Opening statements have begun in the criminal trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who’s charged with murder and other charges in connection with the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day.

Floyd, 46, died in police custody on May 25, 2020. A cellphone video that went viral shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd, who was handcuffed and lying on the bottom, said, “I can’t breathe” and called out for his mother, while Chauvin, 45, kept his hands in his pockets and didn’t render aid.

Floyd’s gruesome death sparked Black Lives Matter protests across the country and world wide.

Chauvin has been charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter; he has pleaded not guilty. A jury was recently empaneled in the high-profile case. The jury is alleged to incorporate nine whites and 6 black and/or multiracial jurors. Two are alternates, and one could be dismissed to expand the jury pool to 12.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a press release to ESSENCE that he hopes “justice will be swift and clear.”

“The time has come for Derek Chauvin to be held accountable for the public hanging death of George Floyd,” Crump said. “The video, which has been viewed by millions of people around the world, makes it clear that this is a very clear case. The only reason some people think this is a complicated case is because George Floyd was a black man. If he were white, no one would say that his slow and painful death under Derek Chauvin’s knee was in any way misleading,” he said.

Crump, along with Antonio Romanucci, L. Chris Stewart and Jeff Storms, are co-attorneys representing Floyd’s family.

A team of civil lawyers reached a legal settlement with Minneapolis earlier this month for a historic $27 million.

“Since Mr. Floyd’s death less than a year ago, the city of Minneapolis has enacted sweeping police reforms, including reporting use of force incidents, requiring body cameras, and a policy for officers to de-escalate non-threatening encounters by retreating or walking away,” said attorney Antonio M. Romanucci.

Today, Floyd’s relatives, Pastor Al Sharpton, founder/president of the National Action Network, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, and supporters held a vigil, kneeling for eight minutes and 46 seconds. On Sunday, they held a rally for justice at Greater Friendship Missionary Church in Minneapolis.

In a press release, NAN said the organization is committed to fighting for justice for the Floyd family and opposing the “repeated, now sanctioned violence against Black people by police officers.”

“The world watched law enforcement officer Derek Chauvin lynch George Floyd with his knee as he repeatedly pleaded for mercy,” Sharpton said. “As the trial begins, we must reiterate that police lynchings will not be tolerated and that police accountability must be the law of the land. We urge the Senate to act immediately to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to ensure that law enforcement is never above the law.”

In addition, attorneys and the family have urged Minnesota lawmakers to pass laws that might strengthen the flexibility to carry officers accountable for his or her actions after they act outside the bounds of the law. The attorneys say the bill, which might overhaul a piece of Minnesota Statute, ought to be called The George Floyd Arbitration Reform Bill. It is an element of an ongoing series of police reform measures that Minnesota and Minneapolis are considering in the wake of Floyd’s death.

“George Floyd’s family and those who loved him endured unimaginable pain to get to this day. We hope jurors will allow the compelling evidence in this case to guide them,” said attorney L. Chris Stewart. “We also urge people in Minneapolis and everywhere to continue to express their support for Floyd’s family, but to do so peacefully.”

The process is anticipated to take no less than a month.

Tech giant Google is once more under fire for worker discrimination after one of its former employees filed a lawsuit last Friday within the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that business “has a ‘pattern and practice’ of treating its black employees unfairly. Suit [also] “alleges that the corporate has placed them in junior, lower-paying positions and exposed them to a hostile work environment in the event that they speak out.”

The criticism states that “Consistent with its intensely racist corporate culture, Google has a pattern and practice of racially discriminating against its African American and Black employees… Google’s centralized leadership, which is almost devoid of Black representation, has biased and stereotypical views about the skills and potential of Black professionals.”

The lawsuit alleged that April Curley, black woman, “was hired in an entry-level position” despite the fact that she had five years of experience and a master’s degree. After six years with the corporate and despite high performance rates, Curley was wrongfully terminated in September 2020. At Curley’s words“I felt the need to speak out about the racist behaviors, policies and practices that are deeply rooted in the problematic layers of Google’s diversity recruiting efforts and treatment of Black Google employees.”

Another former Google worker, Chloe Sledd, also a black woman, said:[m]My first few months at Google weren’t what I had imagined and almost immediately become a nightmare. A white man on my department floor began sexually harassing me.” After being accused of lying, Google’s human resources department rejected and neglected her claims and threatened her with retaliation. There were sleds mainly “Forced to resign. “It was clear to me that they wanted me to back out, but I didn’t realize what my rights were, so they took advantage of that.”

Attorney Ben Crump he said“Google says its No. 1 core value is working with great people… When you consider the claims of these minorities and look at the data, you can conclude that Google apparently believes that great people are white people. In the process, we announce to Google that Black and brown people are great people too.”

Stomp added“April Curley was an exceptional worker at Google. She was hired for a position well below her qualifications and consistently illegally omitted for promotions… Although Google claims it was committed to increasing diversity, it actually undervalued, underpaid, and mistreated its black employees, resulting in high turnover. “We will not stop until we bring justice to Curley and other Black Google employees and until we see real change in the culture of this company… Google is a Fortune 10 company and with this lawsuit we are telling Google that it is not about profits, it is also about people.”

The lawsuit seeks to acquire class-action status and, as well as, demand that these employees be reinstated existence “they admitted the value of compensation and benefits that they have lost and will lose in the future.”

Biotechnology laboratory equipment company Thermo Fisher Scientific has reached a settlement with the estate of Henrietta Lacks, whose descendants “have accused [the company] reaping billions of dollars from a racist medical system.”

Although the terms of the settlement are confidential, Ben Crump, one in every of Lacks’ family attorneys, said: “The parties are pleased to have found a way to resolve this matter out of court and will have no further comment on the settlement.”

The settlement was announced on Tuesday, October 1, during a press conference for what would have been Lacks’ 103^R&D birthday. Renowned civil rights lawyer Crump said, “We did it – and what a birthday present today.”

Lacks’ life story and legacy became widely known after Rebecca Skloot’s 2010 book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” became a best-seller, followed by a 2017 feature film starring Oprah Winfrey on HBO.

When doctors o Johns Hopkins treated Lacks for cervical cancer in 1951, they removed tissue samples from her cervix without her knowledge or consent. “They found that in the lab, instead of dying, cells doubled in size every 20 to 24 hours.” Talk about Black Girl cell magic!

These cells, now generally known as HeLa the cells “were the first human cells that scientists were able to clone and have since been multiplied indefinitely.” Although Lacks died of the disease on the age of 31, her cells survived without end.

Not only were they everlasting, but HeLa cells also became… support “modern medicine, enabling countless scientific and medical innovations, including the development of a polio vaccine, genetic mapping and even vaccines for Covid-19,” in addition to treatments for cancer, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease and leukemia. HeLa The cells were also used to “study the effects of radiation on human cells and develop a treatment for sickle cell disease.”

But the worst part was that Lacks’ family had no idea about it. They didn’t find out about their ancestors’ contributions to medicine until many years later and were never compensated.

John Hopkins stated that the institution “has never sold or profited from the discovery or distribution of HeLa cells and has no rights to the HeLa cell line”; nevertheless, “many companies have patented ways to use them.”

IN 2021“The Lacks estate sued Thermo Fisher in federal court in Baltimore… claiming that her family “did not see a penny” of the cash Thermo Fisher made by cultivating a “HeLa” cell line derived from tissue taken without Lacks’ consent during a medical examination. procedures in 1951.”

In their lawsuit, the Lacks Society argued that the treatment of their ancestor was indicative of a bigger problem that also persists today: “racism in the American medical system.”

The criticism reads partly: “The abuse of Henrietta Lacks is unfortunately representative of a universal struggle experienced by Black people throughout history… Too often, the history of medical experimentation in the United States has been a history of medical racism.”

Although Thermo Fisher did argue that the case must be dismissed as a result of the statute of limitations, the Lacks family’s attorneys countered, “That shouldn’t apply because the company continues to profit from the cells.”

Only one in every of Lacks’ children, Lawrence Lacks Sr., is currently living. His son and her grandson Alfred Lacks Carter Jr. were on the news conference. “There could not have been a more appropriate date for her to receive justice and for her family to find some relief,” her grandson said. “It was a long fight – over 70 years – and Henrietta Lacks got her day.”

Last week, Maryland senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin “introduced a bill to posthumously award Lacks the Congressional Gold Medal.” In an announcement, Van Hollen said: “Henrietta Lacks changed the course of modern medicine… It is long past time we recognize her contributions to saving lives around the world.”