We've got many posts around this forum on this subject, and it is overdue to have its own topic (If there is such a topic already, please correct me!) but I thought it best to let the posts go where they would. Sometimes when we create a special topic, the issue can get sidelined by pulling it away from the main discussions. So I hesitated to pull the subject to its own topic. But I don't think there is any danger of this issue getting sidelined.
Black Lives Matter is one of the major movements of our civilization towards a life-affirming, humane shift that will continue until it doesn't need to be an "issue" because it is integrated into every aspect of society. Large movements pick up speed, lose ground, then surge back up again, like the tide, until they thoroughly integrate into our collective psyche. I believe Reverend King knew that and watches us now with a smile.
Today the cover of The New Yorker fit my imaginings over the last few years, every time another black person was killed by police. I want to seer their stories and this horror into our collective psyche so that once and for all we turn a corner in our nation's history.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2020-06-22
Today in the Boston Globe they told the story of how young people are leading this movement, leading off with three black female college students who used twitter to lead tens of thousands of people to protest in downtown Boston in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis. Hear Us Out. It's Our Turn
@laura-f also created a thread entitled Anti-Racism Resources under the "How to Cope ..." topic. There's a lot of good stuff in there.
@deetoo Yes, thank you, I will move the book list over to her thread which Laura said was only to be about resources not race discussions and news. I felt that the BLM news and protests were getting lost in other threads. Perhaps I misunderstood. But I see this as not How to Cope but part of U.S. News and Predictions. Sometimes it is tricky figuring out how to organize discussions. :-)
You understood correctly, I created that thread of resources so no one would have to scroll through pages and pages of discussions to locate them.
If you have a resource to add, please do. But discussions belong on this thread (you can put resources here too, just be sure to put ONLY resources on the other thread).
Thank you for this section. I do think posts on Black Lives Matter were getting lost in the other thread though they did fit in with title and are part of the Unraveling for sure.
I am seeing shifts in peoples awareness on this topic. People who had tried to understand before but realized they had no idea how deep the waters of oppression ran. I find that I too am understanding more and realized I certainly have white privilege. There should be no such thing.
Here's a story for our times-- a BLM protester saving an alt right protestor from harm and good rises. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/black-lives-matter-protester-hailed-as-hero-for-saving-far-right-demonstrator-in-london-melee/2020/06/15/8688088e-aef1-11ea-98b5-279a6479a1e4_story.html?
Say goodbye to Aunt Jemima. The product will be rebranded and this has started a domino effect. Uncle Ben's, Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth are rebranding too.
Say goodbye to Aunt Jemima. The product will be rebranded and this has started a domino effect. Uncle Ben's, Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth are rebranding too.
This is posturing to me. This is the marketing departments trying to "blackwash" the brands and pretend they're all squeaky clean now, but they've had those people as the faces of their brands for a hundred years or more. They've known for all that time that they were racist stereotypes and have had plenty of time to fix it, but they didn't. There's no contrition, there's no actual understanding of anything except which way the winds of public opinion are now blowing - and how much *not* doing these things might affect their bottom lines. I'm happy that they're doing it, but it's far too little and far too conveniently timed for me to give them too much credit.
You can add some British institutions who have issued statements regarding BLM and their companyies.
Lloyds of of London apologized for the role they played in the 18th and 19th-Century slave trade insuring slave ships. Lloyds said in its statement: “This was an appalling and shameful period of English history, as well as our own, and we condemn the indefensible wrongdoing that occurred during this period.”
The U.K.’s biggest pub retailer and brewer, Greene King, also addressed their link to slavery in a statement from CEO Nick Mackenzie, who said: “It is inexcusable that one of our founders profited from slavery and argued against its abolition in the 1800s. While that is a part of our history, we are now focused on the present and the future.”
Another issue facing Brits is statues honoring proponents of slavery and racist views. Many want them then down across the UK.
This week, Oriel College in Oxford announced that it wants to take down the controversial statue oof colonialist Ceil Rhodes. The Rhodes Must Fall campaign began in South Africa in 2015, where protesters called for the removal of a Rhodes monument at the University of Cape Town. The brooding, bronze statue was ultimately taken down. The movement received global attention and spurred demonstrations in England over the statue at the University of Oxford's Oriel College.
Protesters threw a bronze incarnation of slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol Harbour and a statue of slaveholder Robert Milligan in London's west end was carted away earlier.
Among the other controversial figures is that of Conservative politician Henry Dundas, who sits atop a 41m-high column in St Andrew Square in Edinburgh. In the late 18th Century, Dundas argued for a delay to the abolition of slavery. Now, about 12,000 people have signed a petition calling for his statue's removal.
What should come next? Nancy Barrett, who started the petition, tells the BBC replacing the statue would risk "erasing the reality of Edinburgh's involvement in the slave trade".
"An empty column could be the perfect way to show that we are not trying to hide our past, but are aware of the damage it caused," she says. The city of Edinburgh feels the statue should stay put - but with a new plaque dedicating it to those enslaved as a result of his actions.
Some hard choices must be made.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52995404