George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on the 25th May after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee to Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes as he screamed: "I can't breath".
Three other officers watched and restrained him. The four, now former members of the force, have been charged for their involvement in Floyd's death. The violent killing act has sparked outrage, with protests erupting across the USA and in other parts of the world.
June 4 – Telus accepts Stockwell Day’s board resignation after TV comments
Stockwell Day has resigned from the Telus board of directors after he said systemic racism was not an issue in Canada.
Speaking on the late-afternoon Canadian show Power & Politics on CBC News – which examines “the meaning of power and politics in an organisation” – Day also claimed he “knew for a fact” that “most Canadians aren’t racist”.
Apologising via Twitter at 9pm local time, he wrote: “By feedback from many in the Black and other communities I realise my comments in debate on Power and Politics were insensitive and hurtful. I ask forgiveness for wrongly equating my experiences to theirs. I commit to them my unending efforts to fight racism in all its forms.”
The official statement from Telus read: “TELUS Corporation announced today that it has accepted Stockwell Day’s resignation from the TELUS Board of Directors, effective immediately.
“The views expressed by Mr. Day during yesterday’s broadcast of Power & Politics are not reflective of the values and beliefs of our organisation.”
June 3 – Schneider Electric employee outlines five ways to support Black Lives Matter
An employee at Schneider Electric has outlined five ways people can support Black Lives Matter, with the company helping to spread the message via its blog and social media.
Authored by Isabel Barbosa, employer branding content specialist at Schneider Electric, the post is called How to advocate for black people. It reads:
“There is power in numbers, so we need more people to step up to support black lives and call out injustice when they see it and hold people accountable.”
Outlining five ways people can support Black Lives Matter, she urged people to: listen, have empathy, educate, advocate and act.
She continued to write: “Black people are tired of the injustices, inequalities, and racism, but we won’t stop fighting for what is right. We want to live in a world where the black community does not have to fear when doing day to day tasks.”
Describing herself as a “recent graduate”, Barbosa has worked for Schneider Electric for just under two years. According to her LinkedIn profile, her passions lie in marketing and psychology, and “working together to reach a common goal”.
June 2 – Bank of America pledges $1 billion as CEO says: “We all need to do more”
Bank of America (BoA) has pledged US$1 billion to fight racial inequality as part of a four-year “commitment of additional support” to help local communities address economic and racial inequality accelerated by a global pandemic.
BoA said programmes will be focused on assisting people and communities of colour “that have experienced a greater impact from the health crisis”. BoA said the commitment follows earlier work in the areas of economic mobility and workforce development before current events began to unfold.
With four areas of focus – health, jobs/training/reskilling/upskilling, support to small businesses, and housing – work will be executed through the company’s 90 local US market presidents and non-US country executives.
“Underlying economic and social disparities that exist have accelerated and intensified during the global pandemic,” said CEO Brian Moynihan.
“The events of the past week have created a sense of true urgency that has arisen across our nation, particularly in view of the racial injustices we have seen in the communities where we work and live,” he continued.
“We all need to do more.”
