Joe Biden to attend Juneteenth celebration at historic AME church in Galveston
In 2021, Mr Biden signed legislation that established Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
The day marks the end of slavery by commemorating June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved black people in Galveston.
The event on Thursday will be held at the Reedy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Galveston.
That church, the first and oldest operating AME church in the state, is one of the locations where an order announcing the end of slavery in Texas was announced on that day in 1865, according to the Galveston County Daily News.
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Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Telegraph
There's one union which doesn't stand by the profession which belongs to it
What is the point of a union if it does not stand up for the interests of its members? Say what you will about the antics of Aslef and the RMT – as The Telegraph has frequently pointed out, their industrial action has inflicted misery on millions of commuters who have to endure delays and cancellations on commuter trains and the London Underground – but their exorbitant demands on pay and conditions have clearly been to the benefit of train and Tube staff. The National Education Union (NEU), led by the avowed Marxist Daniel Kebede, has had a rather poorer record in defending some in the teaching profession. A teacher at Preston College in Lancashire posted on Facebook to say that Lucy Connolly was 'obviously wrong' to say what she had on the platform in the aftermath of last summer's Southport murders, and that the comments were 'appalling' but that she 'should not have been jailed' for them. A representative of the NEU at Preston College then made a formal complaint to the college, saying that the teacher's own posts were 'Islamophobic' and 'racially discriminatory'. After an investigation, the college dismissed the teacher for violating its policies, although this is now being challenged in the courts. The NEU did the very opposite of sticking up for a member of the profession. In this regard, it is a serial offender. The union has more than 34,000 members working in independent schools. Labour's imposition of VAT on school fees clearly goes directly against these members' interests. Some will lose their jobs as schools are no longer economically viable and close. Many more will see their conditions of employment not improve and pensions worsen as schools try to cut costs to balance their budgets and ameliorate the impact of the tax hike on parents. But the NEU did not campaign against the move, saying that they could 'best use their influence behind the scenes'. Ideology seemingly trumps members' interests. Teachers deserve better.
Telegraph
9 hours ago
- Telegraph
Teacher sacked after criticising ‘two-tier justice' in Lucy Connolly case
A teacher was sacked after saying Lucy Connolly 's prison sentence was an example of 'two-tier policing'. In a post on social media, Simon Pearson, 56, who teaches at Preston College said Connolly's online comments were 'obviously wrong' but she ' should not have been jailed '. But he was dismissed after an internal investigation, prompted by a complaint from a Muslim representative of the National Education Union (NEU) at the school, found his online posts had the potential to bring the college into disrepute. Mr Pearson told The Telegraph: 'I am appalled by the way I've been treated. I've dedicated my life to education and to supporting students from all walks of life. 'Yet as soon as I was branded 'Islamophobic' for expressing concern about violent crime, I became a marked man. It was clear that I had to be found guilty by the college, it became a witch hunt, and I had to be eliminated no matter what.' Mr Pearson is an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher at the further education college in Fulwood. Connolly was jailed in October last year after posting an online message on the day of the Southport murders, that read: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f---ing hotels full of the b------s for all I care, while you're at it take the treacherous government politicians with them.' The 42-year-old, who had lost a child of her own, deleted the post fewer than four hours later, but not before it had been viewed 310,000 times. Critics claimed her 15-month jail sentence was 'a clear example of two-tier justice '. Lord Young of Acton, founder of the Free Speech Union, said: 'The most striking aspect of this case is that the teacher was sacked at the behest of the NEU. 'Once upon a time, trade unions used to stick up for workers threatened with the sack for speaking out of turn. Now, they side with management and actively try to get workers sacked, including their dues-paying members.' In a post on Facebook, Mr Pearson described Connolly's comments as 'appalling' and 'obviously wrong'. He wrote: In another Facebook post, he discussed the Manchester Airport court case, writing: After Mr Pearson made the posts on social media, a Muslim representative of the National Education Union at Preston College submitted a formal complaint to the college, alleging that the Facebook posts were 'Islamophobic' and 'racially discriminatory'. Preston College bosses then launched an investigation. Mr Pearson apologised if he had offended anyone, and says he provided extensive evidence of his support for Muslim students and asylum seekers during this process. But the investigation concluded that the posts violated Preston College policies, damaged professional relationships, and had the potential to bring the college into disrepute. Mr Pearson has now started legal action, which has been filed at an employment tribunal, with claims of wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal, harassment, and discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. He argues the posts were expressions of protected philosophical and Christian beliefs, including support for the rule of law, freedom of expression, and equal justice. Mr Pearson told The Telegraph: 'I cannot allow what has happened to me to go unchallenged. It is a grave injustice that should concern everybody who cares about freedom. 'I am determined to fight for justice and for the freedom to raise legitimate concerns in public and private as part of national debates on extremely serious issues that impact us all.' 'We need to cut their throats' Ricky Jones, 57, the Labour figure referred to in Mr Pearson's post, is actually a councillor. He was charged with encouraging violent disorder after he made a speech last year about 'disgusting Nazi fascists' and said 'we need to cut their throats and get rid of them'. Appearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court last September, Mr Jones pleaded not guilty to encouraging violent disorder. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, was convicted of assaulting PC Lydia Ward, causing actual bodily harm, and the assault of emergency worker PC Ellie Cook at Manchester Airport on July 23 last year after a three-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court. Mr Pearson's dismissal comes after Christian school administrator Kristie Higgs was sacked from her role at Farmor's School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 for sharing Facebook posts criticising teaching about LGBT+ relationships in schools. In February, she won a Court of Appeal battle related to her dismissal, with three senior judges finding that the decision to sack her for gross misconduct was 'unlawfully discriminatory' and 'unquestionably a disproportionate response'. The Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Mr Pearson, says the case raises critical questions about the balance between workplace conduct, personal beliefs, and the right to speak freely on matters of public concern. A spokesman for the Christian Legal Centre, said: 'This case highlights the dangerous consequences of the vague and weaponised use of the term 'Islamophobia'. 'In a free and democratic society, we must be able to discuss public events and express concern about violence and injustice without fear of losing our livelihoods. 'The definition of Islamophobia is being used to silence legitimate speech and punish those who dare to speak out. We stand firmly behind this teacher and his right to freedom of expression.'
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Telegraph
How Leftists seized control of Britain's doctors' union
The origins of the transformation stretch back to 2020, when a grouping of Corbynite doctors within the union formed the Broad Left coalition. The name stems from a Communist Party strategy to 'capture positions within a union' and take it over. Its logo is a stethoscope arranged to look like a hammer and sickle. By 2022, the coalition seemed to have increasingly joined hands with a larger group of young activist doctors called DoctorsVote – which is mainly dedicated to winning massive pay rises for resident doctors. And in the spring of that year, the two groups combined to seize dozens of seats on the BMA council, the union's foremost decision-making body. In a vote to determine the makeup of the council for the following four years, Broad Left/DoctorsVote candidates secured 26 of the 69 places up for grabs. Since then, their influence has only grown. Indeed, a 2023 Policy Exchange report – 'Professionalism is not relevant' – concluded the union had been 'taken over by young, self-declared 'entryists' in a planned campaign similar to that [orchestrated] in the Labour Party at the time of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership'. 'It is very sad to see what was basically a well-rounded organisation that covered so many issues of importance to a wide range of doctors being hollowed out by the angry activism around residents' pay, Gaza and LGBT issues,' says Mark Pickering of the Christian Medical Fellowship, which counts many BMA members in its ranks. 'It is very similar to the way Momentum took over the Labour Party from the inside. We saw then how people started using democracy to try to dismantle democracy and that's what it seems has happened here. 'You had these two groups come in and they all vote for each other… and that's shifted what happens at the annual meetings, where BMA policy is formed.' As the union has become ever more of a crucible for Left-wing politics, members appalled by the takeover have begun to leave. First out the door have been many Jews, who have been dismayed by the union's response to the war in Gaza. Last month veteran doctor Robert Winston told The Telegraph he had resigned as a member of the BMA after 61 years due to a combination of his disgust with the strikes, the union acting 'highly politically' in recent times and its failure to tackle anti-Semitism among doctors.
