St. Louis Public Radio

Time 2020-06-21 13:03:52

Web Name: St. Louis Public Radio

WebSite: http://news.stlpublicradio.org

ID:6830

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Thousands Across St. Louis Celebrate Juneteenth, A Day Of Liberation And Struggle Thousands of people across the St. Louis region gathered Friday to commemorate Juneteenth, the day when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free. But the day of celebration reflected the sadness of Black Americans who still yearn for equality more than 150 years after the Civil War ended — and their hope that a renewed struggle will lead to lasting change. “ Juneteenth exists because some truth that was hidden was finally uncovered, and it's a celebration of that truth being liberated,” said the Rev. Michelle Higgins, senior pastor of St. John’s United Church of Christ. Read MoreProtesters against police brutality again took to the streets near the Florissant Police Department on Saturday, as tensions again flared between demonstrators and police. Florissant police in riot gear shouted at protesters to “move back,” and called the gathering an unlawful assembly. The crowd grew late Saturday as people angry at how police forcefully stopped the previous day's protest took to social media to urge others to come to Florissant. St. Louis’ beloved City Museum has long prided itself on having very few rules — “don’t run” being one of them. But when the 600,000-square-foot playland reopened Wednesday after months without visitors, it had a host of new policies and procedures in place.  Those new rules are designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, even while allowing guests access to the giant tunnels and slides that have long been the museum’s raison d’etre — well, most of them, anyway. In addition to some features being closed, now visitors have to reserve their spots ahead of time. If they’re over 9 years old, they have to wear masks. And the museum will be given a complete cleaning between groups of visitors. On Friday’s St. Louis on the Air, general manager Rick Erwin discussed the difficulty of bringing order to a place that has long promised near-total freedom.  Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the Belleville News-Democrat. Organizers of a Black Lives Matter protest march set to begin at Empire Comfort Systems in Belleville on Friday have accused the company of allowing racial discrimination and recently producing a calendar that included artwork they deemed racist. In a meeting Wednesday morning, the two sides came together and agreed to cooperate. An Empire executive plans to march with the crowd, and the company has offered to make signs in its print shop. Proponents of airport privatization are back with a new message — and it’s about helping north St. Louis. St. Louis Rising, a joint organization involving the St. Louis City NAACP and the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council, is working to collect 20,000 signatures to put the question of privatization before voters in November. Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis City NAACP, said leasing St. Louis Lambert International Airport could bring in at least $1.7 billion, and he has a plan to earmark at least $1 billion of that money to address decades of underdevelopment in predominantly black neighborhoods. The first elections in the city of St. Louis since the coronavirus pandemic began are scheduled for Tuesday. Voters in the 4th Ward, which includes the historic Ville neighborhood, and the 12th Ward in southwest St. Louis will elect their representatives on the Board of Aldermen. The contests were originally set for May 19 but rescheduled to comply with public health restrictions. For generations, June 19 has been a day of celebration of heritage and liberation for many African Americans. Family and community gatherings across the nation, particularly in the South, commemorate the day when enslaved people in Texas learned they were free.  As the nation enters a new era in the struggle for equality during weeks of protests aimed at stopping police from killing black people, Juneteenth celebrations are taking on greater significance, said Sowandé Mustakeem, an associate professor of history and Africa and African American studies at Washington University.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration cannot arbitrarily end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. President Barack Obama implemented the program in 2012 to allow people who entered the U.S. without authorization as children to remain in the country. The high court’s 5-4 decision protects about 800,000 immigrants known as Dreamers, at least temporarily, and comes as a relief for St. Louis-area DACA recipients. Updated June 18 with new leadership being appointed at Fort Leonard Wood  The first woman to lead Fort Leonard Wood is getting a new position and will be leaving Missouri.  Maj. Gen. Donna Martin will be the next Provost Marshal General of the Army and lead the entire branch’s law enforcement and criminal investigation division. She will be based in Virginia. Today marks 100 years since the inception of St. Louis Lambert International Airport. On June 18, 1920, Major Albert Bond Lambert and the Missouri Aeronautical Society leased 170 acres of farmland in north St. Louis County to serve as an airfield for St. Louis. Today, it is the oldest continuously operating commercial airport in the U.S. In addition to being a commercial airport, the Lambert site has proved useful for manufacturing companies. From 1928 to the present, more than 10,000 airplanes have been built there, including parts of the Gemini and Mercury spacecrafts. Daniel Rust says it’s unprecedented to have this kind of manufacturing at a major hub for commercial air traffic.  At 17, St. Louis resident Antigone Chambers Reed is already a writer, actor and human rights activist. And earlier this month, she added yet another role to the mix when she was named the 2020 Jamala Rogers Young Visionary. The award is given annually by the Youth Council for Positive Development, recognizing young adults who are working for social justice and making a difference in their community. The council is associated with the Organization for Black Struggle, which celebrated 40 years of existence earlier this year. Reed’s project, Writing Through Trauma, impressed the selection committee with its vision to provide people in her community with a safe, creative space to process, heal and share lived experiences of violence. Making use of the $2,000 prize that accompanies the award, Reed expects to launch her free virtual workshop later this year. Monday: Body Cameras Will Bring Changes To St. Louis Police Department Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards will discuss the body cameras and the devilish details that could keep the police union and transparency advocates at loggerheads in their implementation. Live Updates: Coronavirus In The St. Louis Region Noon Thursday, June 4 As we said in our note Tuesday, we are suspending the blog to focus our newsroom’s resources on other important stories in our region. Many readers wrote to us asking where or how they can keep up with data about how quickly the coronavirus is spreading in our region. Consider this a parting gift that will keep on giving: St. Louis Public Radio has built a dashboard that will update daily with information about how many new coronavirus cases and deaths we have in our bi-state region. Read More

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