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Soweto 40 Years Later: South Africa’s Still Violent Policing

Andrew Faull The Conversation
On June 16, 1976, thousands of school children in Soweto, Johannesburg, took to the streets to protest the apartheid government’s decision to educate them in Afrikaans. The police used teargas and then gunfire and the apartheid system was shaken irrevocably. While the South African Police Service is now very different from its apartheid predecessor, far too many similarities remain. One cannot reform a police service without reforming the context in which it operates.

Old New York Police Surveillance Is Found

Joseph Goldstein New York Times
The boxes, according to a written index, contain extensive files about the Black Panthers, the Nation of Islam and the Young Lords, as well as public demonstrations and civil unrest.

BDS: Discussing Difficult Issues in a Fast-Growing Movement

Omar Barghouti al-shabaka
Boycotts have historically been one of the main popular resistance strategies available to Palestinians of all walks of life, and today, in the realm of international solidarity, BDS is the most important and strategic form of support to our struggle for self-determination.

Bernie Sanders Speech in Burlington, Vermont, June 16

Bernie Sanders Politico
I hope very much that many of you listening tonight are prepared to engage at that level. Please go to my website at berniesanders.com/win to learn more about how you can effectively run for office or get involved in politics at the local or state level. I have no doubt that with the energy and enthusiasm our campaign has shown that we can win significant numbers of local and state elections if people are prepared to become involved.

Why are We Hooked on Films About Mass Destruction?

Nicholas Barber The Guardian
As Independence Day: Resurgence explodes into cinemas - and obliterates most of London's landmarks - it's clear that the first installment of the series 20 years ago changed the nature of summer blockbusters for ever.

Was Orlando Killer Omar Mateen Poisoned by the Closet?

Tim Teeman The Daily Beast
The latest theory posits Orlando mass murderer Omar Mateen as a murderous closet case. If it’s true—and who knows?—then it starkly shows how much still needs to be done to help LGBT people live openly and equally.

It’s Time to Glitter Bomb the NRA. Who’s In?

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum The Nation
Let’s get 1,000 LGBTQ folks to the NRA headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, and wrap it in a huge Gilbert Baker rainbow flag and with glitter and feathers shut that building down. And do it again and again.

Friday Nite Videos -- June 17, 2016

Portside
Bernie Sanders National Live Stream Address. 13-Year-Old Stand-Up Owns Donald Trump. Double Domestication for Dogs? A Survivor's Poem: The Guilt of Being Alive. Gun Control and the Second Amendment.