(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Hanna is moving towards Texas Friday and now a tropical storm warning has been issued for parts of the state, including south of Galveston, all the way down to the Mexican border, including Corpus Christi.
A tropical storm watch continues for the city of Galveston and east of Houston.
Texas, however, isn’t the only state that could feel the impacts of Hanna. A coastal flood advisory has been issued for New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.
Hanna’s path shows the storm making landfall sometime around noon Saturday, near Corpus Christi, Texas.
Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to have winds near 65 mph, which could down some trees and produce some minor damage, but the biggest threat with Hanna will be flash flooding.
Up to half a foot of rain is forecast for southern Texas, but some areas could see near 10 inches of rain. Meanwhile, 1 to 3 inches of rain is in the forecast from Houston to New Orleans, where localized flooding is possible.
There are two other major systems worth monitoring, including Hurricane Douglas, which is now a major Category 4 storm.
Hurricane Douglas is in the Pacific Ocean, with winds currently up to 130 mph.
Thankfully, Douglas has probably already peaked in its intensity and is expected to weaken as it moves over the cooler Pacific Ocean water, on its way to Hawaii.
While it’s expected to weaken, Hurricane Douglas is still expected to be a Category 1 hurricane with winds near 75 mph as it approaches Hawaii on Sunday morning.
The biggest threat in Hawaii will be flash flooding, but gusty winds could also down trees and damage homes.
Finally, Tropical Storm Gonzalo poses no threat to the U.S. as it approaches Barbados and the southeastern Caribbean islands this weekend.
It is expected to bring gusty winds and some heavy rains to the southeastern Caribbean islands.
After it leaves the islands, Gonzalo is expected to weaken and dissipate in the middle of the Caribbean Sea with no threat to any land.
(NEW YORK) — A WNBA player’s powerful message to young Black girls is resonating with readers as the nation continues to grapple with conversations on racism.
“People see me as an athlete, a basketball player out there entertaining — at end of the day, I’m still a Black woman,” A’ja Wilson, 23, told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I wanted to put it out there and let Black girls and women know, ‘I see you. I hear you. I am you.'”
In a piece for The Players’ Tribune, A’ja Wilson shared her experiences as a Black woman — stressing how regardless of her status, she’s “been through it, too.”
Wilson, a forward for the Las Vegas Aces, said she wanted to be as relatable as possible in sharing her story, which was published Monday.
She wrote, in part:
This is for all the girls with an apostrophe in their name.
This is for all the girls who are “too loud” and “too emotional.”
This is for all the girls who are constantly asked, “Oh, what did you do with your hair? That’s new.”
This is for my Black girls.
Wilson went on, revealing a friend told her in fourth grade she’d have to stay outside during her birthday party because her dad “didn’t like Black people”:
No one’s story is exactly the same. But every Black girl, at some point in her life, has her own version of The Birthday Party. That’s why I’m writing this to you. I know what it’s like to feel like you’ve been swept under the rug. I know what it feels like to not be heard, not be seen, not be taken seriously.
Wilson said her father read her essay and said he recalled going to her school to talk about the incident.
“It’s things like that, as a family we all went through,” Wilson said. “It’s something I’m sure my mom, my dad hated going through.”
Wilson said she also addressed certain stereotypes like Black women being “loud,” “ghetto” and “too much.” She wants to encourage girls to always speak out, regardless of what people say.
“It’s tough because no matter what, you’re always going to get labeled,” Wilson told GMA. “If I get mad or upset, I’m seen as the angry Black woman.”
“Go out on a limb … don’t feel like you have to say things a certain way, or look a certain way,” she added. “Take that chance of speaking your truth and being who you are.”
Wilson wants girls to know that they’re part of the movement toward change — just as she uses her own platform to promote justice for Breonna Taylor, a Louisville, Kentucky, woman who was shot and killed by police earlier this year.
“That could be me, that could be my mom,” Wilson said. “I want every young girl to know that’s not all about police brutality.”
“The key thing is demanding a change around us so we’re not the next hashtag,” she added.
(NEW YORK) — NBA players are using their media time to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, a young Black medical worker who was fatally shot by plainclothes officers in her Louisville, Kentucky home in March.
Los Angeles Lakers star Kyle Kuzma spoke about the 26-year-old’s death for about six minutes Wednesday night as reporters gathered in Orlando, Florida, to discuss the league’s attempts to restart the season.
Kuzma took to Twitter after the press conference, pleading with the media to ask more questions about social justice in light of the ongoing nationwide protests against racism and police brutality.
“Media & players: We work hand n hand. We have platforms but help us out! Yes we know your job is to ask us about basketball questions,” he tweeted. “But if you guys believe in equality for all, let’s ask a few social injustice questions here n there. We’re all in this together.”
Similarly, Kuzma’s teammate, Lakers guard Alex Caruso, tried his best to steer questions away from his sister, Megan, who got married last weekend. Instead, Caruso said he wanted to talk more about Taylor.
“Outside of my sister’s wedding questions, anything today that you ask of basketball, I’m just going to respond with, ‘We need justice for Breonna Taylor,'” Caruso told reporters. “That’s going to be my response to the rest of the questions if they’re basketball-related and not pertaining to me and my sister’s wedding.”
Taylor’s death on March 13 sent shockwaves around the country. Louisville police officers had executed a no-knock search warrant and used a battering ram to forcefully enter the young woman’s apartment.
Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, got out of bed around midnight when they heard a commotion outside. After a short exchange with police, Walker fired his gun in self-defense, saying he thought his home was being broken into, according to police.
The plainclothes officers returned gunfire, firing several shots and fatally hitting Taylor, police said.
It was later revealed that the police had been looking for two men who they believed were selling drugs out of a house located near Taylor’s home. Police obtained a no-knock warrant to search Taylor’s apartment because they had reason to believe that the men had used her apartment to receive packages.
One of the officers, Brett Hankison, was fired in June amid intense pressure from the public. Jon Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, the other officers involved, were placed on administrative reassignment, but civil rights activists say all three men should be charged.
Activists, athletes and some of Hollywood’s brightest stars have called on their fans to demand justice for Taylor. Other artists have showed support by promoting the #SayHerName campaign on social media.
Members of the NBA, which restarted its season on Wednesday after a four-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, have been some of Taylor’s most outspoken proponents.
“[Shoulders] felt great, but I think most importantly, I take this time to give my condolences to the family of the Taylors, Breonna Taylor, rest in peace, George Floyd, rest in peace,” LA Clippers guard Paul George told reporters after the game on Wednesday. “There are so many others out there that have been brutally murdered by the hands of police. That is all I got — that is my message for everyone and that will continue to be my answer.”
George said he plans to encourage fellow players and others with large platforms to keep speaking out against police brutality in the wake of Taylor’s death.
“I mean, her murderers are still free, so nothing is done yet. And hope to continue, again, keep this fight going and use our platform to stand up for those that can’t stand anymore,” he told reporters. “I think that is what we are here for, to continue to keep that in the back of people’s minds.”
Other NBA players, including Lakers star LeBron James, Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell and Toronto Raptors guard Terence Davis have also spoken out about the ongoing fight for racial justice.
(AURORA, Colo.) — Five attendees of a rally and vigil for Elijah McClain held last month in Aurora are suing the Colorado city and its interim top cop over what they say was an unconstitutional police response that “terrorized” peaceful protesters.
On June 27, thousands of demonstrators gathered for a “violin vigil” to celebrate the life of McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died last year a few days after police confronted him as he was walking home from a convenience store.
In social media footage of the gathering, held on the lawn of the Aurora Municipal Center, serene violin music contrasted with images of officers approaching in riot gear and spraying the crowd with pepper spray.
“Against the backdrop of the violinists’ beautiful and haunting soundtrack, these officers under [Aurora Police Department] direction bullied and indiscriminately deployed chemical agents on the men, women, and children who had gathered to peacefully remember Elijah. Some even wielded batons and shot projectiles,” states the class action lawsuit, which names the city of Aurora and Interim Chief Vanessa Wilson, among others, as defendants. “They terrorized an already reeling and grieving community.”
The plaintiffs are seeking damages for “emotional distress, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life and other pain and suffering,” according to the complaint. The lawsuit is also calling for injunctive relief regarding police behavior at demonstrations, including requiring body-worn cameras to be recording and unobstructed at all times, to only give orders to disperse when there is “imminent danger of harm to persons (not property)” and to bar the use of chemical agents, including pepper spray, against those “exercising their rights of free speech and assembly.”
“Today, we are proud to represent leaders of the Aurora community who have filed this class action lawsuit to do what Aurora’s officials refuse to: hold Aurora’s out-of-control police department accountable,” said Mari Newman, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit Thursday, in a statement.
The five plaintiffs include two members of the city’s new community police task force and the chairwoman of the Arapahoe County Democratic Party.
The city has not been served yet, according to Aurora City Attorney Daniel Brotzman.
“As soon as we obtain a copy of the complaint from the Court, we will begin analyzing it,” Brotzman said in a written statement. “Since we haven’t seen it, only accounts from the media, we will need time to evaluate the claims.”
ABC News has reached out to the Aurora Police Department for comment.
At a June 30 virtual meeting called to address the police department’s widely criticized response, Aurora’s interim police chief defended the officers’ actions, saying they were trying to protect peaceful demonstrators from a small group of agitators.
“I’m deeply concerned that children were frightened by that,” Wilson said. “People were confused by that, and I profusely apologize for that.”
McClain’s death has gotten renewed attention amid calls for justice for George Floyd, who died while in police custody on May 25. Nationwide protests have included violin vigils in honor of McClain, a certified massage therapist and self-taught violin player.
On the night of Aug. 24, 2019, while McClain was out buying soft drinks, someone called 911 to report a suspicious person who was reportedly wearing a ski mask and waving his arms as he walked down a street.
When responding police officers grabbed him, police body camera video captured McClain telling them, “I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking.” Several minutes into the video, he also could be heard saying, “I can’t breathe,” and told the officers he was in pain as they applied a chokehold.
When paramedics arrived, they gave him ketamine, a sedative. He suffered a heart attack on the way to the hospital and was later declared brain dead. He died on Aug. 30.
After an investigation by the county’s district attorney, the three officers did not face any charges.
Last month, following a series of rallies and protests demanding justice for McClain, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed state Attorney General Phil Weiser as the special prosecutor to investigate the death and potentially file charges.
(NEW YORK) — California State University voted to make ethnic and social justice studies a requirement for graduation amid ongoing calls for related reforms in the wake of national unrest.
The university’s Board of Trustees approved the measure on Wednesday, marking the first change to the school’s general education curriculum in more than four decades, school officials said.
Cal State, the country’s largest four-year public university system with 23 campuses, said it hopes to create “a more just and equitable society” with the new curriculum, which will be implemented beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year.
“This action, by the CSU and for the CSU, lifts Ethnic Studies to a place of prominence in our curriculum, connects it with the voices and perspectives of other historically oppressed groups,” CSU Chancellor Timothy White said in a statement. “It will empower our students to meet this moment in our nation’s history, giving them the knowledge, broad perspectives and skills needed to solve society’s most pressing problems.”
He said the one-course requirement “will further strengthen the value of a CSU degree” and create better workplace leaders.
The requirement can be fulfilled through a “broad spectrum of course offerings” that address historical, current and emerging ethnic studies and social justice issues, school officials said.
The course offerings will be grounded in the traditional ethnic studies discipline, the school said, and composed of African American, Asian American, Latinx and Native American studies.
The announcement comes as California legislatures mull a bill that would require ethnic studies but not social justice classes.
If approved and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, the state-backed requirements would trump California State University’s recent measure.
ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO, ABC News
