Critical Mass

Normally, Madeline designs a spread with screenshots of things that jumped out at her around social media, but this time she typed them all out

@bethes_sup

It’s a privilege to “not be political” When you say you’re not political, you’re telling on yourself. What you’re saying is that you’ve only been on the receiving end of all the invisible perks the government provides, rather than being on the side that suffers from the lack of them or that is even actively harmed by them.

@blkgawdduss

Conservatives won’t get how #AllLivesMatter erases black people, but will argue passionately about how “Happy Holidays” erases Christmas

@georgetakei

Pass it along.

For my all lives matter folks: When the Boston marathon was bombed, everybody’s profile picture went “Boston strong.” Nobody said, “All cities are strong!” When the Las Vegas shooting happened, people changed their profiles to “stand with Vegas.” Nobody said, “Well what about the people that got shot in my city!” Have you ever seen someone counter a “breast cancer” post with a “what about colon cancer?”

But for some reason, if someone says “Black Lives Matter,” it turns into all inclusive “all lives matter.”

It’s not an either/or proclamation. When there is a crisis, we have always rallied around that particular group. It doesn’t discredit or diminish any other group. It just brings awareness and support to the group that needs attention. @TehsuanGlover

If you have an issue with the fireworks going off every night, did you know you can call 502.595.2300 and ask them to arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.

@untilfreedom

Time to send some emails!

Email attorney.general@ag.ky.gov and demand AG Daniel Cameron charge Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove, and Joshua Jaynes with Breonna’s murder

Email State Representative Joni Jenkins at joni.jenkins@lrc.ky.gov and Senator Morgan McGarvey at morgan.mcgarvey@lrc.ky.gov and ask that they present a state-wide band on no-knock warrants

Demand justice for Elijah McClain by calling Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson at 303.739.6050 or Attorney General Phil Weisner at 720.508.6000 or Mayor Mike Coffman at 303.739.7015 or Governor Jared Polis at 303.866.2471. Try saying, “I am calling on behalf of Elijah McClain. We demand that D.A. Dave Young resign for wrongly stating on national television that Elijah experienced no injuries from the incident with police.” Tell them to open a real investigation.

@scarecrowbar posted a comic strip that explained you’re not a hypocrite if you go from saying All Lives Matter to Black Lives Matter—it means you’re growing as a person

@asmaresists

I personally think it’s really cool how we all went from learning how to make banana bread to learning how to abolish the police in a matter of weeks

The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth -African Proverb

(FB) Gregory Sullivan

Did you hear what happened in Boston? An unarmed teenage boy was hit in the head with the butt end of a firearm during a nonviolent verbal exchange with a law enforcement officer.

Word of the incident quickly spread, and within an hour several people gathered in the area to peacefully protest. They shouted slogans, and business owners in the area closed up shop for fear of their property. The law enforcement officers called for backup, and backup arrived in the form of heavily armed law enforcement personnel. They then declared the assembly unlawful and ordered the protesters to disperse. The crowd, in response, grew restless and hurled dirt clods at law enforcement personnel. Law enforcement responded by firing into the crowd. The first man killed was a black man.

If, while reading this story, you found yourself thinking that law enforcement was in the right, and that the protesters should have dispersed... Then congratulations, you fallen on the wrong side of history siding with tyrant King George III against American patriots. The incident occurred in 1770. The black man killed was named Crispus Attucks. The incident became known as the Boston massacre and was one of the key events leading to the American revolution.

On June 3, 2020, the story of how Dave Chappelle went from riffing on headlines the audience suggested to educating them about how apartheid ended. Kenny DeForest says Chapelle recounted asking his best friend from South Africa what it was like “right before apartheid ended and he said it was chaos in the streets. There were riots & car bombs etc, but the amount of people caring hit critical mass...”

@KennyDeForest

...and there was nothing they could do to stop it. The people had momentum and apartheid ended. Critical mass. That’s what we have to hit. Once enough of you care, there will be nothing they can do to stop the change” It was incredibly powerful. The crowd was somber and silent

@thedailyshow

“I’m not surprised that this outrage has come on the back of a pandemic, because I think it’s the first time that people actually had the time to sit down and grapple with the issues. Growth only comes from discomfort. You can’t avoid something that’s gonna make you uncomfortable if you’re sitting on the couch, stuck with it.” -Kimberly Jones

@RBReich Today marks 7 years since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. Since then, states with a history of voter suppression have closed 1,688 polling places throughout the South. It couldn’t be more blatant.

The House passed a bill in December 2019 to reinstate federal oversight of state elections. According to The New York Times, “The bill has little chance of becoming law given opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate and by President Trump, whose aides issued a veto threat against it this week.” Sign the petition to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act. Then, while the bill waits in Senator McConnell’s inbox, there are other things we can do to take action. Here are some tips from the American Bar Association:

SpreadtheVote.org helps voters get IDs. Voter ID laws in particular affect communities of color, the elderly, and new voters. This organization helps people navigate state ID laws, can assist with application fees, and drives voters to the DMV to get an ID.

Find out your state’s registration process and deadlines and the particular challenges your state’s voters encounter. Then share what you learn with neighbors and friends.

Indivisible makes it easy to help get out the vote. Online tools make it easy to text or call voters in key swing elections— even if you are not in that state—to remind them to vote. They also have tools to help you organize locally.

You can donate to ACLU chapters in states that are particularly vulnerable to voter suppression.

Election Protection provides information about polling locations and absentee ballot information and has a nonpartisan hotline to call if things go awry on voting day. Call (866) OURVOTE if you think someone is illegally being denied the ability to vote, if your polling machine breaks, if there aren’t enough ballots, etc. Attorneys can sign up to volunteer with Election Protection to help on-the-ground efforts to protect voting rights. Nonattorneys can sign up as poll monitors on Election Day.

Follow brennancenter.org for more opportunities to learn and get involved. @shaunking

Hey Family, So many of you have asked how you can help, or if you can chip in to help me, or my family, my work, or my security.

Honestly, the best thing you could do for me right now is to donate to The Grassroots Law Project. Donate whatever you can.

If you could become a monthly donor, it would mean the world.

When you see next week what we’re building, you’ll understand why.

Love and appreciate you all, Shaun

grassrootslaw.org/plan

I was telling Luis how I’d seen King posting about taking down all the white Jesus statues because they symbolize White Supremacy, and next thing I know he’s saying former police officers have been caught plotting to murder him in a private Facebook group. Meanwhile, I also have memes in my feed declaring that “monuments are coming down but Jesus is still on the throne.” If you haven’t considered it before, think about the potential damage of white Jesus. —MV