Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Representation Matters
Little Jenna here is exactly why #representationmatters . I am so grateful for this show, that so many young people can watch this show and say “It’s me” . Thank you @britbrit1432 for sharing this video ❤️💕❤️💕 @HamiltonMusical #hamilfilm pic.twitter.com/iDbb4orVIs
— Phillipa Soo (@Phillipasoo) July 6, 2020
Saturday, July 4, 2020
The 4th of July to Me
Black ppl have been dehumanized, brutalized, criminalized + terrorized by America for centuries, & are expected to join your commemoration of “independence”, while you enslaved our ancestors. We reject your celebration of white supremacy & look forward to liberation for all. ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/YCD2SYlgv4
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 4, 2020
We Tip Our Caps
Today, we all tip our cap to the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues. #TipYourCap2020 pic.twitter.com/dIcVYiRBHj
— MLB (@MLB) June 30, 2020
A Field of Flags
An excerpt from the Boston Globe -
A patriotic forest takes root to fight a stubborn, invisible — and deadly — enemy
More than 8,000 flags fly as emblems of resolve against a pandemic
By Thomas Farragher
 |
| Michael Labbe stood beside the field of flags he and his family have planted in front of their home to honor all of those who have died from COVID-19 in Massachusetts. JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF |
GRAFTON – It happens several times a day on the gently sloping road where Michael Labbe is tending a star-spangled garden.
A car slows and pulls over. A camera is raised. A prayer is said. And then the passersby move on in a sudden and solemn silence.
Occasionally, they get out for a handshake. Or an air hug.
Just like 71-year-old Rhonda Lavallee did the other day as she stood in near disbelief to take in the forest of flags that has suddenly blossomed on Labbe’s front lawn.
There are more than 8,000 of them now, each one a red-white-and-blue emblem to a life lost to a killer pandemic that clouds America’s Independence Day, a holiday usually punctuated by kaleidoscopic fireworks and cozy backyard cookouts with family and friends.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/02/nation/patriotic-forest-takes-root-fight-stubborn-invisible-deadly-enemy/
He's Not With Us!
HAPPY FOURTH?
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) July 4, 2020
Trump’s visit to Mt. Rushmore ignites fireworks - both real and political: https://t.co/bSCtVCCqMS
America marks 244 years of independence in troubled times ... once more: https://t.co/2Y97vfcjYs
‘What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?’: https://t.co/nSGIaDMqFK pic.twitter.com/cG13GgOxH9
He Wanted Us to Know Black Lives Matter
From the Washington Post -
Carl Reiner’s Daughter Tweets Final Dig At Donald Trump On Her Late Father’s Behalf
The late comedy legend often took the president to task on the platform.
By Lee Moran
Carl had wanted to tweet this picture, taken last Saturday. As you can see he was happy and vital up to the very end. He will be sorely missed. pic.twitter.com/Q4sh0QK4Xz
— carl reiner (@carlreiner) July 3, 2020
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/carl-reiner-daughter-donald-trump-blm_n_5f007635c5b6acab2850ff03
Friday, July 3, 2020
Priceless!
An excerpt from Bored Panda -
Tired Of Customers Ignoring Their Polite ‘Please Wear A Mask’ Sign, This Store Puts Up A New One And It Gets Dark Real Quick Interview
ByJonas Grinevičius and Mindaugas Balčiauskas
However, wearing a mask is now a political issue in the United States. Some Americans refuse to wear them because they believe it limits their freedom. But tired of people coming in without covering their faces, vintage clothing shop Antique Sugar in Phoenix, Arizona got the world’s attention after it put up a hard-hitting sign about wearing face masks.
https://www.boredpanda.com/face-mask-sign-antique-sugar/
Artists Reflections
From the Washinton Post -
Nine black artists reflect on the question: “Is America at a point of reckoning?”
By Washington Post Staff
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/lifestyle/black-artists-america-racial-inequality/
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Exposing Racism in Medicine
An excerpt from Today -
How this Black doctor is exposing the racist history of gynecology
Dr. J. Marion Sims is known as the founding father of gynecology. He earned this title through contributions made by experimenting on enslaved Black women.
By Maura Hohman
There's one name Dr. Kameelah Phillips, an OB-GYN at Calla Women's Health in New York City, would prefer not to use in her operating room: Sims.
Depending on the context, the word can mean either a surgical tool, "Sims' vaginal speculum," or its inventor, Dr. James Marion Sims. Sims is known as the founding father of gynecology, but his legacy is fraught because of how he gathered much of his learnings — by operating on enslaved Black women without their consent or anesthesia.
Today, Phillips is "reclaiming" this story, she told TODAY. She prefers to call the tool "Lucy."
Lucy was an enslaved 18-year-old who almost died after Sims operated on her, attempting to fix her postpartum urinary incontinence, according to the Journal of the National Medical Association.
Phillips recalled feeling "shocked, appalled and disappointed," when she first learned about Sims' history over 10 years ago. In that moment, she said it was "a no-brainer" to stop using his name.
https://www.today.com/health/racism-gynecology-dr-james-marion-sims-t185269
What Trump Won't Say
From the Associated Press -
Analysis: What Trump leaves unspoken carries consequences
By NANCY BENAC
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump seems to rarely leave a thought unspoken.
Of late, though, it is increasingly clear there are things Trump won’t say — and they are tied to the most important issues of his presidency.
Among them:
— Knock it off, Russia.
— Wear a mask, Americans.
— Systemic racism must end.
None of the above are particularly bold or controversial messages.
https://apnews.com/c3251ce810aa70351e535430a48fcc50
Living in the State of Idiocracy
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Welcome to the United States of ‘Idiocracy’
Opinion by Max Boot
The presidency’s idiocy is matched by that of Republican governors in states such as Florida (where coronavirus cases increased by 277 percent in the past two weeks), Texas (+184 percent) and Arizona (+145 percent). They were slow to declare lockdowns and quick to end them. They also refused to impose statewide mask mandates — and, in the case of Texas and Arizona, tried to prevent municipalities from imposing their own rules — even though studies show that wearing masks can reduce transmission by as much as 85 percent.
This toxic imbecility is getting people killed. But recall the adage that “every nation gets the government it deserves.” Trump and the Trumpy governors did not seize power by force. They were elected by constituents who, in some cases, see masks as the spawn of the devil.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/30/welcome-united-states-idiocracy/
The Character of a Man
From Thread -
A Rabbi's Story
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1275429939597021184.html?campaign_id=93&emc=edit_fb_20200701&instance_id=19913&nl=frank-bruni®i_id=38867499&segment_id=32334&te=1&user_id=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
The Deadly Consequences of Karens
An excerpt from the Raw Story -
Conservatives fume over Washington Post editor calling out the dangerous history of white ‘Karens’
By Sarah K. Burris
Conservatives are criticizing Karen Attiah, an editor for The Washington Post, because of a tweet she sent about the impact white women have had on the lynching of Black people.
In the case of the Tulsa massacre in 1921, the whole incident was caused when a 19-year-old Black shoe shiner named Dick Rowland was accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a 17-year-old white elevator operator. There was a rumor that spread throughout the city that Rowland would be lynched without a trial. Hundreds of white men gathered around the jail but a crowd of Black men wasn’t far behind. A shot was fired and the groups of men began a fight where over 300 died and over 800 people were injured.
In the case of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy allegedly “offended” a white woman, she said, because he flirted with her. Stories about the incident have been disputed, but the woman, 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant claimed Till made “advances.” Bryant’s husband and half-brother kidnapped the child, beat him, mutilated him and then finally shot him in the head and tried to hide the body in the river.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/conservatives-fume-over-washington-post-editor-calling-out-the-dangerous-history-of-white-karens/
In a Nutshell
An excerpt from the Boston Globe -
The problem is white supremacy
‘Systemic racism’ conveys the pervasiveness of racial oppression, but white supremacy goes further by indicating that there is a rigid nexus of power that protects and enforces it.
By Barbara Smith
Why is this story, written almost 80 years ago, so relevant to what we face today? In 1943, the armed services had not been desegregated, Brown v. Board of Education had not been decided, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act had not been passed, affirmative action did not exist, and no Black person had ever been elected president. In 2020, all of these markers of racial progress and many more are part of the historical record, yet Minneapolis and the entire country have erupted for the very same reason that Harlem did in 1943: A white police officer cavalierly executed a Black man. The reason America’s pattern of racial terrorism keeps repeating is because the system of white supremacy that spawns the terrorism remains intact.
Despite the hand-wringing that occurs when the nation’s racial value system gets exposed, usually by unspeakable acts of violence, the reality is that this country has never done anything to eradicate the root cause of these atrocities. America abolished chattel slavery, but quickly instituted peonage, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration; it extended civil rights then proceeded to erode them, especially voting rights; it ended legal segregation but preserved widespread de facto segregation in schools, housing, and jobs; and despite initiating affirmative action, allowed employment discrimination and vast economic inequality to persist.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/29/opinion/problem-is-white-supremacy/
Body Cams & Dash Cams Can Help
An excerpt from Consumer Reports -
Dash Cams Can Be Silent Witnesses During Police Traffic Stops and Other Incidents
From personal security to evidence for insurance claims, dash cams can provide peace of mind
By Benjamin Preston
Adam Osmond, a 52-year-old Connecticut resident, accountant, and runner, always wears a body camera when he’s running on trails around New England. And when he’s driving, he always has a dash cam recording everything that happens inside and outside of his car.
Osmond, who is Black, says he's been racially profiled by the police while he’s been behind the wheel. In fact, he leaves early for races in case he gets pulled over. Most of the time the police officers cite minor infractions, such as driving too close to the curb, and let him go with a warning. In one case he was pulled over and ticketed for using his cell phone while driving.
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