The mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice appeared together for the first time on CNN.
In an interview with Anderson Cooper on Friday, the mothers of the four deceased, unarmed African American males explained that if their sons were white, they would still be alive.
"I think absolutely my son's race and the color of his skin had a lot to do with why he was shot and killed," said Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother.
Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr said:
"If Eric Garner was a white man in Suffolk County doing the same thing that he was doing -- even if he would have been caught selling cigarettes that day -- they would have given him a summons and he wouldn't have lost his life that day... I believe that 100 percent."
The mothers also told Cooper that white people don't quite understand what communities of color are going through, partly because they don't have to.
Fulton:
"It's not happening to them, so they don't quite get it... They don't quite understand. They think that it's a small group of African-Americans that's complaining... The people say that all the time: 'What are they complaining about now? What are they protesting about now?
Until it happens to them and in their family then they'll understand the walk. They don't understand what we're going through. They don't understand the life and they don't understand what we're fighting against. I don't even think the government quite gets it."
Martin died in 2012 in Florida when neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman shot him. Martin was seventeen years old. Zimmerman was acquitted of second degree murder and manslaughter.
Brown died in Ferguson, Mo. in an altercation with police officer Darren Wilson in August. A grand jury voted not to indict Wilson in November.
In July, Garner died after NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in a chokehold, a death the medical examiner concluded was a homicide. The incident was recorded on video. A grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo, which sparked a new wave of protests inspired by Garner's last words, "I can't breathe."
12-year-old Tamir Rice was at a Cleveland park when a police car pulled up and shot him last month. His death was ruled a homicide according to a Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's autopsy report.
Eminem is THE global rap superstar. This concert was filmed at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2005 at the culmination of his farewell tour prior to his retirement. It's a spectacular show with multi-level staging, amazing lighting and guest appearances from D12, Obie Trice and Stat Quo.
Multi-Facial is a 1995 short film directed, written, produced, scored by and starring Vin Diesel. The story depicts the professional and emotional issues faced by Mike, a multiracial actor.
Multitalented Community star Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, is shaping up for a big 2015. He recently landed a meaty role in next year's The Martian alongside Matt Damon, will appear in Magic Mike 2, and now he's set to star in a series pilot for FX titled Atlanta.
Deadline reports that Atlanta would center "around two cousins on their way up through the Atlanta rap scene whose opposing views on art versus commerce, success and race will make their quest anything but easy."
Glover, who is executive producing Atlanta, will play “Earnest ‘Earn’ Marks,” a college dropout who decides to pursue his hip hop dreams after his cousin becomes a star. So far, FX has only ordered the pilot, which means its a long way off from becoming an actual series, but it's a big development for a project that has been stalled for more than a year.
The news comes just a week after Glover received two Grammy nominations for his work as Childish Gambino on the album Because the Internet.
Three people were injured in a shooting at a Portland, Ore. high school, officials say.
The Associated Press reports that the incident took place this afternoon at Rosemary Anderson High School, a school for at-risk students. Sgt. Pete Thompson described the scene to Associated Press:
The shooting was reported after noon and happened at a corner outside the school, Simpson said. The assailant fled, and the students ran back to the school for help, he said.
Officers don't know whether the shooter was alone or with others, but Simpson says preliminary information suggests it's gang-related.
According to the Associated Press, the victims—two boys and one girl—were conscious when they were hospitalized.
Spike Lee's new stylized thriller DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is a new kind of love story. Dr. Hess Green (Stephen Tyrone Williams) becomes cursed by a mysterious ancient Afrian artifact and is overwhelmed with a newfound thirst for blood. He however is not a vampire. Soon after his transformation he enters into a dangerous romance with Ganja Hightower (Zaraah Abrahams) that questions the very nature of love, addiction, sex, and status in our seemingly sophisticated society.
Dale, Kurt and Nick decide to start their own business but things don't go as planned because of a slick investor, prompting the trio to pull off a harebrained and misguided kidnapping scheme.
This is the movie the food industry doesn't want you to see. FED UP blows the lid off everything we thought we knew about food and weight loss, revealing a 30-year campaign by the food industry, aided by the U.S. government, to mislead and confuse the American public, resulting in one of the largest health epidemics in history. From Katie Couric, Laurie David (Oscar winning producer of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) and director Stephanie Soechtig, FED UP will change the way you eat forever.
