Alex Salmon reviews Elvis, Baz Luhrmann’s new biopic which explores the life and music of the global cultural icon known as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”.
civil rights
Matt Haubrick reports on a successful community campaign against another government attempt to introduce a draconian anti-protest law.
Stuart Rees warns about governments' distain for human rights as police are deployed to harass or arrest citizens, and even parliamentarians.
Black Lives Matter leaders stand on the shoulders of civil rights movement of the 1960s, writes Malik Miah. John Lewis's life reflects the power of that revolutionary leadership and its inspiration for today's new leaders.
The rebellion against police violence and murder continues to expand in the United States. New demands are being raised concerning issues of institutional racism by Black and Brown people and in opposition to the symbols of white genocide by Native American nations, writes Malik Miah.
Black men and women are murdered by cops and white thugs, and nothing happens. The criminal “justice” system legally backs the crimes of cops and racists as “justifiable”. It happens so often that African Americans initially just shrug and hold back outrage, writes Malik Miah. Then anger explodes when the truth is revealed.
The Socialist Alliance has released the following plan to combat COVID-19.
Governments are opting for authoritarian measures they claim will protect us in the pandemic. Jacob Andrewartha argues their main focus should be educational and service-focused.
Banned from entering Australia by the federal government, former United States intelligence analyst turned whistleblower Chelsea Manning instead delivered her message of hope to audiences in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane via video link.
The Australian immigration department denied Manning a visa on the basis of failing “the character test”, citing as grounds the time she spent in jail for leaking documents that exposed US war crimes in Iraq.
Selma
Directed by Ava DuVernay
Starring David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo & Common
In cinemas now
The release of Selma could not be better suited to the current US political climate. Following the events in Ferguson last year, and many other tragic instances of police murdering and brutalising African American youth, a large anti-police brutality and anti-racism movement has arisen that is shaking the US.
The Copenhagen City Court ruled on September 2 that climate activists Natasha Verco, a 32-year-old activist from Australia, and Noah Weiss, a US student, were innocent of the charges against them.
The two climate activists had been charged for organising “illegal activities” during the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December 2009. Verco and Weiss had been accused of planning violence against police, disturbance of public order and vandalism.
The charges could have lead to several years of prison and deportation. But the charges didn’t stand up in court.
Beyond Black & White
By Manning Marable
Verso Press, 2009, 319 pages
Review by Malik Miah
Manning Marable’s latest book is an update of a valuable critique of Black and US politics first issued in 1995. He revised it last year, adding new chapters covering the period from 1995 to 2008, including an analysis of the meaning of the election of the first African American president of the US, Barack Obama, in November 2008.
