We've got many posts around this forum on this subject, and it is overdue to have its own topic (If there is such a topic already, please correct me!) but I thought it best to let the posts go where they would. Sometimes when we create a special topic, the issue can get sidelined by pulling it away from the main discussions. So I hesitated to pull the subject to its own topic. But I don't think there is any danger of this issue getting sidelined.
Black Lives Matter is one of the major movements of our civilization towards a life-affirming, humane shift that will continue until it doesn't need to be an "issue" because it is integrated into every aspect of society. Large movements pick up speed, lose ground, then surge back up again, like the tide, until they thoroughly integrate into our collective psyche. I believe Reverend King knew that and watches us now with a smile.
Today the cover of The New Yorker fit my imaginings over the last few years, every time another black person was killed by police. I want to seer their stories and this horror into our collective psyche so that once and for all we turn a corner in our nation's history.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2020-06-22
Today in the Boston Globe they told the story of how young people are leading this movement, leading off with three black female college students who used twitter to lead tens of thousands of people to protest in downtown Boston in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis. Hear Us Out. It's Our Turn
@laura-f also created a thread entitled Anti-Racism Resources under the "How to Cope ..." topic. There's a lot of good stuff in there.
@deetoo Yes, thank you, I will move the book list over to her thread which Laura said was only to be about resources not race discussions and news. I felt that the BLM news and protests were getting lost in other threads. Perhaps I misunderstood. But I see this as not How to Cope but part of U.S. News and Predictions. Sometimes it is tricky figuring out how to organize discussions. :-)
You understood correctly, I created that thread of resources so no one would have to scroll through pages and pages of discussions to locate them.
If you have a resource to add, please do. But discussions belong on this thread (you can put resources here too, just be sure to put ONLY resources on the other thread).
Thank you for this section. I do think posts on Black Lives Matter were getting lost in the other thread though they did fit in with title and are part of the Unraveling for sure.
I am seeing shifts in peoples awareness on this topic. People who had tried to understand before but realized they had no idea how deep the waters of oppression ran. I find that I too am understanding more and realized I certainly have white privilege. There should be no such thing.
Here's a story for our times-- a BLM protester saving an alt right protestor from harm and good rises. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/black-lives-matter-protester-hailed-as-hero-for-saving-far-right-demonstrator-in-london-melee/2020/06/15/8688088e-aef1-11ea-98b5-279a6479a1e4_story.html?
Say goodbye to Aunt Jemima. The product will be rebranded and this has started a domino effect. Uncle Ben's, Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth are rebranding too.
Say goodbye to Aunt Jemima. The product will be rebranded and this has started a domino effect. Uncle Ben's, Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth are rebranding too.
This is posturing to me. This is the marketing departments trying to "blackwash" the brands and pretend they're all squeaky clean now, but they've had those people as the faces of their brands for a hundred years or more. They've known for all that time that they were racist stereotypes and have had plenty of time to fix it, but they didn't. There's no contrition, there's no actual understanding of anything except which way the winds of public opinion are now blowing - and how much *not* doing these things might affect their bottom lines. I'm happy that they're doing it, but it's far too little and far too conveniently timed for me to give them too much credit.
You can add some British institutions who have issued statements regarding BLM and their companyies.
Lloyds of of London apologized for the role they played in the 18th and 19th-Century slave trade insuring slave ships. Lloyds said in its statement: “This was an appalling and shameful period of English history, as well as our own, and we condemn the indefensible wrongdoing that occurred during this period.”
The U.K.’s biggest pub retailer and brewer, Greene King, also addressed their link to slavery in a statement from CEO Nick Mackenzie, who said: “It is inexcusable that one of our founders profited from slavery and argued against its abolition in the 1800s. While that is a part of our history, we are now focused on the present and the future.”
Another issue facing Brits is statues honoring proponents of slavery and racist views. Many want them then down across the UK.
This week, Oriel College in Oxford announced that it wants to take down the controversial statue oof colonialist Ceil Rhodes. The Rhodes Must Fall campaign began in South Africa in 2015, where protesters called for the removal of a Rhodes monument at the University of Cape Town. The brooding, bronze statue was ultimately taken down. The movement received global attention and spurred demonstrations in England over the statue at the University of Oxford's Oriel College.
Protesters threw a bronze incarnation of slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol Harbour and a statue of slaveholder Robert Milligan in London's west end was carted away earlier.
Among the other controversial figures is that of Conservative politician Henry Dundas, who sits atop a 41m-high column in St Andrew Square in Edinburgh. In the late 18th Century, Dundas argued for a delay to the abolition of slavery. Now, about 12,000 people have signed a petition calling for his statue's removal.
What should come next? Nancy Barrett, who started the petition, tells the BBC replacing the statue would risk "erasing the reality of Edinburgh's involvement in the slave trade".
"An empty column could be the perfect way to show that we are not trying to hide our past, but are aware of the damage it caused," she says. The city of Edinburgh feels the statue should stay put - but with a new plaque dedicating it to those enslaved as a result of his actions.
Some hard choices must be made.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52995404
I heard the author of the attached, Imani Perry, interviewed last night. This is a wonderful article.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/racism-terrible-blackness-not/613039/
The occupier went real low, even for him. He posted on FB and Twitter a manipulated video of 2 toddlers, one black and one white, hugging. The original video is very sweet and has been seen on social media for about a year. now I have seen it numerous times. The manipulated one, is pretty bad, racist and also attacks CNN. The parents of one of the toddlers was very upset and got FB to delete the video. Twitter still has it up but with a warning.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/18/business/trump-video-twitter-manipulated-media/index.html
Way low using children without parental knowledge or permission even without the photo shopping falsehood etc.
Besides the photo shopping of false accreditation to CNN blame I believe that violates a lot of online use of photo things if the kids arent your own because of their age)
I know that stored online photos way back when (before what we have now even existedin current form) made those of us with blogs or websites click accept when we signed away our rights to photos we took (and thought we owned the rights to) used/posted and one was used on a billboard in Australia without asking permission of a teen. Bit of a shock seeing that I'd imagine and of course no financial remuneration)
But now we all think we have rights to our images/videos. And hopefully we do!
But yes. Tacky Tacky pass the fake news and then the fake CNN logo blame as the "buck" never stopping where it belongs.
Such a pass the buck "philaundering".
Oh my we really need to center, focus and visualize much better images for this nation/our world. The "Black Lives Matter" movement itself deserves so much more and better from all of us in every way.
If you only read ONE article regarding racism and people who are black, read this one.
It is written by 12 year old Lonnie Chavis who is a brilliant young actor on the Emmy award winning show This Is Us. He plays young Randall on the show and he is a fantastic actor. Why should you read what he wrote? I might be able to tell, you once I get the tears out of my eyes. I dare you to look at life the same way again after you read his words.
That article had me in tears. I can't imagine the feeling because it's so scary. I watch "This is Us" all the time - one of my favorite TV shows - ever. The acting and story lines are so "real" and get you to feel like you are in the shoes of the person that is in the scene. They tackle so much on the show.
Thanks for posting that article.
ps: I'm praying for the fires in your state too.
@lovendures, that was a powerfully moving article. Thank you for sharing it.
Some of you may have already seen this attached video. Last week a Baton Rouge school board meeting was held to discuss changing the name of a local high school from Robert E. Lee. In the video local resident and activist Gary Chambers is confronting one of the school board member.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4E0028GkDc
i think it is also one of my all time favorite shows too. The writing is superb and so are the actors. I wonder how they will address race issues this season especially in the younger actors story lines? They have done a excellent job so far but there is so much more they can do. The also have the ability of doing it without sounding preachy or unauthentic. Each story they choose to tell is a chance to learn about perspective. My girls took classical ballet for years and I so felt young Beth’s heartache about wanting to be in a classical ballet company and the pressure she felt.
Thank you for remembering AZ with the fires. A new one started in our state yesterday. This one is only 25 minutes from my home and has been filling the sky with a definite layer of smoke. They are pulling firefighters off the largest fire ( over 175,000 acres) to fight this smaller one probably because it is near a lot more homes.
Thank you for sharing that video. Connie really needs to go. What a disgrace!
Not my words, from someone I don't know named Francis Maxwell (Twitter):
Let's paint a picture. Say you're Jewish, walking in Germany & see a statue of Hitler. You're upset & want it torn down. Only for someone to say 'how dare you? My ancestor was a Nazi, this is my heritage!'
Crazy right? Well this is a reality for black people everyday in America.
@Allyn - tagging you because this speaks to the issue we discussed (elsewhere) about confederate flags in modern day cemeteries. So much more succinctly than I put it, but this is it in a nutshell.
I've watched that Chambers video multiple times. I saw him interviewed on MSNBC. I'm not surprised that the Baton Rouge Board member wouldn't willingly resign. This morning I heard that the Mad King intends to issue an executive order to protect these statues from destruction. T. said he's looking for long-term jail sentences for these "vandals, hoodlums and anarchists" who attempt to take down the statues. So statues deserve an executive order of protection, but black lives don't? Not that T's response surprises me; he flaunts his racism like a badge of honor. I got so damn mad that I had to watch the Chambers video again!