This year the beloved holiday comes on the heels of a national movement demanding racial justice. One Native American leader says that "people want to resolve the burdens of our history."
After hours of testimony and disputes over evidence, a bond hearing for two of the white men charged with the February murder of Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery went into recess with no conclusion. It will resume Friday morning.
Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said it will begin Friday, 10 p.m. and continue through Saturday, 5 a.m., citing the need to keep events under control, as the city braces for protests against police brutality.
As the U.S. faces a fight for racial justice in the aftermath of police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, some Black Americans are considering how they can best protect themselves.
"I was reassured Wednesday of why I have no faith in the legal system, in the police, in the law," Tamika Palmer said in a statement. "They are not made to protect us Black and brown people."
"We need something different and we need it now," Mayor Ted Wheeler says as he orders his city's police to halt the use of CS gas, one of the most common forms of tear gas.
Many Black Americans who spoke to NPR said while they don't believe this current movement will change everything today, they hope it will help lead to change in generations to come.
Mayor Lovely Warren vows to move some mental health services funds away from police. Daniel Prude died a week after officers pinned him on the ground, responding to a mental health crisis call.
Michael Reinoehl's death came as VICE News aired an interview in which he said he shot a Patriot Prayer supporter in what he believed was self defense.
On her last day on the job, Carmen Best, the city's first Black woman police chief, reflected on nationwide demonstrations against police violence and her own department's handling of recent protests.
Harris has often been caught between two groups: law enforcement and progressive activists. In recent years, she has been outspoken about systemic change to policing and criminal justice in America.
