Tag Archives: politics

I Can’t Breathe

2 Jun

?In the wake of the brutal murder of George Floyd in Powderhorn, a neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, many people with a voice, that are still able to breathe, have used their voice in this time of crisis to add perspective, to add hope, and to check reality. Some of it is painful to listen to, because sometimes the truth and honesty hurts. But we learn by listening.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo lays out the difference between the two America’s we see today.
Part 1:

Part 2 + Part 3:

Trevor Noah of The Daily Show talks about how the killing of George Floyd was just the most recent domino to fall of unaddressed racial injustice and police brutality that has been building, and the resluts of a broken social contract.

For context, comedian Chris Rock has talked about “Bad Apples”, a term that has often been used to describe police officers that have committed unspeakable acts of violence against unarmed black men and women without being held accountable.

CNN’s Don Lemon speaks over footage from looting in Los Angeles and fires raging in D.C., lamenting the lack of leadership and loss of control as a nation. Reinforcing the deterioration of the social contract that Trevor Noah describes.

One protestors message to “opportunists”

Killa Mike, noted Atlanta activist, addresses the killing of George Floyd, Atlanta’s history of progress, and his hopes for Atlanta and the nation.

An activist in Minnesota speaks about accountability, responsibility, and the history of looting.

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, who oversees Flint Township, Michigan, addressed the people that live in his jurisdiction, and then marched with them.

Sheriff Swanson spoke with the people of his community after walking with them.

Houston Chief of Police, Art Acevedo, talking about unity and not falling into the trap of instigators inserting themselves into protests.

Video

Inauguration Day Bad Lip Reading

26 Jan

This series never disappoints.

Quote

Moderates

16 Jan

First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season. Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., April 16, 1963
Quote

Silence of Our Friends

3 Dec

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Video

War on Drugs

29 Sep

Narrated by Jay Z and illustrated by Molly Crabapple, this history of the failure of the War on Drugs is as cutting politically as it is visually striking.

Quote

Anonymous Achievement

11 Aug

Achievement is often anonymous. Some of the greatest things have been done by people you have never heard of, quietly dedicating their lives to improving your own.
Geoffrey Arend as Matt Mahoney, Madam Secretary
Video

Exporting Terror

5 Aug

Disturbing yet honest interview with an ISIS defector.

Quote

Peace and Freedom

20 Jan

The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land.
W.E.B. Du Bois

[via @floraadamian]

Quote

It’s Just a Business

7 Dec

My friend, Thomas Jefferson is an American saint because he wrote the words 'All men are created equal', words he clearly didn't believe since he allowed his own children to live in slavery. He's a rich white snob who's sick of paying taxes to the Brits. So, yeah, he writes some lovely words and aroused the rabble and they went and died for those words while he sat back and drank his wine and fucked his slave girl. This guy wants to tell me we're living in a community? Don't make me laugh. I'm living in America, and in America you're on your own. America's not a country. It's just a business. Now fuckin' pay me.
Brad Pitt as Jackie Cogan

Lawrence Lessig Interviews Edward Snowden

17 Nov

Edward Snowden, in his own words.