June 9, 2020

Who else is watching/listening to George Floyd's funeral right now? πŸ™‹πŸ»‍♀️ Pretty galvanizing, huh?! While I don't believe "he's looking down, smiling at the job numbers,” 🀦🏻‍♀️ I DO believe he'd be moved by the action FINALLY taking place, ALL around the world. πŸ™ŒπŸΏπŸ™ŒπŸΎπŸ™ŒπŸ½πŸ™ŒπŸΌπŸ™ŒπŸ» My documentary filmmaker-friend, Adrian Belic (cinematographer/producer of "Happy," among other gems) documented this momentum in the following message, and gave me permission to share. (Then, I promise to resume the regularly scheduled edgy editorials and yoga photos!) πŸ˜‰ "Two weeks after unarmed African American George Floyd was murdered by police, one week after the US President’s disgraceful acts that brought swift condemnation from top US military and intelligence officials, as well as shock from the international community; America is waking up to start a third week in our historic struggle for justice. And for the first time in a long time, the world is with us and inspired by us. And wow, it feels great! Thank you World πŸ€—πŸŒŽ As we go about our morning rituals, let’s take a moment and assess how far the American People have come in the last two weeks, in our historic fight against racism and for equal justice, since the birth of the nation. Let’s use these moments, this morning, to fortify our commitment, resolve, strength, courage, coordination, and actions to continue this good fight against evil. Like the heroic campaigns to eradicate racist tyranny in Europe last century; we the Allied forces of this century must prevail on our soil to vanquish the evil of racism and injustice for good. We’ll assess again at the end of this week, on our relentless march to liberty and justice for all πŸ‘πŸΎπŸ’ͺπŸΌπŸ•ΊπŸ»✊πŸΏπŸ‘πŸ½ “So what has protesting accomplished? πŸ‘‰πŸΎWithin 10 days of sustained protests: Minneapolis bans use of choke holds. πŸ‘‰πŸΎCharges are upgraded against Officer Chauvin, and his accomplices are arrested and charged. πŸ‘‰πŸΎDallas adopts a "duty to intervene" rule that requires officers to stop other cops who are engaging in inappropriate use of force. πŸ‘‰πŸΎNew Jersey’s attorney general said the state will update its use-of-force guidelines for the first time in two decades. πŸ‘‰πŸΎIn Maryland, a bipartisan work group of state lawmakers announced a police reform work group. πŸ‘‰πŸΎLos Angeles City Council introduces motion to reduce LAPD’s $1.8 billion operating budget. πŸ‘‰πŸΎMBTA in Boston agrees to stop using public buses to transport police officers to protests. πŸ‘‰πŸΎPolice brutality captured on cameras leads to near-immediate suspensions and firings of officers in several cities (i.e., Buffalo, Ft. Lauderdale). πŸ‘‰πŸΎMonuments celebrating confederates are removed in cities in Virginia, Alabama, and other states. πŸ‘‰πŸΎStreet in front of the White House is renamed "Black Lives Matter Plaza.” Military forces begin to withdraw from D.C. Then, there's all the other stuff that's hard to measure: πŸ’“The really difficult public and private conversations that are happening about race and privilege. πŸ’“The realizations some white people are coming to about racism and the role of policing in this country. πŸ’“The self-reflection. πŸ’“The internal battles exploding within organizations over issues that have been simmering or ignored for a long time. Some organizations will end as a result, others will be forever changed or replaced with something stronger and fairer. Globally: 🌎 Protests against racial inequality sparked by the police killing of George Floyd are taking place all over the world. 🌎 Rallies and memorials have been held in cities across Europe, as well as in Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. 🌎 As the US contends with its second week of protests, issues of racism, police brutality, and oppression have been brought to light across the globe. 🌎 People all over the world understand that their own fights for human rights, for equality and fairness, will become so much more difficult to win if we are going to lose America as the place where 'I have a dream' is a real and universal political program," Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the US, told the New Yorker. 🌎 In France, protesters marched holding signs that said "I can't breathe" to signify both the words of Floyd, and the last words of Adama TraorΓ©, a 24-year-old black man who was subdued by police officers and gasped the sentence before he died outside Paris in 2016. 🌎 Cities across Europe have come together after the death of George Floyd: ✊🏽 In Amsterdam, an estimated 10,000 people filled the Dam square on Monday, holding signs and shouting popular chants like "Black lives matter," and "No justice, no peace." ✊🏽 In Germany, people gathered in multiple locations throughout Berlin to demand justice for Floyd and fight against police brutality. ✊🏾 A mural dedicated to Floyd was also spray-painted on a stretch of wall in Berlin that once divided the German capital during the Cold War. ✊🏿 In Ireland, protesters held a peaceful demonstration outside of Belfast City Hall, and others gathered outside of the US embassy in Dublin. ✊🏿In Italy, protesters gathered and marched with signs that said "Stop killing black people," "Say his name," and "We will not be silent." ✊🏾 In Spain, people gathered to march and hold up signs throughout Barcelona and Madrid. ✊🏾 In Athens, Greece, protesters took to the streets to collectively hold up a sign that read "I can't breathe." ✊🏾 In Brussels, protesters were seen sitting in a peaceful demonstration in front of an opera house in the center of the city. ✊🏾In Denmark, protesters were heard chanting "No justice, no peace!" throughout the streets of Copenhagen, while others gathered outside the US embassy. ✊🏾 In Canada, protesters were also grieving for Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a 29-year-old black woman who died on Wednesday after falling from her balcony during a police investigation at her building. ✊🏾 And in New Zealand, roughly 2,000 people marched to the US embassy in Auckland, chanting and carrying signs demanding justice. πŸ’ Memorials have been built for Floyd around the world, too. In Mexico City, portraits of him were hung outside the US embassy with roses, candles, and signs. πŸ’ In Poland, candles and flowers were laid out next to photos of Floyd outside the US consulate. πŸ’ And in Syria, two artists created a mural depicting Floyd in the northwestern town of Binnish, "on a wall destroyed by military planes." Before the assassination of George Floyd some of you were able to say whatever the hell you wanted and the world didn't say anything to you... THERE HAS BEEN A SHIFT, AN AWAKENING...MANY OF YOU ARE BEING EXPOSED FOR WHO YOU REALLY ARE. #readthatagain Don't wake up tomorrow on the wrong side of this issue. Its not to late to SAY, "maybe I need to look at this from a different perspective. Maybe I don't know what its like to be Black in America... Maybe, just maybe, I have been taught wrong." There is still so much work to be done. It's been a really dark, raw week. This could still end badly. But all we can do is keep doing the work. Keep protesting. WE ARE NOT TRYING TO START A RACE WAR; WE ARE PROTESTING TO END IT, PEACEFULLY. How beautiful is that? ALL LIVES CANNOT MATTER UNTIL YOU INCLUDE BLACK LIVES. YOU CANNOT SAY 'ALL LIVES MATTER' WHEN YOU DO NOTHING TO STOP SYSTEMIC RACISM & POLICE BRUTALITY. YOU CANNOT SAY 'ALL LIVES MATTER' WHEN BLACK PEOPLE ARE DYING AND ALL YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT IS THE LOOTING. YOU CANNOT SAY 'ALL LIVES MATTER' WHEN YOU ALLOW CHILDREN TO BE CAGED, VETERANS TO GO HOMELESS, AND POOR FAMILIES TO GO HUNGRY & LOSE THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE. DO ALL LIVES MATTER? YES. BUT RIGHT NOW, ONLY BLACK LIVES ARE BEING TARGETED, JAILED, AND KILLED EN MASSE- SO THAT'S WHO WE'RE FOCUSING ON. πŸ–€πŸ–€πŸ–€BLACK LIVES MATTERπŸ–€πŸ–€πŸ–€ IF YOU CAN'T SEE THIS, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. πŸ‘ΈπŸΏπŸ‘ΈπŸ»πŸ‘ΈπŸ½πŸ‘ΈπŸΎπŸ‘Έ 🀴🏿🀴🏾🀴🏽🀴🏽🀴🏻“ We are creating and living through our once in a generation opportunity to do what is right for good. Let our legacy be told in the history books, that this generation, here and now, when called upon by humanity, did what was needed to be done to vanquish the tyranny of racism and injustice from our land, and thereby will be known as the greatest generation of this century!"

June 6, 2020

I try to keep my social media to just entertainment, with the exception of the occasional carpentry video. LOL. But doing so seems to ignore the elephant in the room. Especially after a few days away-- you need to hear from me! (After all, "Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor"). I know I'm just a little, white woman, so what do I know about racially motivated police misconduct? Well, EVEN I've seen with my little, white-privileged eyes: not one, but two instances in which the police abused their power with black men. While I don't believe in grouping "all police as pigs," they do looooove giving me jaywalking tickets, and my little pink car gets pulled over for EVERYTHING, including "driving while brushing my hair" (aka "distractedly"). So yah, I've been known to quote NWA a time or two. The first time this issue came to my personal attention, my buddies, Gladston Taylor and Marcus Folmar, who just happened to be black, came to a screening of film I was in. On the way home, they were pulled over for expired tags. Instead of the usual, ask-for-license-and-registration/slap-with-a-ticket-or-warning, they were both asked to step out of the car, to present their I.D... Marcus's SAG card fell out of his wallet, and that's when the cop antagonized him, "Ooooooo, you're an actor, huh? You been in anything?" But even more unnecessary was when they went on to search Gladston's car, and TOOK HIM INTO CUSTODY for... possession of a SPIRIT STICK! You see, Gladston was a football player with us at Northwestern University, so yah, he happened to have an old pom-pom still in his trunk. Which if you STABBED someone with it, I suppose might be considered a weapon? The point is, Gladston spent the night in the jail, humiliated to have to explain why he wasn't at work in the morning, with his car towed and impounded, which he had to pay for, and a visibly shaken Marcus was left alone on the street, with me to pick him up. That was the first time I thought, wow-- that wouldn't happen to me if my tags were expired. The second time I witnessed such racial disparity, I was living in the same building as Marcus and our friend, Gabriel Divine. Something was definitely happening in our hood-- helicopters were circling, police tape was blocking off our street-- so of course I wanted to check it out! I tried to convince them to join me. They laughed-- silly, white girl! Why would a couple black men willingly walk into that?! But Gabe agreed, put on a hoodie, and the two of us ventured out. While outside, a cop stopped us, detained Gabe, and of course, let me go. Supposedly, Gabe fit the description of the suspect, so I had to run back to get his I.D. in order for him to be released. I'll never forget, again, seeing my own friend visibly shaken, bent over the squad car, arms outstretched, awaiting my return. All because he agreed to walk with me; while black, wearing a hoodie. These things typically come in threes; but I hope not, after this week. Not all cops are bad-- but there's no question they need to go waaaay out of their way to be much, much better. I hope for justice for the families of the slain, and peace for us all. ALL lives can't matter till Black Lives Matter. #BlackLivesMatter

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