This year has been filled with examples of racial discrimination and police brutality. From Ferguson to Cleveland to McKinney, Texas, we've seen tons of coverage about these often-tragic events, but rarely do we see real discussion about the conditions that lead up to such violence.

Despite what many on the Right claim, our nation has not yet repaired the damage of 250 years of slavery and another 100 years of Jim Crow. And, the fact that we have an African American president does not erase the institutional racism that persists in much of our country.

In a recent op-ed in the Guardian Newspaper, Congressman Keith Ellison explained how "the systematic economic abandonment of black neighborhoods" and "the failed war on drugs" created the violent police tactics that spawned the Black Lives Matter movement.

Congressman Ellison pointed out that in the last 30 years, Republicans enacted policies that left communities of color without jobs or resources, and then criminalized the resulting conditions and sent millions of black men to prison. But, Ellison said, the results of those tactics, "are inevitable, not unstoppable."

The fact is, we can create economic opportunity in communities of color by investing in those neighborhoods. And, we can stop police brutality with better training, more resources, and an end to Nixon's failed drug war.

These aren't radical ideas, they're common sense, and they benefit our nation as a whole as much as they benefit minorities.

Congressman Ellison wrote, "We can't wait another 30 years and just hope that the systematic poverty upheld by Republican policies goes away on its own."

In order to be a stronger, more equal nation, we must lift up all our communities and put an end to institutional racism once and for all.

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

 

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... TPP = profits over people on steroids (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

 

Be sure to check out our newest video: RESTORATION - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners / Visit GreenWorldRising.org to check out all the videos: CARBON, LAST HOURS & GREEN WORLD RISING - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners

 

Need to Know: Who's Buying Up The Votes To Pass The TPP?
- Ari Rabin-Havt, The Agenda (SiriusXM Progress 127)/The Benghazi Hoax    

 

Screwed: TPP is 'Profits Over People' On Steroids
- Richard Eskow, Campaign for America's Future/The Zero Hour (radio)      

 

Best of the Rest: Head Climate Denier Tells Pope to "Butt Out"
- Joelle Novey, Interfaith Power & Light    

 

PLUS, How John McCain & the GOP Pulled Off the Apache Holy Land Heist
- Tara Houska, Tribal Rights Attorney  

Friday's Daily Stack 

In for Thom today, progressive commentators Danielle and Shane-O.

 

Hour One: Hillary, FDR and the Fight For the Four Freedoms
- Professor Harvey Kaye, The Fight For The Four Freedoms: What Made FDR And The Greatest Generation Truly Great/University of Wisconsin-Greenbay  

Book: The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great by Harvey J. Kaye.

Event: June 12 2015: "Talkers New York 2015".

Article: "Clinton's first major rally in Roosevelt Island in New York" by Dan Merica.

Speech: "The Four Freedoms" by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 6 January, 1941.

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution".

Speech: "State of the Union Message to Congress" by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, January 11, 1944.

Speech: "A Rendezvous With Destiny", 27 June 1936 acceptance speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt. "An old English judge once said: "Necessitous men are not free men.""

Article: "Great Society" by Wikipedia.

Book: Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Article: "Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park" by Wikipedia.

Site: "Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park".

 

Article: "North American Free Trade Agreement" (NAFTA) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Hoyer Unveils New "Whip Watch" App to Make the House of Representatives More Open, Accessible" by Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD).

Article: "Fast track (trade) (TPA)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement" (TPP) by EFF.

Article: "Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Progressive at home, muscular abroad, Clinton tries to channel FDR" by Jonathan Allen.

Article: "A Look At The "Trade" Votes That Will Happen Today In the House" by Dave Johnson.

Site: ObamaTrade.

Article: "Wyden and Blumenauer on trade legislation" by Ron Wyden and Earl Blumenauer.

Article: "Bold Dems Fight For America!" by Don Lee and Lisa Mascaro (Drudge Report title).

 

Article: "The Koch brothers and the Republican Party go to war - with each other" by Jon Ward.

 

Are We About To Be The United States of ALEC?
- John Nichols, The Nation Magazine  

Article: "Labor, Farm, Green Groups Oppose Fast Track, But Obama's Got ALEC on His Side" by John Nichols.

 

Anything Goes!
- Hal Sparks, The Hal Sparks Radio Program MEGA World Wide-WCPT Chicago's PRogressive Talk 

Article: "Mike Huckabee Says Josh Duggar's Child Molestation Confession Doesn't Count" by Jason Easley.

Article: "Willie Horton" by Wikipedia.

Book: God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy by Mike Huckabee.

Article: "New child abuse scandal hits Mike Huckabee: Republican White House hopeful's co-author molested girl, 11, and escaped charges because of statute of limitations" by Francesca Chambers.

Case: "Loving v. Virginia", 1967 (miscegenation).

Article: "Carson Warns 'More Groups' Will Want Marriage Equality If Gays Get It" by Daniel Strauss.

Article: "Is this America's first case of gay marriage bigamy? Married lesbian pleads guilty after admitting that she failed to divorce her husband first" by David Mccormack.

 

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones 

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "TRNS News Notes 6/12" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes 6/11" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "Court extends order blocking 'Angola 3' member's release" by Brian Slodysko.

Article: "Congress Rebukes Obama, Rejects TAA" by TRNS.

Article: "Dems deal Obama huge defeat on trade" by Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Lauren French.

Article: "House Passes Fast-track Authority, But Legislation Will Not Move Forward" by TRNS.

Article: "Obama pleads with Dems to save fast-track trade package" by Peter Schroeder and Cristina Marcos. "Because of the way Friday's votes have been set up on the floor, if the TAA bill is defeated the House will not vote on the fast-track measure."

Article: "Race of Rachel Dolezal, head of Spokane NAACP, comes under question" by Ben Brumfield and Greg Botelho.

Hour Three: Anything Goes!
- Hal Sparks, The Hal Sparks Radio Program MEGA World Wide-WCPT Chicago's PRogressive Talk 

Article: "Pea soup fog" (London) by Wikipedia.

Article: "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?" (1980 Libertarian Party platform) by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Executive Orders: Washington - Obama" by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley.

Article: "Commerce Clause" by Wikipedia.

Event: August 19-21, 2015, San Francisco: "2015 Rejuvenation Biotechnology Conference" (featuring Hal Sparks).

Movie: "Far and Away".

Article: "Forty acres and a mule" by Wikipedia.

Article: "40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Fifa corruption inquiries: Officials arrested in Zurich" by BBC.

Article: "Deflategate" by Wikipedia.

  

Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

 

I'll be debating Jeff Stier of the National Center for Public Policy Research about the imminent ban on artificial trans-fats.

 

Plus, The 'Church Lady' Rev. Canon Sally Bingham speaks out on climate change.

 

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

 

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