“The filmmaker and musician Bree Newsome shattered a Southern taboo on Saturday, when she climbed a flagpole outside the South Carolina State House and removed the Confederate flag. Social media erupted in applause at the sight of an African-American woman wresting the emblem of hate from its place of pride so soon after an avowed white supremacist had been charged with murdering nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston.
The artist Rebecca Cohen captured the heroic sense of the moment — and gave it an iconic, pop-cultural feel — by depicting Ms. Newsome as a brown-skinned version of the well-known superheroine Wonder Woman.
Ms. Newsome, a graduate of New York University, was arrested and charged with “defacing a monument.’’ She expressed a broadly held sentiment when she said in an emailed statement on Saturday:
“We removed the flag today because we can’t wait any longer. We can’t continue like this another day.””
Read more here:
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/bree-newsome-removes-a-symbol-of-hate/
Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
The Young Turks June 29, 2015 Hour 1
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTpcK80irdQhQyVZ2cJLWGSmNqmihXRnD
Comments
I’m sorry I didn’t have time to edit.
Wow what a brave and strong human being! Bree Newsome did what so many people wanted to do! However, she risked her safety, her freedom and ultimately her life to do so!
I knew no one would offer her a burger from Burger King, so I found myself holding my breath hoping and praying that she wasn’t, in the least, hurt during arrest, and I am not a very religious person. I was further relieved she didn’t have to serve years or months in prison, subject to even more abuse than we all feel after viewing all the hatred towards one group of people.
Videos have recently shed so much light to others who have been previously in denial. So many different groups of people that only have three things in common… skin color, terrorism or in the very least injustice towards them by ignorant people who are racists, have been all treated the same for many decades.
Never mind your education, work ethics, goals, criminal background or lack thereof, you are all treated the same by ignorant fiends. If one is in denial, forget the news, all one has to do is read blog postings.
Not all the negative postings are even political just honest. I’m grateful for their honesty. It must be hard for people shielding and hiding behind their masks everyday to have to wait to be around their families, peers or on the internet to share their own personal beliefs. What would happen if everyone knew that in their hearts they truly scapegoated an entire group of people? They can’t wait to go online and shed their costumes, in the dark, under the white sheet of the internet.
Online, there’s lots of light and information but also there’s darkness for those who want to unify with other negative beings. You read plan hatred and ignorance from not just older adults, firm in their lifestyles, but also younger adults who in real life have associates who are Black that they feel the same way about or think of as the one exception to a whole race.
I am glad that racist bloggers can feel power and speak their truths… express their feelings within… because it forces others to awake, others who have are black, white or whatever race and in denial (somehow) that racism exists. I wish the world were lollipops and gum drops; but unfortunately, this is not the life I have experienced or do experience.
Unfortunately, this is not the life my college educated son is experiencing either. My son is also one of those blinded even when the obvious racism is right in front of his face. For example, he is no stranger to stop and frisk. I think his blindness is very strong partly due to attending a predominately white college, but that’s another conversation.
During his 1st year of college, this student, who was white, posted on his Facebook web-page that my sons daughter is doomed to be named Shanisha and his son will be named Dashawn or the like. I posted in response, on my sons page, “my name is Lakisha and I am his mother. If you have a problem with my name, I think you should bring it up when I come on campus this weekend. I would like to hear all about it.’ The boy never apologized. In fact he texted my son and stated “I hope your mother isn’t looking for an apology, I will never apologize.” My son, making excuses said the 18 year old boy was just very immature and goofing off.
My son was never arrested in his life, but he still appears clueless and denies that it was a problem when he is stopped. He assumes his white peers are stopped and questioned as much as he is because, as a group, they are sometimes stopped while together. I am living racism through my children, but I have been stopped myself, even frisked at times,and I am a teacher. There’s always an excuse as to why it happened, after the check. When I ask before the check, I am never told a reason just instructed to do what they told me to do, such as open my bag, etc. Afterwards, I’m told I was in the wrong neighborhood, dressed wrong, looked suspicious, or in a speeding car (that was not speeding), but I know, in truth, it’s not any of those things.
Its a sickening feeling when you tidy up your bag to make it look neat, just in case, someone looks through it and you don’t want them to see any of your feminine items. Sometimes, you might even want to skip the train at main train stations because you know your bag is always checked there. Yet white women don’t usually get stopped.
I’m am so proud this woman, Bree Newsome, did something to remove a little sadness, anger and disappointment we all feel (all colors included) towards a symbol of blatant hatred and racism in America. She did this for all of us! Thank you Ms. Newsome and all who supported this endeavor and very courageous action!