carletta Tilousi at…