WTN Liberation Briefing 3

Quote of the Week: “Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society," said the late and most honorable John Lewis. May he rest in power.

1. Tyler Mitchell, the first black photographer to get a Vogue cover, was featured in the New Yorker to tell his story in a piece called Tyler Mitchell’s Redefining Portraits.

Tyler Mitchell photographed Beyonce for her Vogue cover in the September 2018 issue. Here’s the cover photo just in case you missed it:

In addition, his photo book comes out on August 24th. Preorder here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/617532/i-can-make-you-feel-good-by-tyler-mitchell-hans-ulrich-obrist-deborah-willis/

2. Autonomous zones were never autonomous zones

Chaz, the leader of the anti-police zone told CNN that "It is over because of the violence...I've told people here don't be focused on the location. CHOP is not a location, it is an idea.” Frankly, the misnomer “autonomous zone” that has been ignorantly used across all forms of media was never that. It was simply an anti-police zone. Stores were still open. No communes were formed. Federal and local laws were largely followed. The police were simply banned and to continue calling the location an autonomous zone is wrong and

violent — a tactic to make law-abiding citizens appear to be fascists, much like the President.

During an interview with CNN, Chaz explicitly told their white interviewer (allegedly Erin Burnett) that it was NOT an autonomous zone, yet CNN and other media outlets continued to use the term. They completely disregarded the explanation to the point of saying it was just “semantics.” Come on white people. As we know the terms we use dramatically affect the way we conceptualize movements.

3. Trump’s attorney general says that systematic racism in policing does not exist

During the congressional hearing when Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee pressed the AG about systemic racism in policing he responded saying “I don’t agree there’s systemic racism in the police department, generally, in this country.” Obviously our white male leaders are extremely uneducated.

Luckily, Rep. Cedric Richmond called him out on his staff in the DOJ, not including a single Black person. This, Richmond said was systemic racism. Point blank. It’s deeply troubling to see a white man in power to completely discount the existence of systemic racism. This is why we fight.

Click the link above so the Human Rights Watch can tell you a bit more about how dangerous this toxic rhetoric is.

4. Republicans and Kanye West bid to get on 2020 ballot.

Enough said. Click here if you’d like to see more about this nonsense. Thank you, NYT for covering it.

5. Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a woman representative (as this country has so few), says that racism is a public health crisis!

The governor signed an executive order in Michigan that makes racism a public health crisis. Following the order, she said, “We must confront systemic racism head-on so we can create a more equitable and just Michigan.” Now, other governors, we’re waiting on you to follow in her footsteps.