Today we #ShutDownSTEM & #ShutDownAcademia. I'm going to spend most of today educating myself about the lived experiences of black people and listening to as much black music and comedy as I can, and I'm going to share it with all 301 of my twitter followers.
I'm going to start by reading through this document, completing as many of the action points that I can, and going through the resources linked to at its foot: docs.google.com/document/d/1Xa…
And while I do that I'll be relistening to RTJ4 by @runjewels. My favourite tracks so far are holy calamafuck, walking in the snow and pulling the pin (feat. INCREDIBLE lyrics by the legendary @mavisstaples)
Other @runjewels tracks which feel all to real at the mo are Letter to the Shareholders, Legend Has It, Thursday in the Danger Room. I first heard @mavisstaples on @iamjohnoliver's first ep of the Daily Show singing this: .
First up: Tony McDade, a black trans man, was shot repeatedly in the back and then executed by a @TallyPD officer who stood over him before pulling the trigger. Bodycam not being released, Tony is being repeatedly misgendered. Speak out: actionnetwork.org/letters/demand…
In Georgie, #AhmaudArbery was chased in a pickup and eventually murdered by Travis and Gregory McMichael. His crime: jogging. Jackie Johnson, the GA, did not care to issue an arrest warrant - that finally happened 4 months later. Call for her resignation. chng.it/9mTyQHdsbP
This March in Kentucky @LMPD officers broke into #BreonnaTaylor's house without a warrant and murdered her AS SHE SLEPT. They got the wrong house. That's not an excuse. They remain unfired. Speak out. act.colorofchange.org/sign/justicefo…
You may have heard of #GeorgeFloyd. Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for 8m34s while Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng looked on. If you think murder is a crime, speak out. Keep the pressure high. act.colorofchange.org/sign/justicefo…
I live in Indy. Last month #SeanReed was shot at 62nd and Michigan whilst fleeing from police who were chasing him because he'd been speeding. Charge the officers with murder. change.org/p/mayor-joe-ho…
Interlude: I really wish I knew how to use Twitter. Anyway:
In Omaha, #JamesScurlock was shot by Jake Gardner during a protest in response to the murder of #GeorgeFloyd. He's currently in custody, but needs to go to prison. Keep the pressure on. chng.it/RFNThNdrC8
In Texas, @Austin_Police randomly fired on peaceful protests including medics and children, hospitalising several people. #PoliceBrutality has to stop - sacking Police Chief Brian Manley is a good first step. Speak out: chng.it/wfsb4pcFb5
More music: @MosDefOfficial kills his lines on @gorillaz's Sweepstakes. Gorillaz started as a trip-hop group & keeps reinventing itself - the black musicians and artists it gives a platform to are incredible. See also De La Soul, Bobby Womack, Salt'n'Pepa
#ManuelEllis was suffocated by @TacomaPD in Tacoma, WA. The mayor has called for the officers who murdered Manuel to be fired and arrested. Keep the pressure on: chng.it/Wwm5DNsh8q
#JaleelStallings was attending a protest in Minneapolis after #GeorgeFloyd's murder when shots were fired from a van. The police accused him of being the shooter and beat him so badly they broke part of his skull. They also destroyed his truck. Help him. chng.it/RWytRVdgQd
.@EstelleDarlings is (maybe) best known for American Boy, or her role as Garnet in #StevenUniverse. I first heard her in the spellbinding Pop a Cap in Yo' Ass:
#DionJohnson was sleeping in his car Phoenix, Arizona when at 5:30am a police officer approached and then shot him. What exactly happened is unclear, all we know is that Dion was unarmed and the bodycam footage isn't being released. Pressure them. chng.it/Hk6cPXWcPS
Now: Education. blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#educate
This video briefly explains how white people benefit from more opportunities than people from black communities, with an emphasis on "redlining".
Today I have learned that in the US "colored" didn't refer to just being black OR asian OR east asian etc. in boolean terms, but actually to people who are mixed race. If you're 1/4 black, you were colored. And the implications of that are *staggering*. #BLM
I was a bit leery of this (a white guy explaining racism?) but it's a detailed, objective & unemotional passover of racist US legislation. I'll be watching more @hiphughes in the future & would love to see similar vids on this topic from African Americans.
@threadreaderapp unroll
