Tag: Boycott

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Lucille Occasions, Who Impressed the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dies at 100

Lucille Times, Who Inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dies at 100

Mrs. Times drove away angrily. “My blood was almost boiling,” she said. “I didn’t even take my clothes to the dry cleaner.”

At home, her husband Charlie had heard of the incident. Together they called ED Nixon, head of the local NAACP chapter, and asked what they could do. He came over that night.

As a child, she had participated in a boycott of a butcher shop in Detroit where she was visiting relatives and suggested to Mr. Nixon that the city’s black community could do the same. He agreed, but said the time was not right – they would need money, cars, and other supplies to make this happen. He asked her to be patient.

She called the city bus company to complain, but no one answered. She sent letters to The Montgomery Advertiser and The Atlanta Journal, but they refused to print them. She decided not to wait.

Over the next six months, she conducted her own boycott, driving to bus stops and offering free rides to black passengers waiting to board. Charlie, who runs a cafe across from her house, raised money for gasoline, and they used the cafe as a planning hub – people could call Charlie to arrange a ride and he would put together a timetable for his wife.

“Lucille was called in for bears and she wouldn’t stop at nothing,” said Mr. Nichols. “She was full steam ahead.”

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a seamstress and activist with the Montgomery NAACP, boarded Mr Blake’s bus and sat in the front area reserved for white drivers. When he ordered her to go back, she refused and was arrested. Four days later, the Montgomery Improvement Association, formed in coordination with the NAACP and led by a 26-year-old preacher, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., headed a city-wide boycott.

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Politics

Texas will get concerned in Israel’s combat with Ben & Jerry’s over West Financial institution boycott

Texas gets involved in Israel's fight with Ben & Jerry's over West Bank boycott

A family is enjoying the visitor attractions at the Ben & Jerrys factory in Waterbury, Vermont on June 24, 2021.

Christiana Botic | Boston Globe | Getty Images

The struggle between Israel and Palestinians spills over to 30 US states whose laws prevent pension funds from investing in companies that refuse to do business with the Jewish state.

The most recent example concerns the socially conscious ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s, the West Bank and Texas.

Earlier this week, Ben & Jerry’s board of directors said it would no longer allow sales in areas it believes Israel should not control. The company issued a statement stating, “We believe it is inconsistent with our values ​​for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

The company, now owned by global consumer giant Unilever, has been selling its brand in Israel through a local Israeli distributor for decades. Unilever said it would seek a new deal to sell ice cream in Israel, but not in territories claimed by Palestinians for their own state.

In Israel, companies are prevented from treating customers and subsidiaries differently in what Israel calls “disputed territory” from what much of the world recognizes as Israeli territory. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett this week promised to act “aggressively” on the ice cream company founded in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who are Jewish and progressive.

The American flag and the Texas State Flag flutter over the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas.

Brian Snyder | Reuters

Now Texas is getting involved.

A spokesman for Republican Governor Greg Abbott told CNBC on Tuesday evening: “Ben and Jerry’s decision to boycott parts of Israel is a shame and an insult to America’s closest allies in the Middle East.” The statement went on to say, “Unilever, the parent company of Ben and Jerry, must reverse this ill-conceived decision.”

Abbott signed a bill four years ago that would force Texas pension funds to part ways with companies boycotting Israel.

State auditor Glenn Hegar, who controls billions of dollars in assets for Texas public pension funds, has already urged his office to take action. In a statement to CNBC, he said, “I have directed my employees to determine if certain actions by Ben & Jerry’s or Unilever would trigger listing under Chapter 808 of the Texas Government Code,” the law passed in 2017.

It is also possible that sales in states with anti-boycott laws could be affected. If Ben & Jerry’s or Unilever bid for a contract with a public agency, they could be disqualified if the boycott becomes a reality.

Florida State CFO Jimmy Patronis, who controls the public pension funds, told CNBC that his office began discussing the issue Tuesday morning. “I find what is happening very worrying,” he said in a text. But he wasn’t ready to say what action could be taken.

Airbnb was the last company involved in a similar problem. In 2018, the rental site said it bans the listing of Israeli property in the West Bank, territory that the Palestinians claim they should be part of their state.

An Airbnb listing in Israel

Airbnb

But the company turned around a few months later and was now looking at listings on a “case-by-case” basis, according to a statement on its website.

Ben & Jerry’s board of directors, who have a unique agreement with parent company Unilever that allows for an oversized role in decision-making on social issues, initiated the withdrawal from Israel this week.

Following the Ben & Jerry statement, Unilever released its own on Monday saying, “We remain fully committed to our presence in Israel, where we have invested in our people, brands and business for several decades.” In addition, the company’s CEO spoke to Bennett this week. Following the interview, Israel’s new Prime Minister said: “This is an action with grave consequences, including legal consequences, and it (Israel) will take vigorous action against any boycott directed against its citizens.”

Ben & Jerry chairman Anuradha Mittal has not responded to CNBC about the implications of the decision and the possibility of divesting Unilever’s state pension funds. In a telephone interview on Thursday, Ben & Jerry’s spokesman Sean Greenwood said, “The company has nothing to add beyond the original statement,” which was released Monday.

Speaking to NBC News earlier this week, Mittal went after Unilever for making its own statement on the subject, calling it a “deception”. She added, “I can’t stop thinking this is what happens when you have a board with all the women and people of color pushing to do the right thing.”

Unilever did not respond to CNBC calls or emails asking for a response to the possibility of a sale by state pension funds.

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Politics

Pelosi requires ‘diplomatic boycott’ of 2022 China Olympics on human rights grounds

Pelosi calls for 'diplomatic boycott' of 2022 China Olympics on human rights grounds

A Chinese man wears a protective mask as he stands in front of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics logos at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China on April 9, 2021.

Lintao Zhang | Getty Images

House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., On Tuesday called for a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in response to China’s human rights record.

“We cannot pretend there is nothing wrong with the Olympics in China,” Pelosi told the Congress Human Rights Commission and the Congressional Executive Commission for China during a hearing on the Games.

Pelosi suggested in her remarks that athletes should still be able to take part in the Games, but that the leaders and kings of the world should not travel to attend them in person.

“When heads of state go to China in the face of a genocide that is going on while you are in your seats, the real question is, what moral authority do you need to speak about human rights anywhere in the world when you are ready, the Chinese government? To show her respect when she commits genocide? “

Pelosi has beaten corporate sponsors of the Games, who “look the other way at China’s abuses out of concern for their bottom line.” She specifically called on companies that are allegedly committed to weakening parts of a bipartisan law aimed at the use of forced labor in the Xinjiang region.

“If we do not speak out against human rights violations in China for commercial reasons, we will lose all moral authority to stand up for human rights anywhere,” said Pelosi.

China has labeled “lies and disinformation” allegations that it violates the human rights of Muslims in Xinjiang.

The games are scheduled to open on February 4, 2022.

Pelosi acknowledged that their proposed diplomatic boycott may not work. “I don’t know if it’s possible because we haven’t done it in the past,” she said.

In 2008, Pelosi called on then-President George W. Bush to boycott the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Beijing to protest against China’s human rights record, which at the time was largely marred by the government’s actions in Tibet.

Bush attended the opening of these games along with more than 80 other heads of state.

Activists and lawmakers from both parties have called on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2022 Olympics in protest. They cite China’s reported treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang – which has been labeled genocide by both the Trump and Biden administrations – and Beijing’s response to protests in Hong Kong.

The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee has said it opposes boycotts, including because they affect athletes who have trained for years to compete.

The White House previously left the door open for a boycott, but press secretary Jen Psaki said last month that such a move would not be discussed.

“While China has changed in some ways over 30 years, it is appalling that its human rights record has deteriorated,” Pelosi said in the virtual hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

Pelosi stressed that she is a dedicated Olympic fan and that the athletes’ performance in the Games is a source of pride.

“Let’s honor them at home,” said Pelosi. “Let’s not honor the Chinese government by letting heads of state go to China to show their support for their athletes.”

“Silence on this issue is unacceptable. It enables China’s abuse,” Pelosi said.

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Business

English Soccer Proclaims Social Media Boycott to Protest On-line Abuse

English Soccer Announces Social Media Boycott to Protest Online Abuse

English football officials said Saturday they would hold a social media blackout this coming weekend to protest “the ongoing and ongoing discriminatory abuse that players and many others have received online related to football”.

The boycott is supported by a coalition of groups including the Premier League, the richest and most famous football league in the world, but also the English Football Association. the two best professional levels in men’s and women’s football; Referee; the country’s players’ union and others.

The action is the most direct effort by a sport to date to pressure social media companies like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to take action against online abuse. It follows a season in which players, clubs, team leaders, referees, commentators and others are active and was the target of abuse.

The social media boycott also follows a week of anger and street protests against top clubs and their owners who tried – and failed – to create a breakaway European Super League that would have sealed them off from many structures, including the pay system Sustaining football for a century. At each of the protests there were vitriolic demands on the owners of teams to sell.

Cases of harassment have been well documented online. In February, Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah posted a picture on Twitter entitled “Work with a Smile!”

The tweet was racially abused by a Twitter user who told Nketiah, who is black, to leave the club. Twitter responded by permanently banning the user’s account, Sky Sports reported.

Such harassment was instigated not only by fans but also by the club’s social media accounts. In December, commentator and former soccer player Karen Carney deleted her Twitter account after receiving a wave of online abuse.

After Leeds United beat West Brom 5-0, Carney wondered on Amazon Prime Video Sport whether Leeds would “blow up” at the end of the season. A clip of her comment was shared on the Leeds team’s Twitter account, which dumped a lot of hateful messages for Carney.

Many on Twitter defended her and criticized the team’s social media people, including former Leeds captain Rio Ferdinand, who demanded that the tweet be deleted.

Bethany England, a Chelsea forward, called on the Leeds social media team for “cruel behavior”.

“Cyber ​​bullies an expert and opens her up to mass online abuse for doing her job and speaking out!” England said.

In February, the top executives of the Football Association – the English Football Association – the Premier League and other organizations wrote an open letter to Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, urging those responsible to do so an end to the “level of malicious, offensive abuse” emanating from users on their platforms.

“The reality is that your platforms continue to be havens for abuse,” the football managers wrote. “Your inaction has made the anonymous perpetrators believe that they are unreachable.”

In the past, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have taken steps such as: B. the temporary or permanent ban on users, but the problems of online abuse have continued to arise.

In a press release announcing the social media boycott, which will run from Friday afternoon through Monday, English football urged the UK to “put in place tough laws to keep social media companies out for what is on their platforms happens to make you more accountable “.

In the statement, Richard Masters, the Premier League executive director, said the league would continue to urge social media companies to make changes to prevent online abuse.

“Racist behavior of any kind is unacceptable and the appalling abuse that players receive on social media platforms must not continue,” said Masters. “Football is a diverse sport that brings together communities and cultures from all areas. This diversity strengthens competition.”

It’s not the first time football has tried to shed light on racism.

For example, players and coaches in the Premier League and other top leagues have kneeled the whole season before kick-off to support the Black Lives Matter movement – at the suggestion of the league team captains and with the support of league officials.

But some players and even entire teams who are frustrated because there is no concrete progress on racial issues and who feel that the gesture has become more performative than productive have recently stopped participating.

Crystal Palace striker Wilfried Zaha said he had come to view kneeling as “demeaning” and said he would stop and focus his efforts on other areas. Brentford, a team in England’s second division championship, stopped kneeling before the games in February. While the players said in a statement that they still support the anti-racism effort, they said, “We believe we can use our time and energy to promote racial equality in other ways.”

The social media blackout will take place while a slew of games are played across multiple leagues, including one between Manchester United and Liverpool, the defending champions of the Premier League.

Edleen John, director of international relations at the football association, said English football will not stop pushing for change after next weekend.

“It is simply unacceptable that people throughout English football and society should continue to be exposed to discriminatory abuse online on a daily basis with no real consequences for the perpetrators,” said John. “Social media companies must be held accountable if they continue to fail to fulfill their moral and social responsibilities to solve this endemic problem.”

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Georgia Religion Leaders to Urge Boycott of Dwelling Depot Over Voting Legislation

Georgia Faith Leaders to Urge Boycott of Home Depot Over Voting Law

A grand coalition of black faith leaders in Georgia, representing more than 1,000 churches in the state, will call for a boycott of Home Depot Tuesday, arguing that the company has given up its responsibilities as a good corporate citizen by failing to accept the responsibility of the state has pushed back new electoral law.

Calling for a boycott, led by Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, who oversees all 534 African Methodist episcopal churches in Georgia, is one of the first major steps to put companies under significant economic pressure to stand up against Republican efforts in Georgia and Georgia to put across the country to impose new restrictions on voting.

“We don’t think this is simply a political matter,” Bishop Jackson said in an interview. “This is a matter of securing the future of this democracy, and the greatest right in this democracy is the right to vote.”

Mr. Jackson, Home Depot, said, “There has been an indifference, a lack of response to calls, not just from clergy, but from other groups to speak out against this legislation.”

While boycotts can be a challenge that puts significant financial pressure on large corporations, the call nonetheless marks a new phase in the struggle for the right to vote in Georgia, where many democrats and civil rights groups are reluctant to support boycotts and risk unfair collateral damage to workers of the company.

However, pointing to the use of boycotts in the civil rights movement when the rights of black voters were threatened, the Coalition of Faith leaders said their call to action was intended as a “warning shot” for other state lawmakers.

“This is not just a Georgia question. We are talking about a democracy in America that is under threat, ”said Rev. Timothy McDonald III, pastor of the First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta. “We must use every leverage and force we have, including our dollars, to help people understand that this is a national campaign.”

Home Depot is headquartered in Georgia and is one of the largest employers in the state. While other major Georgian corporations like Coca-Cola and Delta have spoken out against the state’s new electoral law, Home Depot has not and only made a statement this month that “the most appropriate approach for us is our conviction further emphasize that all elections should be accessible, fair and safe. “

One of the company’s founders, Arthur Blank, said in a conversation with fellow executives earlier this month that he supports voting rights even though he is not publicly involved in the fight. Another founder, Ken Langone, is a supporter of former President Donald J. Trump.

Mr Jackson said Home Depot’s religious leaders called for four specific measures: speak out against Georgia electoral law, publicly oppose similar bills in other states, offer support for the John Lewis Suffrage Bill in Congress, and assist in litigation against Georgian law.

Not all constituencies are on board with a boycott.

“I cannot fully support a boycott in Georgia,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of the Georgia chapter of Common Cause. “The boycott hurts the person of the working class. But companies need to be held accountable for where they put their dollars. “

Faith leaders recognized the concerns of Democratic and Republican leaders about the effects of boycotts, but felt the stakes were high enough.

“It is unfortunate for those who will be affected, but how many millions will be affected if they do not have the right to vote?” said Jamal H. Bryant, the senior pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.

“And so, when we weigh up, we understand, tongue in cheek, that this is a necessary evil,” said Dr. Bryant. “But it has to happen for the good to happen.”

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U.S. backs away from boycott

U.S. backs away from boycott

Chinese citizens walk past a sign for the Beijing Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China.

Lintao Zhang | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – The State Department on Tuesday evening denied considering a joint boycott with allies of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

“Our position on the 2022 Olympics has not changed. We have not and are not discussing a joint boycott with allies and partners,” wrote a senior State Department official in a statement emailed to CNBC.

The department’s spokesman, Ned Price, had initially suggested during a press conference earlier on Tuesday that a boycott of the Olympic Games was one of the ways to combat China’s human rights violations.

The Olympic Games will take place between February 4th and 20th.

Any discussion of a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics would come when the Biden government works to rally allies to push China back internationally. While there is broad support from both parties for a tougher political stance on China, there is little consensus that a boycott would be the most productive route.

Continue reading: Calls for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics are getting louder – and analysts are warning of reprisals from China

A former senior tax officer, who asked anonymity to describe previous considerations on the matter, suggested that such a move would reflect a “Cold War Declaration” on behalf of the United States.

“It’s better to go there and dominate,” the official told CNBC. “It’s better to be Jesse Owens than the 1984 Soviets.” (Owens, a black American sprinter, won four gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Nazi Berlin in 1936. The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Games after the US rejected the 1980 Moscow Games in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan .)

Last month, the United States sanctioned two Chinese officials citing their role in serious human rights violations against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. The Biden government’s sanctions complement those of the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Beijing previously denied US allegations that it committed genocide against the Uyghurs, a Muslim population native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China. The State Department called such claims “malicious lies” to “smear China” and “thwart China’s development.”

The sanctions followed a controversial meeting between Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomats Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi in Alaska.

Before the Alaska talks, Blinken slammed China’s widespread use of “coercion and aggression” on the international stage, warning that the US would push back if necessary.

“China is using coercion and aggression to systematically undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, undermine democracy in Taiwan, abuse human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet, and assert maritime claims in the South China Sea that violate international law,” said Flashing at a press conference in Japan.

Biden, who spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping in February, previously said his stance on China would differ from that of his predecessor in that he would work more closely with allies to secure a knockback against Beijing.

“We will face China’s economic abuse,” said Biden in a speech at the State Department, describing Beijing as America’s “most serious competitor.”

“But we are also ready to work with Beijing if it is in the US interest. We will compete from a position of strength by improving at home and working with our allies and partners.”

Tensions between Beijing and Washington increased under the Trump administration, escalating a trade war and helping to ban Chinese tech companies from doing business in the United States.

Over the past four years, the Trump administration blamed China for a variety of abuses, including intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices and, most recently, the coronavirus pandemic.

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Business

H&M Faces a Boycott in China Over Assertion on Uyghurs

H&M Faces a Boycott in China Over Statement on Uyghurs

Fashion retailer H&M faces a possible boycott in China after a statement by the company last year expressing deep concern over reports of forced labor in Xinjiang sparked a social media storm this week.

A similar statement by Nike was also criticized on Wednesday, a sign that Western apparel manufacturers in China may face growing hostility over their public stance against forced labor in Xinjiang and the cessation of cotton sourcing from the region.

The H&M statement, which can be found on the Swedish retailer’s website, was released in September after global control over the use of Uyghurs in forced labor in Xinjiang increased.

In it, H&M said it is “deeply concerned about reports from civil society organizations and media containing allegations of forced labor and discrimination against ethnic-religious minorities” in Xinjiang and that it has stopped buying cotton from producers in the region.

More than eight months later, following Western countries sanctions China for treating Uyghurs, H&M is facing online backlash from Chinese consumers. The outrage was fueled by comments on platforms such as the microblogging site Sina Weibo from celebrities and groups such as the Communist Youth League, an influential Communist Party organization.

“Would you like to make money in China while spreading false rumors and boycotting Xinjiang cotton? Wishful thinking! “Said the group in a contribution, repeating one of the statements of the People’s Liberation Army, in which the attitude of H & M was described as” ignorant and arrogant “.

On Monday, the UK, Canada, the European Union and the United States announced an escalating series of sanctions against Chinese officials for treating Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Roughly one in five cotton garments sold worldwide contains cotton or yarn from the region where the authorities have implemented forced labor programs and mass internment to turn up to a million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other largely Muslim minorities into model workers who obey the Communist Party.

Nike could be next. The company posted a statement on its website expressing concerns about “Reports of Forced Labor in and Related to” Xinjiang. “Nike does not source any products” from the region and “we have confirmed with our contract suppliers that they do not use any textiles or spun yarn from the region.”

On Wednesday, Nike was at the top of Weibo’s “Hot Search” list. Some users were angry that Nike had joined the boycott of cotton from the area. The company declined to comment.

Huang Xuan, a Chinese actor who had a men’s clothing deal with H&M, issued a statement saying he would cancel the deal, adding that he opposed “defamation and rumors” as well as “any attempt at that To discredit land “. Singer and actress Victoria Song, who previously supported H&M, also released a statement saying she has no relationship with the brand and that “national interests are paramount”.

By Wednesday evening, at least three major Chinese e-commerce platforms – Pinduoduo, Jingdong and Tmall – had removed H&M from search results and taken their products off sale. The measures underscored the pressures of foreign companies doing business in China as they navigate political and cultural debates such as the country’s sovereignty and its checkered human rights record.

On Wednesday evening, H&M China responded by posting on the Sina Weibo microblogging website that the company “does not take a political position”.

“The H&M Group respects Chinese consumers as always,” the statement said. “We are determined to invest in China in the long term and to develop further.”

H&M is the second largest fashion retailer in the world after Inditex, the owner of Zara, and China is the fourth largest market.

State broadcaster CCTV criticized H&M, saying it was “a misconception to try to play a righteous hero”. H&M, it said, “will definitely pay a heavy price for its wrongdoing.”

Claire Fu contributed to the research.