The Green Pastures (1936)

ALL BLACK MUSICAL ABOUT BIBLE STORIES, INCLUDING AN ALL BLACK HEAVEN

THE TRAILER IS ALL WHITE, NOT A BLACK IN IT, NOR ANY REFERENCE TO THE CAST, ITS ALL WHITE CREWS BUILDING, CONSTRUCTING SETS FOR HEAVEN AND EARTH.

3:48 | Trailer
Approved | 1h 33min | Drama | 1 August 1936 (USA)

1 VIDEO | 12 IMAGES

God, heaven, and several Old Testament stories, including the Creation and Noah's Ark, are described supposedly using the perspective of rural, black Americans.

Directors: Marc Connelly, William Keighley

Writers: Roark Bradford (suggested by: Southern Sketches "Ol' Man Adam and His Chillun'"), Marc Connelly (a fable by)

Stars: Rex Ingram, Oscar Polk, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson | See full cast & crew »

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027700/

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1801979161?playlistId=tt0027700

Preview Clip: The Green Pastures (1936, Rex Ingram, Edna Mae Harris, James Fuller)
•Feb 15, 2018

Department of Afro-American Research Arts Culture

https://www.daaracarchive.org

A preacher in a small African-American church in Louisiana tells his Sunday school class stories from the Bible as if the characters were part of a local fish fry. He starts with the creation of the world by God, known as "De Lawd" (Rex Ingram), and tells how God went on to create heaven, which is just like their farmland, and then created man and woman, followed by their fall and finally the coming of Jesus Christ. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play. **

The Department of Afro American Research, Arts, and Culture is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the preservation of Afro American films. We intend to spread awareness of Afro American culture and provide researchers, scholars, enthusiasts, and fans a platform to explore. If you are the copyright holder of any of the content we've posted and you would like your content removed, please do not hesitate to contact me at admin@daarac.org.

In 1936 director Marc Connelly adapted his Pulitzer prize-winning play The Green Pastures from the stage to the screen with an all-black cast that included the talents of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Oscar Polk, Edna Mae Harris, and Rex Ingram as De Lawd... The New York World Telegram called it "a beautiful film," while other publications like The Nation were quick to note its rather awkward stage-bound origins. In recent years, the film has come under fire for perpetuating the negative stereotypes surrounding African-American culture." (Turner Classic Movies)

NOAH AND DE LAWD 






Author and historian Damon L. Fordham speaks on the inspirations behind the 1936 motion picture on Black Folklore and religion "The Green Pastures," which include the writings of Roark Bradford, and the sermons of a black minister named Rev. John Wesley Henning. Filmed in Mt. Pleasant, SC, June 1, 2017.



The second half of the 1959 production of The Green Pastures. It was broadcast in color, but B&W kinescope seem to be the only preserved copies . To my best knowledge, it was not recorded on Color Videotape (NBC began recording shows in color in 1958. This was done for CBS). This is incomplete, transferred from 16mm film elements. I don't know if there are any copies of the full show in existence. This footage is very rare. Another gem from the Out of The Woods Collection. ----- Credited cast: William Warfield William Warfield ... De Lawd Rest of cast listed alphabetically: Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Noah Vinnette Carroll Vinnette Carroll ... Angel Terry Carter Terry Carter ... Gabriel Bill Dillard Bill Dillard ... King of Babylon (as William Dillard) Sheila Guyse Sheila Guyse ... Zeba Hilda Haynes Hilda Haynes ... Angel Estelle Hemsley Estelle Hemsley ... Mrs. Deshee Earle Hyman Earle Hyman ... Adam The Leonard De Paur Chorus The Leonard De Paur Chorus ... Themselves Avon Long Avon Long ... First Gambler Mantan Moreland Mantan Moreland Frederick O'Neal Frederick O'Neal ""The Hallmark Hall of Fame, for the first time in its distinguished history, will repeat a show next Monday, March 23. The play is Marc Connelly's adaptation of his stage play "The Green Pastures." Mildred Freed Alberg, Hall-mark's executive producer, ex-plained the reason for the repeat. "The number of phone calls, wires and letters after the first show was overwhelming. Also, a lot of people didn't see the show. You may recall that the first time we did it (Oct. 17, 1957) we were in the same time period as the Mike Todd party from Madison Square Garden. Mike outdrew us almost two to one. We thought it especially ap-propriate to offer this drama again during the Easter season." Most of the show's all-Negro cast assembled for the first TV production will be in the repeat showing. William Warfield again will play De Lawd, and Eddie (Rochester) Anderson will be back as Noah. Connelly's play opened in New York Feb. 26, 1930, winning the Pulitzer Prize that year. It ran for 640 performances before going on the road for five years, when it was reportedly seen in 112 cities. Abroad, the play ran into dif-ficulty. It was banned from Eng-land by virtue of an old law for-bidding portrayal of God by an actor. In Stockholm the actors were pelted with garbage for what an irate Swedish press called "religious lampoonery." The play has been revived on Broadway twice and was made into a movie in 1936. Eddie Anderson played Noah in the film too. This second time on TV will be a duplicate of the first as far as cast size (80), expensive sets and production staff are concerned. Miss Alberg expects one change: a tremendously increased audience. " - TV Guide March 21, 1959 Shared for historical purposes. I do not own the rights. ##### Reelblack's mission is to educate, elevate, entertain, enlighten, and empower through Black film. If there is content shared on this platform that you feel infringes on your intellectual property, please email me at Reelblack@mail.com and info@reelblack.com with details and it will be promptly removed.

Rare 1920s Footage: All-Black Towns Living the American Dream | National Geographic

POST TULSA MASSACRE

•Oct 2, 2016
National Geographic
By the 1920s, Oklahoma was home to some 50 African-American towns, in addition to a large and prosperous black community living in the city of Tulsa. These towns and their self-reliant middle class and affluent residents are documented by the home movies of Reverend S. S. Jones, an itinerant minister and businessman. Known and respected by the citizens of the towns whose lives he captured on film, Rev. Jones’s work offers revealing glimpses of these communities as a haven for African Americans who very often faced discrimination elsewhere in America. The subjects are everyday life: a family on the front porch of their bungalow, shop workers at a storefront, farmers plowing their fields, children playing on seesaws in a schoolyard. Much of the material documents the economic life of the towns, from business districts filled with prosperous merchants to the homes of successful professionals, with an abundant countryside beyond. As Rhea Combs, curator of film and photography for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, points out in her commentary, here we even find a married couple who were oil barons, proof of the extraordinary progress made in the relatively short time since the end of slavery. The fashions and hairstyles, automobiles and horses, and even such details as a man manually pumping gasoline at a filling station make the films a fascinating record of the lives of Americans, and African Americans in particular, in the early 20th century. ➡ 

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe About National Geographic: National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. Through their world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets you closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what's possible.

Confederate Flag-Waving Trump Supporter Praises KKK, Vows To Teach Hate

Ed Mazza June 22, 2020

A woman decked out in one of President Donald Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” caps waved a Confederate flag at a Black Lives Matter protest in Branson, Missouri, on Sunday while she praised the Ku Klux Klan and vowed to teach hate to her grandchildren. 

“I’m teaching them to fuckin’ hate all of you people,” the woman, identified by the Springfield News-Leader as Kathy Bennett, said Sunday evening. “I will teach my grandkids to hate you all.”
She spoke from the bed of a pickup, then climbed up into it to wave the flag, raise a fist and call out, “KKK belief!” 

Actor and musician Ice T was among the many to share footage of the woman:
Racist of the Day... https://t.co/0FOhifur8L
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) June 22, 2020

Branson Mayor Edd Akers said on Facebook that the city “does not condone any type of hate speech.”

The protesters were demonstrating outside a store called Dixie Outfitters that sells Confederate-themed merchandise. 

The Kansas City Star said the store is owned by Anna and Nathan Robb. Nathan Robb, the newspaper said, is the son of KKK leader Thomas Robb.

The News-Leader said in 2015 that Nathan Robb had once tried to adopt a highway in the name of the KKK. Anna Robb told the newspaper at the time that she herself had attended Klan events “years ago” but that it’s “not even something that comes up anymore.”
She said they hadn’t spoken to the elder Robb in years.

WAIT TILL SHE GETS TO HEAVEN AND DISCOVERS.....

Northeast Calgary communities ask province to declare $1B hailstorm a natural disaster

NORTHEAST CALGARY TO CHANGE NAME TO FORT MCMURRAY

Earlier this year, flooding caused $228 million in insured damages in the Fort McMurray area and the province launched multiple financial support programs for affected residents.

CBC Jun. 22, 2020, 

Nine community groups in northeast Calgary have signed a letter to Alberta's premier, asking the government to declare the hailstorm that battered their neighbourhoods a natural disaster so they can access relief money.

The June 13 storm caused an estimated $1 billion in damages, shredding the siding of homes and smashing car windows. The Insurance Bureau of Canada has said 20,000 claims have been filed so far and many more claims are expected.
Khalil Karbani, who was tasked with writing the letter, said $15,000 of damage was done to his roof, and hailstones smashed through two panes of glass windows and into his home.

"There was glass everywhere, there was water everywhere, hailstones the size of tennis balls," he said.

Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press

He said his insurance company will only cover 20 per cent of the damage after deductible.

Karbani said many in the neighbourhood are already facing financial hardships tied to the pandemic and oil price crash. He pointed to one neighbour who had recently cancelled his car insurance to save money, as he's working from home now and not driving. After the hailstorm, the neighbour's car is now a writeoff.

"What we need right now is financial assistance, that's what we need and we're not getting it," Karbani said.
"It's going to affect people's mental health when this financial stress is on them and on their families."

Many residents in Calgary's northeast are also immigrants to Canada.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi's home was damaged in the storm, and Councillor George Chahal organized a neighbourhood cleanup, with the city providing bins to collect debris.

But Karbani said money is what's really needed, and a provincial natural disaster declaration would allow the region to access relief funds.


Jeff McIntosh/Canadian PressMore

Premier Jason Kenney toured the area over the weekend, following a visit from Opposition Leader Rachel Notley.

And Calgary-Falconridge MLA Devinder Toor made a statement about the community's resilience in the legislature on Monday. 

(NO $$$ JUST PLATITUDES)

But the government has yet to say whether it will declare the storm a natural disaster.

Earlier this year, flooding caused $228 million in insured damages in the Fort McMurray area and the province launched multiple financial support programs for affected residents.

KENNEY PISSES OFF OILERS FANS

It’s just insulting, but I guess you don’t care': Albertans tear up Jason Kenney's promo video to make Edmonton an NHL hub city

EVEN THE ONE'S THAT VOTED FOR HIM

Elisabetta Bianchini Yahoo News Canada June 22, 2020Comment


It’s the obvious choice to bring the @NHL to #Edmonton.

We look forward to welcoming the league and players here to Alberta to take in the beautiful province we have to offer. pic.twitter.com/kp0iN86vCP— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) June 22, 2020


While three Canadians cities, Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto, wait to see if they will become one of the NHL’s “hub cities” when the professional hockey league returns, Alberta has taken a unique approaching to campaign for its city to be chosen.

On Monday, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney posted a video promoting the province with the caption, “it’s the obvious choice to bring the @NHL to #Edmonton.”

The video begins with the words “playoffs in Edmonton” and the reads “ play in the Rockies,” as it transitions to showing the mountains, and adults and children appearing to enjoy a lovely stay in the province.

But there is one problem, the video doesn’t seem to actually show much of city of Edmonton at all. If does, however, show several images of Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper, all several hours away from the actual city.

This oversight was not missed by Albertans on social media who quickly flooded Twitter with comments on the video:

The worst part is that Edmonton actually has some pretty cool things to offer on its own, you didn’t have use other parts of the province to make it look better. It’s just insulting, but I guess you don’t care about Edmonton anyway since they didn’t vote for you.— Megan (@meganbielby) June 22, 2020

But why isn’t Edmonton in the video though pic.twitter.com/YCvAovV84d— Shauna G (@ShaunaRaeG33) June 22, 2020

They are gonna get to Edmonton and be so dissapointed. Where are the majestic mountains?!— Alicia Mannella (@amannell) June 22, 2020

So you want the NHL to bring hockey to #yeg but you highlight the Rockies. At the best a 4 hour drive from #yeg. I guess it’s too hard for us to expect the Premier to actually know the geography of the province. Even after your “big blue” truck tour.— Paul Andrews (@PaulEAndrews) June 22, 2020

The video also caused some to question whether NHL players, if they were to play in Edmonton, would be able to travel to other parts of the province once they arrived. Last week, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said when players arrive in the province they would be kept in a cohort together at all times and away from the general population.

So the ice fields are now in Edmonton?! Nothing you showed is even within two hours.
There is a travel ban so what tourists are coming?
How much did this video cost us?— Christy (@TravelEatPlayDo) June 22, 2020

Dear NHL,
This video presents exactly 4 seconds of the actual city of Edmonton, everything else is 2-6 hours drive, and none of the players/team staff will get to see it, because they will be locked up tight in strict quarantine.
Know what you're buying (and this ain't it),
Me— Fancy C. Poitras (@Fancysez) June 22, 2020

If the players are quarantined in Edmonton, how are they going to visit Banff and Jasper? And if they're not quarantined, are we sure we want to bring in people from Arizona or Florida?— Spencer (@sathome14) June 22, 2020

Wait! Whut? You're selling the Rockies as part of the perks of @NHL in Edmonton?? Did you not take geography in school? I thought your pitch was that the arena district wld allow them to stay isolated? Has that changed?? Have you seen the COVID stats south of us?— Shasta Morgen (@ShastaMorgen) June 22, 2020

Matt Wolf, Executive Director of Issues Management for the Premier of Alberta, responded to comments on the video on Twitter, stating families will be “looking for things to do” while in the province.

Players bring their families with - families that will be looking for things to keep busy during up to 2 months of playoffs. https://t.co/ZsyNwf43s6— Matt Wolf (@MattWolfAB) June 22, 2020


KENNEY'S UCP SAME OLD PARTY OF CALGARY (PC)

CANNABIS CANADA
Toke meets tech: Pot shops take a page from Amazon and Uber EatsJeff Lagerquist Yahoo Finance Canada June 18, 2020

The cannabis sector is tearing pages from the playbooks of technology titans during COVID-19, deploying ideas inspired by Amazon (AMZN) and Uber Eats (UBER) to reshape how consumers buy pot.
The pandemic spurred a flurry of innovation as governments locked down brick-and-mortar cannabis stores in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. In Ontario, private retailers fast-tracked new online sales channels temporarily opened up by the province, allowing them to stay in business after stores were ordered closed between April 5 and the first phase of conditional reopening on May 19.

Many within the industry want the Ford government to make the concessions granted to weather the virus permanent. Prior to COVID-19, legal online sales in Ontario were the exclusive domain of the province-run Ontario Cannabis Store.

While it’s unclear if the window of digital opportunity will remain open for private shops once state of emergency orders are lifted, the cannabis sector is used to forging ahead amid regulatory uncertainty.

Jeremy Potvin had a colourful career before turning his business ambitions towards cannabis. The Toronto-based entrepreneur spent 20 years in apparel, working for Levi’s, Parasuco jeans and Paul Frank (Remember the clothes with the cartoon monkey?). He eventually shifted to startups and app development, creating a workplace scheduling solution called Shifthub. According to his LinkedIn profile, he also founded a lifestyle brand for dogs.

With recreational legalization on the horizon in 2017, he started seeing opportunities in cannabis. Potvin worked with Tokyo Smoke, now a retail arm of Canopy Growth (WEED.TO)(CGC), while launching a cannabis accessories store and lifestyle brand called Weedbox.

When COVID-19 hit Ontario in spring, he found himself stuck on the sidelines, awaiting licences to open up a handful of cannabis retail stores around the province. He saw a way in when Ontario passed an emergency order on April 7 allowing retailers to temporarily sell through click-and-collect and delivery. Two weeks later, Weedbox’s new subsidiary dubbed TokeText was born.

Customers sign up with their phone number, address and credit card to receive curated texts about cannabis products. If they like what they see, they text back how many pre-rolled joints or infused beverages they want. The customer is then matched with a local pot shop with the right inventory to process the transaction, and complete the delivery and ID check. TokeText pockets a 10 per cent fee.

Screenshots of text messages from TokeText. (toketext.com)

The company doesn’t have an app, and avoids legal restrictions on delivery by relying on CannSell accredited pot shop employees to fulfill the orders. It’s not quite the Uber Eats of cannabis, but the comparison isn’t far off.

“I went and talked to a lot of restaurants when I was figuring out what should be charging,” Potvin said. “I asked [which app] treats you guys the best. They said DoorDash. I asked what they charge. They said 10 per cent.”

He admits the concept was also inspired in large part by WineText, a nearly identical U.S.-based website.

TokeText is still in its pilot stage, with subscriber numbers in the “low hundreds.” The service is partnered with a cannabis store in Burlington, Ont. that delivers to Greater Toronto Area customers in a rented car.

Potvin said he’s in talks to sign up 10 additional stores, and expects more will follow as owners discover the platform’s ability to casually introduce consumers to new products for a marginal fee.

“Every store pretty much has access to the same product. So it will be easy to deploy offers across 1,000 stores in multiple provinces,” Potvin said.

Seth Rogen’s Houseplant grapefruit weed drink recently launched by Canopy is a big seller these days, he added, with many customers requesting the five can maximum order when they reply via text.

“Forget a Shopify site, forget clicking and adding to a cart. The day you sign up with us is the last time you see a checkout cart. We want to go straight from product discovery on your phone, to delivery.”

If ecommerce is becomes a fixture for private pot retailers in Ontario, Potvin said the thought crossed his mind to abandon his brick-and-mortar ambitions in favour of a lower-cost digital-only model. For now though, he sees value in efficient physical store concepts designed for fast service and social distancing.

Meanwhile, cannabis retail chain Fire & Flower (FAF.TO) is touting its similarities to Amazon as both a retailer and digital service provider rolled into one.

The Edmonton-based company sells a version of its Hifyre retail and analytics platform, in addition to operating 46 stores across five provinces and the Yukon.

“Well before legalization we carefully examined what retailers were succeeding in the age of Amazon,” chief executive officer Trevor Fencott told analysts on a conference call after Fire & Flower reported first quarter financial results on Tuesday.

“Retailers that we observed that tried to bolt on a digital strategy, or sort of pivot digitally, generally didn’t seem to fare well in the Amazon environment.”

Hifyre manages inventory, in-store menu boards and loyalty rewards programs. It also captures customer data to measure product performance in real-time and predict sales trends.

Fire & Flower recently struck a strategic agreement with point-of-sale software provider COVA Software Solutions to sell a white-label version of Hyfire.

Fencott links the data-driven customer insights provided by the suite of tools to higher sales and more in-store visits. He predicts strong demand from the growing number of independent pot shop owners.

“If you aggregated all the [cannabis store] chains in Alberta, you still don’t get to 50 per cent of the total licences out there,” he said. “There are a lot of Mom and Pops that need this kind of functionality to be competitive.”Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

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Aurora Cannabis to lay off 700 staff, expects $60M charge, plans to close 5 facilities

CANNABIS CAPITALISM IS STILL CAPITALISM

Jeff Lagerquist Yahoo Finance Canada June 23, 2020


(THE CANADIAN PRESS)More


Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO)(ACB) plans to close five facilities, lay off roughly 700 workers, and expects a $60 million charge in the coming quarter, the company said Tuesday.

The Edmonton-based cannabis producer said the moves are part of its business transformation plan announced in February, which resulted in the loss of about 500 jobs at the time.  

1200 JOBS LOST IN TOTAL 2020

An Aurora spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo Finance Canada that “approximately 700’ workers will be laid off as a result of Tuesday’s announcement.

“These changes include an approximate 25 per cent reduction in Aurora's (selling, general and administrative staff), most with immediate effect, and an approximate 30 per cent reduction in production staff over the next two quarters,” the company stated in a release.

Aurora said the recent retirement of president Steve Dobler was part of the company’s “corporate headcount rationalization.”

The five facilities slated for closure include Aurora Prairie, Aurora Mountain, Aurora Ridge, Aurora Vie and Aurora Eau.

As a result of the headcount reductions and facility shutdowns, the company expects to take an asset impairment charge of up to $60 million during the fourth quarter of 2020. The company also expects to record a charge of up to $140 million over the value of inventory, predominantly trim, “to align inventory on hand with near-term expectations for demand.”

Trim refers to the excess leaves snipped from the buds of marijuana plants. The by-product is used to make extractions, tinctures, hash and edibles.

“This has not simply been a cost cutting exercise. We have undertaken a strategic realignment of our operations to protect Aurora's position as a leader in key global cannabinoid markets, most notably Canada,” chief executive officer Michael Singer stated in the release.

“Both the Canadian facility rationalization and inventory revaluation are expected to improve gross margins and accelerate our ability to generate positive cash flow. We believe that we now have the right balance for the long-term success of Aurora.”

Symbol                                             Price        Change

ACB.TO Aurora Cannabis Inc.       19.18   +0.63

ACB Aurora Cannabis Inc.               14.02         +0.30

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

Forecast says economy will grow in 2021 if there isn't another national shutdown

EVERYTHING IS COMING UP ROSES 
EXCEPT WHEN IT'S NOT

The Canadian Press June 22, 2020


OTTAWA — Canada may have already begun to recover from the deepest recession on record, assuming the country can avoid another national COVID-related shutdown, a private sector forecast said Monday.

The Conference Board of Canada report estimates the economy will shrink 8.2 per cent this year, then return to growth with a 6.7-per-cent rise in 2021 and 4.8-per-cent in 2022 — provided there are no more national shutdowns.

The outlook is at the optimistic range of the Bank of Canada's most recent estimates, but is based on 1,200 variables and the expertise of its analytical team, said Alicia Macdonald, associate director of economic forecasting for the Conference Board.

Macdonald also warned that there won't be a sharp "V" recovery but said a gradual "U" recovery is likely.

Meanwhile, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said in a webcast speech Monday that the bank expects economic growth will resume in the third quarter. Even so, it also warned the recovery period "will likely be prolonged and bumpy, with the potential for setbacks along the way."

The Conference Board cautions that its forecast depends on "the country’s ability to avoid a second severe outbreak of the COVID-19 virus" that would require another national shutdown. It expects many companies can weather the storm of additional outbreaks, however.

"I think we've learned a lot of lessons from our experience from the first lockdown," Macdonald said in an interview.

Businesses have more techniques and tools — such as plastic barriers to separate customers from staff — and more guidelines from governments in how to operate safely, she said.

"So we think that, should a second wave come in the fall, they'll be better prepared to handle it this time around."

The Conference Board projects the unemployment rate will peak at 13.7 per cent in the second quarter ending June 30, the highest since comparable data was first recorded in 1976.

But the report says the addition of nearly 300,000 jobs in May and continued easing of restrictions in June probably indicate the pandemic's worst impact on the labour market has passed.

It's projecting the addition of another 1.3 million jobs in the July to September quarter, dropping the national unemployment rate to 10.5 per cent.

The Conference Board says that if the country can avoid a second national shutdown, Canada's economy could grow by 6.7 per cent in 2021 and by 4.8 per cent in 2022.

— By David Paddon in Toronto with a file from Jordan Press in Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2020.

The Canadian Press

Black (AFRO AMERICAN) bird watchers draw attention to racial issues outdoors
Terry Tang The Canadian PressJune 23, 2020

Jason Ward fell in love with birds at age 14 when he spotted a peregrine falcon outside the homeless shelter where he was staying with his family.

The now 33-year-old Atlanta bird lover parlayed that passion into a YouTube series last year. One of the guests on his first episode of “Birds of North America” was Christian Cooper, a Black bird watcher who was targeted in New York City’s Central Park by a white woman after he told her to leash her dog.

A video capturing the encounter showed the woman, Amy Cooper (no relation), retaliate by calling the police and clearly referencing his race to raise the threat level.

Ward, who is Black, said the video, even now, is “jarring” to watch. Butting heads with dog owners is common among birders but he'd never seen it take such a turn.

“Especially knowing Christian and how confident he is, hearing his nervousness and trembling, it shed light on how dangerous that situation could have been,” Ward said.

It didn't culminate in any arrests, and Amy Cooper later issued an apology. But it has brought attention to how the great outdoors can be far from great for Black people. Worries about discrimination, racial profiling and even subtle aggression keep some away. Furthermore, those fears can perpetuate the stereotype that hiking, camping and bird watching are “white” activities.

Christian Cooper's encounter, which happened on May 25, the same day as George Floyd's death at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer, has been cited in nationwide protests against systemic racism and white privilege.

For Black people, the incident was not surprising, said Carolyn Finney, author of “Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors."

“Systemic racism doesn’t stop at the park gates,” Finney said. “I’ve backpacked all over the world. ... There are places in this country I would never go on my own. It is my loss. I just don’t trust the public.”

Birding can take participants to parks, woods and suburban streets. Depending on the setting, Ward said he adjusts his demeanour so he doesn't seem threatening. He makes sure his face isn't covered even if it's cold. He always has his binoculars in plain sight rather than pulling them out of his bag.

“Just simple stuff like that I have to pay attention to that other people might say, 'What? Come on dude! They're just binoculars,'" Ward said. “If someone easily recognizes them as binoculars, it's still a case in which I have to prove that I'm actually looking for birds occasionally.”

Mike Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy, is white but his three sons are half-Black. His youngest, who is 12, has gotten into birding. Cooper's experience is now in the back of his mind.

"We personally haven’t come across anything like that, but as a parent, I am concerned about things that could happen to him. Birding isn’t all that well understood by people," Parr said. “Rare birds sometimes show up around crazy places. I’m concerned he might face this sort of thing."

Keith Russell, 63, an urban conservation program manager for the National Audubon Society's Philadelphia-based chapter, said as a Black person, he has his guard up if he's searching for birds with binoculars near homes. But he's never felt unsafe among fellow birders and hopes Cooper's close call doesn't scare off others.

“I think it’s very very important to be clear for anyone who might not understand this and take a superficial view of this. ... It’s not dangerous to be a birder if you’re a person of colour," Russell said. But, he added: “There have been historical problems with access.”

He thinks for some Black families, past discrimination and segregation at parks and other recreation sites may have set them on a path away from nature. That lack of connection to the outdoors then continues with the next generation.

“It can take a while to make that internal culture go away. I think it’s definitely starting to,” Russell said.

The misconception that most Black people aren't outdoorsy may get bolstered by history books. Finney, the author, said too often the history of U.S. conservation centres on white figures like naturalist John Muir. Meanwhile, less attention is paid to the hundreds of Black soldiers who protected national parks after the Civil War.

The same goes for Hispanic communities. Many are unaware that Hispanics have connections with public lands going back generations, said Liz Archuleta, a county board supervisor in Flagstaff, Arizona, and co-founder of Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors.

“My mother tells stories about how at least twice a month on a Saturday, the entire Hispanic pioneer community of Flagstaff used to get together and go through the forest and have picnics,” Archuleta said. “It's foreign to me when people say we have to get Hispanics to enjoy the outdoors more.”

The shift in support toward Black Lives Matter after Floyd's death has every corporation and non-profit re-evaluating how they can elevate Black and brown voices.

In the bird-watching world, there's already been an effort in recent years to do that. The National Audubon Society, which was established in 1905 to preserve birds and their habitat, has 1.8 million members. Only 45,000 identify as people of colour.

“Obviously, that’s not reflective of where the U.S. population is,” said Rebeccah Sanders, senior vice-president of the organization's state programs.

The group is trying to recruit more minorities. Staff training now includes ways to intervene if a team is restoring a habitat and one member is mistreated because of race or another trait. In the last year, they have set up chapters at dozens of colleges, including historically Black ones. In 2019, Audubon offered nearly 100 internships and fellowships. Almost half were filled by people from diverse backgrounds or communities.

“As our staff and our membership base become more representative, it changes who you are,” Sanders said. “Those perspectives make us ask different questions and change some of our decisions.”

Environmental organizations are making universal statements that the outdoors belong to everyone but, Finney said, they have to address that it's simply not the same for Black communities.

“The National Park Service and others want to engage diverse communities and often are bringing kids in," Finney said. “How are they supposed to feel if a Black man who went to Harvard and sits on the board of the Audubon Society is getting accosted? How is some Black teenager going to feel about their ability to feel safe and welcome?”

Since Christian Cooper's video, several Black professionals have reached out to Ward via social media to inquire about birding.

“‘We're definitely getting feedback from a lot of people who are saying 'You know what? I definitely want to get a pair of binoculars now,'” Ward said. "'I thought this was boring and for people who didn't look like me.'"

___ Tang reported from Phoenix and is a member of The Associated Press’ Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ttangAP

Terry Tang, The Associated Press

Supreme Court Narrows Power of SEC to Recoup Illegal Gains

Greg Stohr Bloomberg June 22, 2020


(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court limited the power of the Securities and Exchange Commission to recoup illegal profits from wrongdoers, putting new curbs on one of the agency’s most potent legal weapons.

The 8-1 ruling Monday preserved the SEC’s power to win “disgorgement” in federal court so long as the money is used to reimburse defrauded investors and doesn’t exceed the wrongdoer’s net profits. But the court also suggested that federal law bars awards from going further, blunting a legal tool that critics say the agency has abused.

The SEC typically wins more than $1 billion a year in disgorgement orders in federal court. Disgorgement is a traditional tool used by judges to return wrongful gains to the victims. It’s distinct from SEC fines, which the agency is allowed to use as punishment.

Writing for the court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Congress had prohibited the SEC from seeking disgorgement “in excess of a defendant’s net profits from wrongdoing.” She said courts must subtract “legitimate expenses” before ordering disgorgement.

The ruling is a partial victory for a California couple ordered to pay $27 million after being found to have defrauded investors.

Distribute to Investors

Sotomayor also said disgorgement awards must be geared toward compensating investors, rather than simply stripping wrongdoers of their profits. She said it was an “open question” whether the SEC can deposit recouped money in the Treasury when it’s not feasible to distribute it to investors.

Disgorgement “must do more than simply benefit the public at large by virtue of depriving a wrongdoer of ill-gotten gains,” she wrote.

In addition, Sotomayor suggested that awards generally must track individual wrongdoing and not try to make one wrongdoer give back benefits an associate received.

Although federal law doesn’t explicitly say the SEC can seek disgorgement, the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act says judges hearing SEC enforcement actions can award “any equitable relief” they deem appropriate to protect investors. Courts have traditionally viewed disgorgement as an “equitable” measure, which means judges make awards based on fairness rather than strict legal rules.

The ruling “will provide defendants strong ammunition for battling back against the SEC’s tendency to seek aggressive disgorgement remedies,” said Howard Fischer, a former SEC trial lawyer and now a partner at Moses & Singer in New York.

‘Existential Threat’

But even with the limits, some agency veterans said they see the decision as a victory for the SEC because it formally preserves the enforcement program’s ability to obtain disgorgement. Banning the remedy would have been a major setback for its policing efforts.

“That was the existential threat” that the commission feared, said Stephen Crimmins, a former agency enforcement attorney who is now a partner at Murphy & McGonigle. “This is a big win for the SEC.”

The ruling didn’t directly affect the SEC’s separate authority to seek disgorgement through administrative proceedings.

The couple, Charles Liu and Xin Wang, had asked the justices to go further and bar the SEC from seeking court-ordered disgorgement at all. Liu and Wang said that tool isn’t one of the remedies Congress has authorized the SEC to seek against people who violate the nation’s securities fraud laws.

Sotomayor rejected that contention, saying Congress incorporated the traditional courtroom rule that judges may “strip wrongdoers of their ill-gotten gains.”

Justice Clarence Thomas was the court’s only member who said he would have barred the SEC from seeking disgorgement at all in federal court.

Returning Funds

President Donald Trump’s administration and the SEC defended the disgorgement power, saying Congress authorized it three times, including in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

SEC spokeswoman Chandler Costello said the decision “allows us to continue to strip wrongdoers of their ill-gotten gains and return money to its rightful owners, following the court’s direction to ensure that our efforts embody principles of equity and fairness.”

The SEC says it tries to return disgorged funds to injured investors when possible. The agency says it collected $1.5 billion in disgorgements and penalties in 2019 and paid out $1.2 billion to investors that year.

Liu and Wang were found to have defrauded people seeking to take advantage of a visa program for foreigners who make large U.S. investments. The SEC said Liu and Wang falsely told investors their money would be used for a cancer treatment center.

Liu and Wang said the order in their case went well beyond the $8 million the trial judge found they had gained from their scheme.

The case is Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 18-1501.

(Updates with lawyer reaction starting in 10th paragraph)

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