Crime

Mother of Slain Teenager to Speak Out in Washington, D.C.

Published

12 years ago

December 3, 2013

Brenda Grisham, leader of Their Lives Matter, an Oakland-based organization, will represent California Dec. 12 at the National Vigil for Murder Victims across the States in Washington, D.C.

Grisham, who is the mother of Christopher LaVell Jones, a teenager who was gunned down in Oakland, will be participating in pre-vigil activities including feeding the homeless and visiting the Washington Navy Yard, the site of a recent mass shooting.

Members of Their Lives Matter and Chicago’s Citizen for Change will meet with legislators to discuss the proposed Universal Background Check Law as well as participate in the National Candlelight Vigil for murder victims across the United States at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C

The events are sponsored by the Newtown Foundation in partnership with the Newtown Action Alliance, the Washington National Cathedral and Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence.

Among the local people who will go to Washington D.C. are Anita Wills, grandmother of Kerry Baxter killed on Jan.11, 2011; Davoria Williams, mother of Clifford Snead killed Oct. 28, 2012; and Antoinette Johnson, mother of Terrell Reams, murdered April 22, 2013.

Their Lives Matter is seeking donations to help pay for the trip. Go to www.christopherlavelljonesfoundationinc.org or www.theirlivesmatter.com to make a debit or credit card donation. Send checks or money orders payable to the Christopher LaVell Jones Foundation Inc., 7401 Fresno St., Oakland, CA 94605.

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Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

6 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.