SACRED SOLSTICE

SOLAR ECLIPSE 2020: RARE SUMMER SOLSTICE 'RING OF FIRE' TAKES PLACE THIS WEEK
Annular eclipse coinciding with longest day of the year will not happen again until 2039

Anthony Cuthbertson@ADCuthbertson 6/18/2020

A rare type of solar eclipse will coincide with the longest day of the year this week, marking only the second time since 1982 that these astronomical events take place on the same day.

The annular solar eclipse will see the Sun, Moon and Earth align on Sunday, 21 June, creating a spectacular effect for sky gazers to witness across large parts of the world.

The Moon is at its furthest stage of its orbit around the Earth, known as its apogee, meaning it appears slightly smaller in the sky.

This means it is not able to completely block out the Sun, thus creating what some astronomers refer to as a "ring of fire".

At its maximum point of total eclipse, the Moon will block approximately 99.4 per cent of the Sun, though this will only last for a fraction of a second.
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Nasa has mapped the trajectory of the annular solar eclipse, which sees its path pass over the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen, Oman, Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Taiwan and Guam.


The eclipse will not be visible for people in the southern hemisphere, nor in more northerly latitudes like the UK.
The path of the annular solar eclipse on 21 June, 2020 (Nasa/ Google Maps)

It will also be impossible to view from North America, while travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic mean that people will be unable to fly to locations where it will be visible.


For those unable to see it in person, Timeanddate.com will be hosting a live stream of the eclipse on its website.

Solar eclipse 2017
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The eclipse occurs on the day that the Sun is at its most northerly point during the year, known as the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere and the Winter Solstice in the southern hemisphere.

For those north of the equator, the solstice is the longest day of the year and is often celebrated by watching sunrise or sunset.

In the UK, the sun will rise at 4.43am and set at 9.22pm, meaning people will enjoy 16 hours and 39 minutes of daylight.

More northerly latitudes will experience 24 hours of daylight, including regions of Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

It is the first time since 2001 that the solstice coincides with a solar eclipse, and will not happen again until 2039.

Sunday’s “Ring Of Fire” Solar Eclipse Brings Positive Change


Elizabeth Gulino June 19, 2020, REFINERY29


This weekend, we’ll be experiencing quite the astrological event. Not only is the summer solstice occurring, but we’ll also be undergoing the new moon solar eclipse on June 21 at exactly 12:47 a.m. ET. It won’t be a total eclipse, though: There will still be some surface area of the sun peaking out from behind the moon, creating a stunning “ring of fire” effect.

“Solar eclipses are extra powerful lunar events, rallying the energy of three new moons in one,” Narayana Montúfar, senior astrologer at Astrology.com and Horoscope.com, tells Refinery29. “This one, in particular, is even more important because it happens the same day as the summer solstice and the day the sun enters Cancer.” Montúfar says that this solar eclipse is a turning point in human history, poised to accelerate social change. This particular eclipse is happening at zero degrees Cancer, meaning it will bring emotional needs to the surface.

Montúfar says that at this eclipse, both the sun and the moon will be forming a tense quincunx aspect to task-master Saturn in Aquarius. “At its worst, Saturn represents the rules and limitations that have been imposed on us and that over time have turned corrupt and oppressive,” she explains. “Although Cancer is a sign that would normally want to stay home and feel cozy, this link to Saturn says that the actions we take during this new moon have long-term has consequences.”

These rules and limitations from Saturn may relate directly to the police brutality and abuse of power we’ve been seeing not just recently, but for years. This isn’t the time to sit idly by and let bygones be bygones — this solar eclipse marks the time to take action and use your voice. What you choose to do this weekend in terms of social justice might just have a long-lasting effect.

And, thankfully, the planets are here to back us up. “Mars and Jupiter will be on our side, forming a beautiful sextile,” Montúfar explains. “They will lend us the courage, ambition, and good judgment we need to keep going and keep fighting for what we believe in.”

This particular eclipse also has an interesting Sabian symbol attributed to it. In astrology, images derived from Spiritualist-medium Elsie Wheeler give a description of each of the 360 separate degrees of the zodiac, notes Leslie Hale, psychic astrologer at Keen.com. “The Sabian symbol for zero degrees Cancer is, ‘on a ship the sailors lower an old flag and raise a new one,'” Hale says. This can be interpreted as a change brought about by all of the societal unrest we’re currently experiencing concerning racism, police brutality, and inequality in general.

This celestial event will only be visible across central Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, Northern India, and South Central China — but if you’re not in those areas, that doesn’t mean you can’t still take partake in harnessing its power.

“Solar eclipses mark new beginnings. Because of all of the intense energy, it’s important to be clear on your intention in order to manifest your truest desires,” astrologer Lisa Stardust tells Refinery29. “I like to do bath magic when the moon is in a water sign because that way we can harness the power of the element, which in this case is water.”

Interested in performing your own bath magic? Stardust lays it out. “First, write the intention you wish to achieve down on a piece of paper. Be clear and concise. Add a cup of Epsom salt, a dash of cinnamon, rose petals, and charge a rose quartz crystal under the moon to absorb its potency. While in the bath, place the crystal on your heart chakra to heal your emotions and to open yourself to new possibilities,” she says.

Astrologer and occultist Shawntee Cato agrees: Water rituals are the way to go for this particular solar eclipse. “Cancer is a highly nurturing and protective energy,” she explains. “Water is one of the best ways to engage with our spiritual nature as well as ground our energy.”

Cato’s solar eclipse bath ritual looks a little different than Stardust’s — and is simpler. She recommends salt, Florida water (which can be bought through Amazon, Walmart, and other online stores), and a white candle. Crystals are also great to add, especially smoky quartz, black tourmaline, or clear quartz, if you have them. These stones will help maximize your zen under June’s ring of fire eclipse.

This solar eclipse is about taking action. Raise your voice, say what needs to be said, and do what needs to be done. Only good things can come from speaking up for justice.

Trump snubs former EPA chief Pruitt in Tulsa visit

Alexander Nazaryan National Correspondent, Yahoo News•June 19, 2020

WASHINGTON — When President Trump comes to Tulsa on Saturday for his first campaign event since the coronavirus shut down the United States, he will be joined by Oklahoma’s most prominent Republican leaders, as well as rising GOP stars from other parts of the country.

Those expected to stand with the president at the BOK Center are Kevin Stitt, the state’s governor, as well as its two U.S. senators, James Lankford and Jim Inhofe, its four Republican members of the House of Representatives and Sen. Tom Cotton from neighboring Arkansas. Also present will be Reps. Lee Zeldin and Elise Stefanik, ardent defenders of the president who are both from the New York delegation.

One person won’t be there, at least not onstage with Trump and his allies: Tulsa’s own Scott Pruitt, the former Environmental Protection Agency administrator. His absence is a reminder that former Trump Cabinet members rarely leave the administration unscathed.

Pruitt did not return calls from Yahoo News. The Trump campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

The mere mention of Pruitt’s name evokes, for some, the freewheeling early days of the Trump presidency, a pre-impeachment, pre-pandemic time when Pruitt’s search for a used mattress from the Trump International Hotel could credibly pass as the biggest story in Washington.

Then-Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt in 2018. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Pruitt was dismissed by Trump shortly after the mattress incident was made public, but the president had clearly been fond of Pruitt, arguing that he was treated unfairly by the media. Yet whatever sympathy Trump may have had for him appears to have expired. That may prove unfortunate for Pruitt, who is only 52 and is widely known to have political ambitions. During the heyday of his tenure, some even suspected he would run for president.

For all the scandal he caused in Washington, Pruitt retained the goodwill of his fellow Sooners. “I think Oklahomans still love him, support him and trust him,” the chairwoman of the Oklahoma GOP told the Associated Press after Pruitt’s dismissal by Trump.

Although he did not seek the governorship of Oklahoma in 2018, as some expected him to do, he was also once rumored to be after a more coveted prize: Inhofe’s seat in the U.S. Senate. At 85, Inhofe is the fifth-oldest member of the entire Congress. Inhofe said in March he would run again, but that was before the coronavirus and anti-racism protests upended virtually every political calculation across the land.
IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS 

Pruitt with President Trump in the White House Rose Garden in 2017. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Once in the news on a near-daily basis, Pruitt has been functionally invisible for the better part of a year. “Where in the world is Scott Pruitt?” wondered one headline a year ago. The article noted that he had been spotted at a high-end Tulsa gym, running slowly on a treadmill. He had also registered as an energy lobbyist. There wasn’t much else.

Pruitt’s lonely fate is similar to that of many other top former administration officials. No longer part of Team Trump, removed from the intrigues of Capitol Hill, “formers” like Ryan Zinke (Interior Department) and Reince Priebus (White House chief of staff) are caught in political purgatory.

Some, like Pruitt, Zinke and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, were quickly undone by attempts to replicate the lifestyle befitting a high-net-worth administration. Living luxuriously on the taxpayers’ dollar angered the public, members of Congress and a president always sensitive to bad news.

Others, like Priebus and former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, succumbed to the chaos and infighting that have characterized the Trump administration from the very start.

Few of the now-formers survived with their reputations intact. Most notable in that category is former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who always kept his distance from Trump and, most recently, criticized the president for clearing peaceful protesters from Washington’s Lafayette Square in the midst of the anti-racism protests that swept the nation.

Others have tried to claw their reputations back and exact revenge, often by writing books. Among them is David Shulkin, the former Department of Veterans Affairs head and the lone Obama holdover in the original Trump Cabinet. In his book, Shulkin claims that wealthy conservative allies of the president tried to sabotage his efforts and tried to privatize the agency’s operations.

And then, of course, there is John Bolton, who was dismissed as national security adviser in 2019. The scorned Bolton’s new book contains harsh assessments of the president and his policymaking style.

Pruitt is almost certainly not writing a tell-all book, but he did leave the Trump administration with a flourish, penning a fulsome resignation letter to the boss who fired him. “My desire in service to you has always been to bless you as you make important decisions for the American people,” Pruitt wrote. “I believe you are serving as President today because of God’s providence.”
Being ignored by the Trump campaign is still probably preferable to what happened to Jeff Sessions, the attorney general Trump blamed for the investigation into Russian electoral interference. Fired by Trump, Sessions returned to Alabama and declared he would seek to regain the Senate seat he’d held before joining the Trump administration. 

Trump has instead endorsed former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, also running for the Republican nomination. For good measure, the president lambasted Sessions, the first sitting senator to endorse his improbable White House bid back in early 2016, for having “no courage.

'Whitewashed and erased': There's a reason Juneteenth isn't taught in schools, educators say

WHY WE NEED CURRICULUM TO RECOGNIZE AND ADAPT RUBRICS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH, LABOUR HISTORY MONTH, WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH, LGBTQ PRIDE MONTH, SOUTH ASIAN & ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH, DIFFERENTLY ABLED MONTH,  ETC. 
Daniella Silva, NBC News•June 18, 2020



A Connecticut fourth grade social studies textbook falsely claimed that slaves were treated just like “family.” A Texas geography textbook referred to enslaved Africans as “workers.” In Alabama, up until the 1970s, fourth graders learned in a textbook called "Know Alabama" that slave life on a plantation was "one of the happiest ways of life."

In contrast, historians and educators point out, many children in the U.S. education system are not taught about major Black historical events, such as the Tulsa Race Massacre or Juneteenth, the June 19 commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States.

As the country grapples with a racial reckoning following the killing of George Floyd in police custody, educators said that what has and what has not been taught in school have been part of erasing the history of systemic racism in America and the contributions of Black people and other minority groups.
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Whitewashed and erased': There's a reason Juneteenth isn't taught in schools, educators say

“There’s a long legacy of institutional racism that is barely covered in the mainstream corporate curriculum,” said Jesse Hagopian, an ethnic studies teacher in Seattle and co-editor of the book “Teaching for Black Lives.”

“It’s really astounding how little the contributions of Black people are included in much of the mainstream curriculum and how much of that institutional racism is disguised,” he said.

Historians said curriculums are about identity and learning about ourselves and others.

“The curriculum was never designed to be anything other than white supremacist," Julian Hayter, a historian and an associate professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said, "and it has been very difficult to convince people that other versions of history are not only worth telling. They’re absolutely essential for us as a country to move closer to something that might reflect reconciliation but even more importantly, the truth."

LaGarrett King, an associate professor of social studies education at the University of Missouri, said the history curriculums in schools are meant to tell a story and, in the U.S., that has been one of a “progressive history of the country.”

“Really the overarching theme is, ‘Yes, we made mistakes, but we overcame because we are the United States of America,'” said King, who is also the founding director of the Carter Center for K-12 Black History Education at the university.

“What that has done is it has erased tons of history that would combat that progressive narrative,” he said.

King said the experiences and oppression of Black people, Latino people, indigenous people, Asian people and other minority groups in the U.S. are largely ignored or sidelined to fit those narratives.

“So, of course you’re not going to have crucial information such as what happened in Tulsa, you’re not going to have information such as the bombing of a Philadelphia black neighborhood,” he said.

In 1921 in Oklahoma, whites looted and destroyed Tulsa's Greenwood District, known for its affluent Black community. Historians believe that as many as 300 Black people were killed.



In May 1985, Philadelphia police dropped a bomb onto the compound of MOVE, a black liberation group, killing six members, five of their children and destroying 65 homes in the neighborhood.

Another often-omitted period of U.S. Black history is the Red Summer, a period of time through 1919 when white mobs incited a wave of anti-Black violence in dozens of cities.

As for the protests against racial inequality and police brutality after the killing of Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police, King emphasized that these movements were not new.

“Black people have been saying this for the past 400 years, this is not a new movement,” he said. “Each generation has had their point in time where they’re trying to say through protest, through rebellion, ‘listen to us, listen to us,’” he said.

Part of the problem is that society has never listened to that history, he said.

“In many ways we wouldn’t have a Black Lives Matter movement if Black lives mattered in the classroom,” he said.

The current moment has also put increased national attention on Juneteenth, which is Friday this year.

President Donald Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that he moved a rally in Tulsa set for Friday to Saturday “out of respect” for two African American friends and supporters.

“I did something good. I made it famous. I made Juneteenth very famous. It’s actually an important event, it’s an important time. But nobody had heard of it,” he said, although his office has previously put out statements marking the occasion.

Historians note that Juneteenth has been celebrated in Black communities across the country for 155 years.

Hayter said that the history of Black people and other minority communities has already “been completely whitewashed and erased" when it is taught in American classrooms.

He pointed to the argument made by some that removing Confederate statues and iconography is tantamount to erasing history.

“So when people say you can’t erase history, it's like, what are you talking about?” he said. “If you crack open a textbook from the mid-20th century, there are no minorities in those textbooks.”



“The contributions they made to the American democratic experience are completely ignored,” he said.

Hayter said those histories have been seen as “a footnote to a larger narrative and not an important and integral portion of the history more largely.”

“As long as we continue to treat these as addendums to a larger American narrative, we’re failing these kids in large part because we’ve reduced these histories to second-class status,” he said.

Hagopian said “Teaching for Black Lives” seeks to uncover some of these really important periods of Black history and give educators access points to teach students about them, including a whole lesson on the Tulsa Race Massacre.

He said another historical period that was glaringly absent from the mainstream curriculum was Reconstruction, the era following the Civil War that sought to address the inequalities of slavery.

“Reconstruction is one of the most fascinating and revolutionary periods in American history,” he said.

Hagopian said it was a remarkable period of time, although short, when the country undertook a conscious effort to tear down institutionally racist structures.

“Black people built the public school system across the South, and there were integrated schools in the 1860s. They were more integrated than today, just incredible examples of Black empowerment,” he said, adding that there were more Black elected officials than at anytime until recently.

“It’s such an important era to examine," Hagopian said. "If we’re going to escape the intense level of racism that we have today, we’re going to need to look at what it looked like when there was a movement toward institutional anti-racism."

It is also important, Hagopian said, to teach students that the civil rights movement went beyond a few famous figures commonly featured in history books or during Black History Month, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

“I think one of the most important things for students to learn about is the way young people have helped shape American history in profound ways and to help understand the contributions especially of Black youth to this nation,” he said.

“They’re so often erased, but when students learn that it was young people who were the leaders of the civil rights movement, they can then see themselves as potential actors to transform the world today."

For Black Tulsans, Trump's visit evokes painful legacy of 1921 massacre

Ernest Scheyder, Reuters•June 19, 2020

For Black Tulsans, Trump's visit evokes painful legacy of 1921 massacre

By Ernest Scheyder

TULSA, Okla. (Reuters) - Thirteen jars filled with ash and dirt and bone rest in the basement of Tulsa's Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church, an unsettled repose for the victims of a nearly century-old massacre that still haunts the Black residents of Oklahoma's second-largest city.

There are no graves for Eliza Talbot, Ed Adams or 11 others. Their bodies were lost, along with hundreds, when a white mob killed and burned its way through the city's Greenwood neighborhood in 1921, at the time one of the largest and wealthiest Black communities in the United States.

To the dismay of community leaders https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump/in-tulsa-fears-that-trump-rally-may-worsen-racial-unrest-spread-of-coronavirus-idUSKBN23O1GO and residents, and just weeks after a May 31 vigil to mark the massacre's 99th anniversary, President Donald Trump plans his first campaign rally since March mere blocks away from Greenwood on Saturday.

The rally will occur a day after Juneteenth https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-juneteenth-factbox/factbox-what-is-juneteenth-idUSKBN23N3A0, which commemorates when a Union general went to Texas in 1865 and announced the Emancipation Proclamation had freed enslaved people, more than two years after it was issued in 1863.

"Trump's presence will cast a huge shadow over these events," said Rev. Robert Turner of the Vernon A.M.E. church, which was rebuilt after it was burned down during the 1921 attack.

"The president is supported by racists, by neo-Confederates. I fear this rally will attract all those people to our city."

Trump, who has said his supporters "love Black people," moved the rally to June 20 from its original Juneteenth date, tweeting that the change was "out of respect for ... this important occasion and all that it represents."

The rally also coincides with protests against police brutality and racism across the United States and globally, after the May killing of George Floyd https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-protests/george-floyd-hailed-as-cornerstone-of-a-movement-at-funeral-family-calls-for-justice-idUSKBN23G1JQ by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Floyd's death has added to the disquiet among Black residents in Tulsa, which saw its own demonstrations in 2017 after a white police officer was acquitted of manslaughter for shooting a Black man during a routine traffic stop.

"I do look at Trump's visit as a slap in the face, a form of disrespect," said Rev. Mareo Johnson, who runs the Tulsa Black Lives Matter (BLM) chapter.

'SACRED GROUND'

In Greenwood, which was cut in half by a highway in the late 1960s, Black residents say they still struggle with the massacre’s enduring scars.

The district's main thoroughfare, Greenwood Avenue, once boasted the largest Black-owned hotel in the United States as well as Black-owned banks, medical practices, law offices and libraries.

It is now lined with a handful of small retail shops and a restaurant, and abuts a minor league baseball team's field. Tulsa's north side, home to most of its African-American residents, has no traditional grocery stores or much retail shopping, further isolating the residents.

"Greenwood today is confined like a holding zone," said Cleo Harris Jr. who owns Black Wall Street T-shirts and Souvenirs shop on Greenwood Avenue. "The dividing of Greenwood by this highway was white America's way to contain us. Black people are still considered less than."

Greenwood's concentration of wealth in the early 20th century led to the area becoming known as "Black Wall Street." African-Americans made up roughly 12% of Tulsa’s 72,000 population in 1920, as Greenwood’s success and the Oklahoma oil boom attracted other Black Americans.

"Greenwood used to be the mecca of Black opportunity and Black economy. This is sacred ground," said community activist Kristi Williams, whose great aunt survived the massacre.

"This was the place to be for newly-free Africans to re-establish themselves. There are bones in the land that keep us connected to this place."

The massacre began after a local Black youth was arrested for allegedly assaulting a white girl. The allegations were never proven.

White rioters tore through Greenwood, destroying 23 churches, more than 2,000 Black-owned businesses and homes, and 36 square blocks of the neighborhood, according to the Greenwood Cultural Center.

About 300 people died and more than 6,000 survivors and Black Tulsa residents were sent to internment camps and held, according to a Human Rights Watch report in May that called for reparations.

For decades it was not clear where many bodies were buried, but recent archeological work points to a mass grave near the Arkansas River. Dig work at the site was halted this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tulsa never paid restitution to the victims and insurance companies refused to pay out, citing riot clauses in contracts. No one was charged in the murders. While survivors returned to Greenwood, it never regained its former status.

Some Black Tulsans are hoping to use Trump’s visit to spotlight racial inequity and push for reparations for victims of the 1921 disaster, either through money, scholarships to local colleges or returning land taken from victims.

"I want to channel all this pain and anger into change for our community," said activist Williams.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; editing by Amran Abocar and Grant McCool)

Juneteenth, Decoration Day and the memory of 'these honored dead,' Black and white

Vern E. Smith contributor,Yahoo News•June 19, 2020

African-American band at Emancipation Day celebration on June 19, 1900, in Austin, Texas. (Austin History Center, Austin Public Library)

Growing up in Natchez, Miss., in the ’50s and ’60s, I had never heard of “Juneteenth,” the celebration of the end of slavery in America that took place two states over in Texas. It will be commemorated today with programs, marches and other festivities in communities in the 47 states where June 19 is now an official holiday.

June 19, 1865, which has come to be known as Juneteenth, is the day that Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger finally arrived in the Texas port city of Galveston, one of the last Confederate outposts, with a stunning announcement known as General Orders, No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”

Texas was the last state to receive the news that President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had, more than two years earlier, abolished the enslavement of nearly 4 million African-Americans, including 250,000 in Texas.

The news set off spontaneous celebration among the freedmen of Galveston, and beginning in 1866, community events, parades, cookouts, prayer gatherings and musical performances inaugurated Juneteenth. The annual event has continued and spread from a largely Texas tradition to a national celebration of African-American freedom and culture, and a way to empower young people with a sense of their own history. Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas on Jan. 1, 1980.

This year, in the wake of the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, an African-American man, under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests, Juneteenth is a potent reminder of how America’s past and present are inextricably connected. Acknowledging an awakening, over 20 major corporations announced they will either honor or recognize today as a paid holiday for their employees as a nod to support for the Black community, according to CNBC. They include Google, JP Morgan, JCPenney, Target and Nike. General Motors announced it will hold moments of silence at its plants in American cities. There is also renewed push to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

The new mood is a welcome change, but it is also a reminder that African-American history, which is to say American history, has many hidden figures, traditions and customs.

As a youngster, I was never taught about Juneteenth. But in Natchez we had our own annual unique event celebrating the end of slavery, which also commemorated and honored the participation of African-American ancestors in their own liberation. It was known simply as the “30th of May.’” It was and still is that rare ceremony in the South that celebrates the Union cause in the Civil War, and the valor of the soldiers — “these honored dead,” as Lincoln called them in the Gettysburg Address — who fought and died for that side.
Natchez "30th of May" marchers, circa 1950s. (Courtesy NAPAC Museum)

Like Juneteenth, the 30th of May was a daylong celebration of fun, barbecue, snow cones and hot dogs. It kicked off with an early-morning parade across the Mississippi River Bridge from Natchez in Vidalia, La., and snaked through the downtown district. Flag-carrying veterans, church society women in their white uniforms and regular citizens swelled the ranks as the marchers streamed into the National Cemetery. Vendors with food stands lined the street, and inside the grounds, the marchers placed flowers and flags on the headstones under the sound of a brass band and military gun salute.

I was probably 8 the first time I attended a 30th of May event with my parents and siblings, and even then I was aware that for all the fun and food, there was something serious and important that we were celebrating.

As I would learn later, we were honoring a remarkable and little-appreciated aspect of the Civil War, and the role that runaway slaves played in turning the war into a battle for freedom. Fifty years before the war, Natchez, the oldest European settlement on the Mississippi, had been the site of “Forks of the Road,” the second-largest domestic slave trading center in America. Then, after Union troops arrived in the city in July 1863, the Forks became a staging ground for the liberation of thousands of former slaves.

When the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization of Civil War Union veterans, both white and Black, began the national tradition of Decoration Day in 1868, Natchez’s Union casualties, nearly all Black, were interred on the site that is now the Natchez National Cemetery.

In his 2001 book “Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory,” Yale historian David Blight traces the first events of what became known as Decoration Day, and what is now known as Memorial Day, to May 1865, after the first Union troops, including the 21st Colored Infantry, entered Charleston, S.C. At a planters’ racetrack that had been converted into an outdoor prison for Union soldiers in the war’s last year, a group of Black workmen descended on what had been an impromptu mass burial ground for hundreds of Union dead. They reburied them properly and built a high fence around the compound with the inscription “Martyrs of the Race Course,” Blight recounts.
A statue in Galveston, Texas, depicts a man holding the state law that made Juneteenth a state holiday. (David J. Phillip/AP)

Thousands of Black schoolchildren, Black women carrying baskets of flowers and wreaths, and regiments of Black and white Union soldiers joined in a march to the former slaveholders’ racecourse on the first Decoration Day.

Most Southern states would not officially recognize Decoration Day because it honored Union soldiers, says Darrell White, director of the Natchez Museum for African American History and Culture, which was established in 1991 by NAPAC, the Natchez Association for the Preservation of African American Culture.

But in Natchez, where the transition of Black people from slavery to freedom and citizenship came with a heavy price of blood, the 30th of May pilgrimage to the National Cemetery became a lasting tradition.

While word of the Emancipation Proclamation was a long time coming to the enslaved people of Texas, they may have taken some satisfaction in the knowledge that their brethren weren’t just waiting to be told they were free. Almost 200,000 “self-emancipated” Black men had enlarged the Union forces elsewhere in the South and helped seal a Union victory.

Vern E. Smith is the former Atlanta bureau chief of Newsweek.

Why Black wealth has stayed 'relatively flat' since Tulsa massacre

Kristin Myers Yahoo Finance June 19, 2020

In the roughly 100 years since the Greenwood massacre and more than 150 years since the official end of slavery on “Juneteenth,” studies show little progress has been made to reduce the racial wealth gap between black and white households. While many economic, legislative, and social proposals have been made to eliminate the gap between white and Black Americans, some say that reparations is the only hope.

By 1921, the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Okla., was a thriving black community. Dubbed the “Black Wall Street,” the district featured restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, grocery stores, two newspapers, and more.

“It was quite extraordinary,” says folklorist and reparations scholar and author Kirsten Mullen. “There were probably few places like it in the southwest. It was held up at the time as a star.”

Though the name lends itself to a comparison with the street and financial center in New York, Mullen says it does not compare to “the volume and capitalization” of New York’s Wall Street.

What’s more, Greenwood wasn’t the only “Black Wall Street” in the United States. Black wealth was being created in neighborhoods around the country, in places like Durham, N.C., and Richmond, Va.

But it wasn’t long before these thriving black neighborhoods were noticed, and eventually destroyed.
The Greenwood Massacre

Just under 100 years ago, the Greenwood district was destroyed in an event that has been called the Greenwood massacre.

After accusations of a sexual assault on a white woman, Greenwood was attacked. Stores and homes were looted, and hundreds died. The neighborhood was set on fire: from the ground, and from planes dropping incendiary devices from overhead.

“In the wake of the violence, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruins, over 800 people were treated for injuries and contemporary reports of deaths began at 36. Historians now believe as many as 300 people may have died,” states the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum.

A memorial to Tulsa's Black Wall Street sits outside the Greenwood Cultural Center on the outskirts of downtown Tulsa, Okla. A once-prosperous section of Tulsa that became the site of one of the worst race riots in American history is attempting to remake itself again after decades of neglect. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Mullen’s research partner, economist William Darity said there has been a “long American history of denying and destroying” Black wealth.

“There was a wave of these massacres from late 1800 until the 1940’s,” he explained. “Prosperous Black communities were essentially destroyed.”

“In the year 1919 alone, there were upwards of 35 or 36 of these massacres,” he said.
No progress made

But, Darity and Mullen said, the racial wealth gap was already wide prior to the Tulsa massacre, and Black wealth has stayed “relatively flat” since.

“The black curve looks relatively flat, and the white curve skyrockets upwards,” Darity said.

“Historical data reveal that no progress has been made in reducing income and wealth inequalities between black and white households over the past 70 years,” according to a study from Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Examining data from 1949, the Minneapolis Fed found that “income has grown at a comparable rate for black and white households.”

But, they noted, “this means that pre-civil rights era disparities have largely persisted.” Over time, the “typical” black household is “poorer than 80% of white households,” the authors wrote.

This is the result of “the cumulative effect of government policy in terms of action and inaction. The federal government never intervened to address these white massacres,” said Darity.

Simply put, the flatness of black wealth over time “is the result of American public policy,” he said.

Darity noted that reliable data on black wealth only extends as far back as 70 years, but points to the Homestead Act of 1862 as the beginning of economic disparity between Blacks and whites in the country.

At the end of the Civil War, while freed slaves were denied their promised 40 acres and a mule, he said, whites were given hundreds of acres of free land.


Destruction of black wealth

Over the course of the next century and a half, black communities were systematically destroyed through massacres or through the policy of urban renewal, that razed communities to make way for highways or luxury buildings and shops.

In some instances, Mullen said, these public works projects were never even started.

In the late 19th century, “land was a major source of wealth,” Darity said. “Particularly for folks with middle-income status.” By the 20th century that source of wealth changed — to homeownership.

Denied access to land before the turn of the century, Black households were then subject to racist policies of redlining, contract buying, and land devaluation.

While not the sole predatory policies that plagued the black community, these real estate-based discriminatory practices robbed and denied Blacks in the country of billions.

Redlining ensured that Blacks couldn’t purchase homes in white neighborhoods, systematically denying families mortgages, home insurance, or loans. The practice derived its name from the red line drawn on maps demarcating areas where African Americans lived. Banks would then justify the practice, deeming neighborhoods that had redlined at a “higher risk” for default.

Division of opinions in Chicago. White children play ball in street just west of Ashland as an African American family passes. White homeowners to west of Ashland have formed block clubs, designed to keep the neighborhood white. (AP Photo/JLP)

And when black families went to purchase a home, many fell prey to the practice of contract buying. The scam allowed a home seller to deny a buyer ownership of a home until the home was purchased in full. The buyer would first put down a large down payment, and then make high interest monthly payments. But until the home was purchased in full, the seller held the deed and could evict the buyer at any time. The buyer never accumulated equity in their homes, and no laws protected them.

Once a home was purchased, many African Americans have found their assets to be routinely undervalued, despite structural characteristics and neighborhood amenities that are comparable to white-owned homes nearby.

These practices were deemed illegal and discriminatory over 50 years ago with the Fair Housing Act, but the impact remains today.

According to the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), “much less than half (42%) of Black families own their homes, compared to almost three-quarters (73%) of White families.”
Reparations

In total, these policies over the last century and a half since the Civil War’s end have had the cumulative effect of the depletion of Black wealth.

The JEC has noted in their 2020 study that African Americans experience poverty and unemployment rates that are twice that of their white counterparts, lower life expectancies, and have less than one-tenth the median wealth of whites.

But how to undo centuries of racist policies designed to prevent African Americans from accumulating wealth?

Both Darity and Mullen, authors of the book “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century,” say that reparations is the only way.

Without it, Darity paints a fairly bleak picture on the ability of African Americans to achieve equality. “Black Americans cannot eliminate the racial wealth gap with their autonomous actions, and with their existing resources,” he said.

And as President Trump plans to hold his political rally in Tulsa on June 20, the threads of the Greenwood Massacre carry through today.

After Tulsa, “whatever momentum Black Americans were building that might have contributed to some closure of the wealth gap was immediately demolished,” Darity said.

Kristin Myers is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

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RAILROADS
Employee Headcount at US Class 1 Operations Tumbles 17% in May

FreightWaves June 19, 2020


Rail employment in the U.S. Class I operations fell below 120,000 workers in May, reaching a new low as the railroads trimmed their workforce levels to match the steep declines in rail volumes.

May's overall headcount among the U.S.operations of the Class I railroads totaled 118,880, a 16.9% drop from May 2019 and a nearly 4.5% decline from April 2020, according to freight rail data submitted to the Surface Transportation Board (STB). The total is the lowest since at least January 2012, which is the earliest date that FreightWaves has data available.

Of May's total, headcount levels within the train and engine crew category, which tends to be more sensitive to demand for freight rail service, totaled 43,660, a whopping 25.7% decrease from 60,256 in May 2019 and a 10.3% decline from April 2020.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also show the precipitous drop in rail headcount. The totals in the SONAR chart below reflect rail headcount for both freight and passenger rail.

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U.S. rail headcount levels for passenger and freight rail over the past year. The data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (SONAR)

The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the headcount declines, with sheltering-in-place mandates in April and May slashing rail volumes as citizens stayed at home. As a result, the Class I railroads sought to scale down operations to match lower demand through actions such as implementing fewer train starts and temporarily shutting down facilities with lower traffic.

Although rail volumes appear to have started to recover in recent weeks, a number of the railroads are mulling over to what degree they resume rail operations, particularly for facilities where traffic might've been historically lighter or where there might be perceived inefficiencies.

Should the railroads decide to keep some aspect of their pared-down operations, it could alter headcount levels even further in 2020. Additionally, the pace of how the Class I railroads call back furloughed employees is also likely to affect headcount totals over the coming year.

The uncertainty of how much further freight rail headcount levels could fall comes as some railroads recently announced plans to reorganize their operations partly because of precision scheduled railroading and also because the drop in rail volumes accelerated plans to curtail operations at some locations.

For instance, CSX CSX 1.93% said last week that it was folding its safety and facilities groups into the operations group later this summer – concurrent with the retirement of the head of those groups.

The reorganization comes as CSX terminated 86 employees, each of whom has been offered a severance package and other support to help with their transition, according to the company.

"Last week CSX announced the realignment of responsibilities to better reflect our business needs and to be more productive and efficient. The changes followed a careful review of our management organization that considered what work we should be focused on and whether that work resides in the right place in the organization," CSX said. "The synergies achieved through these realignments unfortunately resulted in the reduction of some management positions across the company."

Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern NSC 2.47% also said last week it would furlough some employees as a result of idling the Bellevue (Ohio) hump yard and transitioning to flat switching there.

Norfolk Southern (NS) said the idling of the yard and the new focus on flat switching "will allow for greater efficiencies and customer service" as NS rolls out its strategic operations plans. The business disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic also accelerated the need to compensate for lower car volumes, NS said.

(Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Joanna Marsh)

Texas Supreme Court Rules Against Family in 'Overworked' Truck Driver Death

FreightWaves June 19, 2020


Despite testimony that an oilfield carrier pushed truck drivers to work more than 100 hours per week and ignore federal hours-of-service regulations, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the family of an "overworked" truck driver killed in a rollover crash can't file a wrongful death lawsuit against the carrier because they couldn't prove the company "intended" for him to die in a crash.

Instead, the court ruled that the family of Fabian Escobedo, who worked for Mo-Vac Service Co. in its Dilly, Texas, terminal for 12 years, could only collect workers' compensation in the crash that resulted in his death.

While Texas law allows spouses and children to recover exemplary damages under the state's Workers' Compensation Act, the attorney representing Escobedo's family, Armando P. Duran, said the law doesn't apply because Escobedo didn't have a spouse or children, which he said: "must be changed."

However, Justice Eva Guzman wrote in her opinion that the Texas legislature should align the Workers' Compensation Act with Texas' wrongful death statute to allow parents to sue.

According to Duran, the Texas Supreme Court should be "ashamed of the decision" it reached in this case.

What happened?

On May 30, 2012, Escobedo was driving a 2007 Mack truck, pulling a 1985 Reynolds tank trailer for Mo-Vac, when he veered off the road, rolled, and died of positional asphyxiation.

Urbano Garza, Mo-Vac manager from 2008 to 2012, testified that he was told by management to instruct his 30-plus truck drivers, including Escobedo, to drive past their legal driving limits to "make money" for the company.

"From what I observed, Mr. Escobedo's death was caused by greed," Garza said in his testimony.

Garza also stated that the truck drivers for Mo-Vac were ordered to work at least 100 hours per week and sometimes worked 19-24 hours straight for the oilfield carrier.

However, only a surviving spouse or heir is allowed to file for exemplary damages under Texas law. In a civil trial, exemplary damages are awarded as a way to punish a defendant for gross negligence or severe misconduct, according to Texas law.

"A hardworking Texan died alone on the side of a highway in a foreseeable accident that likely would not have occurred but for his employer's intentional disregard of laws enacted to protect workers and the public," Guzman said. "Though precedent compels me to concur in the court's conclusion that the Texas Workers' Compensation Act provides the exclusive remedy for the Escobedo family's heart-wrenching loss, I write separately to urge the Legislature to align the Act with Texas's wrongful-death statute by extending the Act's exemplary damages exception to parents who have lost a child, like the Escobedo fami

RADIO BLASTS WITH 'REGULAR RHYTHMS' AND UNKNOWN ORIGIN COMING FROM SPACE, SCIENTISTS SAY

New detections represent the 'the most definitive pattern we’ve seen from one of these sources', according to researchers

CHIME Collaboration

Researchers have picked up strange, repeating rhythms in blasts of energy coming from an unknown source in space.

The blasts are known as fast radio bursts, or FRBs, and are coming to Earth in a stable, repeating pattern, according to a new paper detailing the discovery.

Researchers still do not know the source of those bursts. Though they must come from some very extreme, intense part of the universe, there is no way of knowing what process gives rise to them.

The first FRB was picked up in 2007 and scientists have gone on to find more than 100 since. Initially, they were detected only as individual blasts, but in recent times researchers have found repeating sources.

Now astronomers have started to find bursts repeating in a pattern, where they seem to switch off and on in a predictable pattern.
Read more

Scientists find exact location of radio blasts coming from space

The latest discovery sends out random bursts of radio waves over a four-day window, and then goes quiet for 12 days, before beginning again.

Researchers watched the bursts for more than 500 days, noting that the 16-day pattern occurred consistently over that time, making it the most definitive pattern yet seen.

“This FRB we’re reporting now is like clockwork,” says Kiyoshi Masui, assistant professor of physics in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

“It’s the most definitive pattern we’ve seen from one of these sources. And it’s a big clue that we can use to start hunting down the physics of what’s causing these bright flashes, which nobody really understands.”

The discovery is reported in a new article, titled 'Periodic activity from a fast radio burst source', published in Nature today.

The latest FRBs were picked up by CHIME, a radio telescope in British Columbia that began its work in 2017. Since then, it quickly started picking up FRBs, using a technique that allows it to stare at the entire sky rather than moving around if and when any burst is detected.

The repeating nature of the burst could give new insight into where they are coming from.

Possibilities include one single object such as a neutron star that is spinning and wobbling in space. That could explain the pattern to the blasts, since the 16-day period may be the time it takes for the object to spin around, with the four days of activity the ones in which it is pointing towards us.

STATE CAPITALISM AMERICAN STYLE
Austin area may offer $68 million in tax breaks for potential Tesla plant

Austin competing with Tulsa for site of Cybertruck factory

Published: June 18, 2020 By Associated Press

Tesla has not said when it will announce its decision. BLOOMBERG NEWS

AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin-area school district is considering offering more than $60 million in tax incentives to attract a proposed Tesla “gigafactory” to Central Texas, Tesla TSLA, -0.60% revealed Thursday.

The Del Valle Independent School District proposal was made public in a Tesla tax application filed Thursday with the Texas comptroller’s office. The proposal would offer Tesla $68 million in property tax breaks over 10 years to put its new plant on a 2,100-acre site off Texas 130 just north of the Colorado River on the southeastern outskirts of Austin. Travis County commissioners are considering a separate tax incentive package.

The comptroller’s documents state the real value of the property would average about $600 million per year. Without the Del Valle district incentives package, Tesla would have to pay almost $8 million in property taxes per year.

Austin is competing with Tulsa, Okla., to become the city that hosts the plant that builds the Cybertruck, Tesla’s planned electric pickup truck, and the Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicle. In its application with the Texas comptroller’s officer, Tesla says it is considering the Travis County site and a site or sites in Oklahoma.

The proposed plant would have 4 million to 5 million square feet of space and would be Tesla’s biggest so far. Tesla’s U.S. vehicle assembly factory in Fremont, California, employs 10,000 workers.

In its Thursday filing, Tesla said that if the Del Valle school board approves the incentive package and it proceeds with building on the Travis County site, construction could start in the third quarter of this year and take two to three years to complete.

Tesla has not said when it will announce its decision.

Tesla Asks Texas For Tax Incentives As It Proposes To Start Construction For New Factory By Q3

Neer Varshney , Benzinga Staff Writer June 19, 2020



Tesla Inc. TSLA 0.53% filed an application with an Austin-area school district in Travis County, Texas earlier this month asking for tax incentives to build a new factory, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

What Happened

The automaker said in the application, it has zeroed in on a 2,100 acres site, currently owned by Martin Marietta Materials Inc. Tesla is asking for significant tax incentives for the Texas facility to remain competitive with another site the Palo Alto-based company is considering in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If it goes ahead with the plan to build the factory at the site, Tesla expects to begin construction by the third fiscal quarter this year, investing about $1 billion at the 4 to 5 million square foot assembly facility. The automaker said in the filing that the factory would create 5,000 new jobs.

Why It Matters

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk in March announced that Tesla was scouting for locations to build a new manufacturing facility for its recently-launched Cybertruck.

Tesla has an option to purchase this land, but has not exercised it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 18, 2020

Musk said on Thursday the company hasn't yet purchased the Texas land, and Tesla is "considering several options."
Price Action

Tesla shares closed 1.2% higher at $1,003.96 on Thursday. The shares added another 0.8% in the after-hours session at $1,011.99.

© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Colin Kaepernick Could Be Returning to the NFL


He hasn't played in the league since 2016.
By Christopher Luu

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick could be back on the grass when the NFL season kicks off later this year. Multiple reports state that Kaepernick is on the Los Angeles Chargers's potential workout list, which doesn't guarantee him a spot on the lineup, but does open doors for his return to the league.

Kaepernick hasn't played in the NFL since 2016, when he was on the San Francisco 49ers and started kneeling during the American national anthem as a way to peacefully protest police brutality and systemic racism. After he opted out of his contract that year — reports state that he would have been cut from the team if he didn't opt out — he sued the NFL for collusion, saying that there were plans to keep him out of the league. The case was settled last year, NBC Sports reports.


MIKE EHRMANN / STAFF


RELATED: People Are Seeking Justice for 19-Year-Old Black Lives Matter Activist Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau


Chargers coach Anthony Lynn told ESPN that although he has not spoken to Kaepernick directly, his style of play would fit in with the team's current system. Currently, the team has Tyrod Taylor, Justin Herbert, and Easton Stick listed as quarterbacks.


"I haven't spoken with Colin, not sure where he's at as far in his career, what he wants to do," Lynn said. "But Colin definitely fits the style of quarterback for the system that we're going to be running. I'm very confident and happy with the three quarterbacks that I have, but you can never have too many people waiting on the runway."



Roger Goodell, the NFL's commissioner, later said the NFL was wrong for "not listening to players earlier" when thy voiced concerns of racial injustice and police brutality. His statement came after some of the NFL's most notable came together and posted a video asking the league to condemn racism and support the Black Lives Matter movement. While Goodell didn't mention Kaepernick specifically in his apology, he did encourage the league's teams to consider signing him.

Just last year, Kaepernick had a workout at the Atlanta Falcons's facility, though nothing came of it after media wasn't allowed into the session and the league insisted on a "liability waiver" to be attached to Kaepernick's contract. Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told ESPN last week that he regrets not signing Kaepernick back in 2017. Statements from coaches may provide the league with some sympathy from fans, but Kaepernick is still waiting for real action.

"I've been ready for three years, and I've been denied for three years," Kaepernick told reporters in November. "We all know why I came out here and showed it today in front of everybody — we have nothing to hide. So we're waiting for the 32 owners, the 32 teams, Roger Goodell, all of them to stop running. Stop running from the truth, stop running from the people."

Kaepernick's protest has been top of mind for many people during the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd. Many players and executives who, at the time, turned their backs on him now seem to understand what he was doing. The message was the same in 2016 as it is now, but as pressure mounts, public statements of support seem to be coming from all over the league.


Other sports players did follow in Kaepernick's footsteps at the time, including USA soccer champion Megan Rapinoe. Just this week, FIFA said that they would allow players to take a knee during the National Anthem without penalty. Donald Trump responded how he always has in the past writing on Twitter saying he "wouldn't be watching," now that it's allowed.


RELATED: An Explicit Guide to Being Anti-Racist


The change of heart around Kaepernick should serve as a reminder that Black people have been fighting to end systemic racism forever and their voices have been silenced. His protest was meaningful and it will forever be looked at as a historical moment. Whether or not he comes back to the NFL, these leagues need to listen to the Black players, period.

More than 300 Red Bull employees signed a letter expressing 'concern' about the company's response to Black Lives Matter and asking for 'internal action.' Read their note to executives.

Patrick Coffee BI 6/19/2020

Hip-hop group Naughty by Nature promoting Red Bull's BC One breakdancing competition in 2017. Dean Treml/Red Bull via Getty Images

A letter sent to Red Bull leadership on June 1 and signed by more than 300 employees criticized the company's "public silence" on the Black Lives Matter movement.

The letter titled "Representation Matters at Red Bull" asked the company to go further in recognizing the Black Lives Matter movement and have a conversation about race.
An internal memo from Red Bull's head of communications said the company "stands directly and actively against racism."

Many companies have made statements of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and are being held accountable for their records of diversity and inclusion.


More than 300 Red Bull employees signed a June 1 letter titled "Representation Matters at Red Bull" asking the company to go further in recognizing the Black Lives Matter movement and have a conversation about race.

The letter from employees was sent to North American CEO Stefan Kozak and president and CMO Amy Taylor. It expressed concern about Red Bull's "public silence" regarding the protests and a May 31 staff email that was reviewed by Business Insider and referred to "tremendous heartbreak, pain, and anger across our country" and announced a pause in company meetings and social media activity but did not include the word "Black" or mention George Floyd.

The employees' letter said that Red Bull has drawn heavily from various aspects of Black culture, including hip-hop, breakdancing, and basketball, to promote its products.

"As we say nothing, we are abandoning the communities we claim to support and foster in their time of greatest need," the letter read. "Absence during a time that demands action, reveals purported support as nothing more than exploitation."

The developments come as many companies have made statements of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and are being held accountable for their records of diversity and inclusion.
The company later mentioned Floyd and said Red Bull stood against racism

On June 2, staff received another email written by Kozak that mentioned "the murder of George Floyd and countless others."

Regarding "the current uprising," Kozak wrote, "I share these views and I applaud those who peacefully and courageously have made their voices heard."

Then on June 14, Red Bull's head of communications, Carly Loder, sent an internal memo saying the company stood against racism but did not state that it would publicly support the movement.

"I'm not American. I'm not Black. I cannot even begin to understand for one moment what the last few weeks has been like for our team," Loder wrote. "I want you to know where I personally stand — Black Lives Matter."

The memo then summarized the company's talking points to use with business partners, writing that Red Bull "stands directly and actively against racism" and "supports the Black community and the movement" and that Red Bull "will reinforce Black representation in everything we do" and "direct resources to the efforts of existing and new partners focused on equality in cities across the US."

It stated that executives understood why staff were frustrated with the delayed response and promised "action in short term solutions for Black representation in our organization and in the stories and content we amplify in the market."

The employee letter and staff memos were provided to Business Insider by a Red Bull employee who is known to Business Insider but requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter.

Loder declined to comment beyond the June 14 memo.

Joel "Teknyc" Martinez, a b-boy and graffiti artist who has participated in Red Bull's BC One breakdancing competition, told Business Insider he was upset by a #BlackoutTuesday post that Red Bull shared June 2. He asked the brand on Instagram why it didn't use the phrase "Black Lives Matter" since breakdancing is central to Black and Latino culture.

"This is a paradigm shift. All people wanting a better world is what the protests are about," he said. "Why would Red Bull not stand behind that?"

Below is the full letter that employees sent leadership:

Dear Stefan and Amy,

As protests spread across our nation demanding justice for George Floyd and equal rights and treatment for Black people, the silence from Red Bull has been distressing and heard profoundly. As we scroll through social media feeds filled with brands making posts in solidarity, donating to worthy causes, and committing to looking inward to tackle racism, we wonder when we will be able to feel proud that our company is taking those same steps.

While the cancellation of meetings on Monday and Tuesday to allow for headspace is appreciated, we would like to express concern regarding the internal email that was sent and our public silence thus far. In the email, the word Black was not mentioned once. This is not a vague issue that we can accept being danced around or alluded to. Black people in this country have been traumatized day in and day out, for their entire lives, and this is nothing that should be obscured.

Furthermore, we hoped to see the organization more urgently expressing steps towards real change now instead of simply allowing for individual space. There are many of us who are active, ready, and willing to participate and make change now, today. Instead of simply canceling our normal meetings, could we replace them with available forums to educate employees, learn about allyship, and discuss how we, as a company, can be better when it comes to issues of race? It is crucial now that we ask the right questions and look to our community here, at Red Bull, for the best ways to support each other - rather than retreat into silence, leaving us two days to think alone about these things that profoundly affect our Black neighbors. We believe that as a company we need to do better to our Black counterparts and community, through investing in internal action to catalyze change from the inside out. Unlearning must be part of the process and contributes to ending racism by investing in educational tools and creating new spaces for everyone to be seen and heard.

It is undeniable that many of the spaces Red Bull exists in and prioritizes, like hip-hop, dance, basketball, and electronic music, are born out of Black communities and Black culture. We absolutely cannot continue in these spaces, or continue to profess celebration of Black culture, if we have no intention of supporting the Black community while they are being treated unjustly and murdered in our streets. As we say nothing, we are abandoning the communities we claim to support and foster in their time of greatest need. Absence during a time that demands action, reveals purported support as nothing more than exploitation.

We believe that Red Bull is a company based on values and fulfilled promises, with a legacy of giving wings and supporting niche and underrepresented communities over many years. Hosting incredible music festivals and dropping athletes from space is part of our aspirational brand, but so should be doing the right thing: Standing up for Black employees, Black communities, and all Black people when they need it most. This is not an unexpected position, in fact, it is what our consumers, our partners, and the people we have built our reputation on, demand. We are watching in real-time as people everywhere notice, track, and share which brands are standing up for what is right, while exposing those who abstain. If we truly aim to be the most aspirational brand, perhaps we should aspire to something greater than silence.

We want to hear from you regarding possible next steps. Taking action, openly and loudly, is a signal to employees of the company's commitment - with accountability, beyond lip service – to upholding their safety at work and their right to exist in the world, free of racism. We want to know what will be done internally, and what Red Bull's public stance and action will be on the issue. This is not something that can wait. We believe in the values that Red Bull represents. We are available to participate in any discourse necessary to ensure we take meaningful action in the fight to end racial injustice.