WTN Liberation Briefing #4
Quote of the week: "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek," Barack Obama
This has been quite an eventful few weeks! With Joe Biden adding Kamala Harris to his ticket, Harris has already made more history than Obama in her VP nomination. We're glad to see that he heeded Amy Klobuchar's advice to choose a woman of color despite the conflicting opinions on her record. Here's today's look at the goings-on that Watch That Negro would like you to know about.
1. LeBron James stepped up this week! His group paid $100,000 worth of fines in Florida to ensure the enfranchisement of ex-felons. This story actually came out three weeks ago, but James is still making headlines as he continues to be outspoken against racial injustice in America (and actually taking concrete actions). This week he also outraged Trump supporters (i.e. racists), wearing a knockoff MAGA hat stating "Arrest The Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor" with Trump's signature "Make America Great Again" crossed out. He wore the hat to his first game of the season, ensuring that people would see it. The Lakers official Instagram also posted James' picture wearing the hat on their Instagram captioning the image "Justice for Breonna Taylor." Good on you LeBron, using your platform to combat this horrendously racist country.
2. The backwards white people running a land that they stole from Aboriginal people get something right for once? The Australian state of Queensland became the first state in the country to ban gay conversion therapy. If you are not yet aware, gay conversion therapy is a misnomer for a vicious attempt to forcefully change a person's sexual orientation. You can read more about where it is banned and where it is not and the results of the sick practice that targets LGBTQ+ youth here.
3. There have been multiple racist attacks on Senator Kamala Harris already as she takes the VP nomination. Trump, unsurprisingly, accused Harris' nomination as illegal due to a false "birther" right conspiracy that he also hailed at Obama during his presidency. Of course, simply because you have parents who are immigrants, Donald, you can still be Vice President or President of this country. Senator Harris was also born in Oakland, so this was way off the mark. We're messed up, but at least not that messed up.
The other attack came from Barry Presgraves, the mayor of Luray, Virginia. He decided to make a post on his Facebook saying that Joe Biden has just announced Aunt Jemima as his VP pick.” This one leaves me speechless. The racist pancake mix brand, which really needs to change its name, is set to change is logo sometime this year. Meanwhile, Presgraves has issued an apology to "all women of color," but has not stepped down.
4. Reported by Democracy Now! a new bodycam video shows that concerned onlookers were pushed back while George Flloyd was being murdered on May 25th. Ex-officer Tou Thao can be heard in conversation with the onlookers who watched as Derek Chauvin snuffed the life out of Floyd for nine minutes straight. The dialogue can be read here. Unfortunately, the story was reported in few other places, so props to Amy Goodman and the Democracy Now! team for pointing out the incessant and rampant injustice in our country and around the world.