"without the expectation of receiving dividends"

Michael Harriot on the attempted summary execution by police of Jacob Blake:

"You cannot be Black in America without a sense of idealism and hope for this country. Even the most obstinately 'woke' among us must tacitly admit it. We do not trust in the common good of mankind or that the moral arc of the universe bends toward righteousness. And, because this country starts whittling the candy-coated optimism of youth down to a bitter nub from the moment a Black child emerges from the protection of the womb, most of us stopped placing our hope in the benevolence of white men long ago. There isn’t a sliver of evidence in the majestic mountains or the amber waves of grain that allows us to believe that white people will ever do what’s right.

All our lives, we had to fight.

In the last 244 years, one month and twenty-two days, no one has sacrificed their safety, well-being and their lives to perfect this union more than Black Americans. This is our shit. Not only did our ancestors build this country by investing blood and brow-sweat, but they are also the only group in our nation’s history who did this without the expectation of receiving dividends.

White men love America like birds love their wings."

Just Sayin'

If Southern Confederate flag-humpers wanna talk about their sacred "culture," let's do it --

food
music (esp. this)
literature / poetry
dance

IT'S ALL FROM AFRICAN AMERICANS / SLAVE PATHWAYS

(I'll grant you Faulkner. Even he'd have to agree with me.)

— Antifa Means "Kill All Nazis" James (@wetcasements) June 15, 2020

"nobody's going home"

Dave Chappelle, "8:46"

"This is the streets talking for themselves."

Of Confederate Statues And The Names Of Traitors

A simple question: Why are a number of U.S. army bases named after Confederate traitors?  (And rather incompetent ones at that?) Well:

"Three of the biggest bases in the United States are named after Confederate leaders, including some who were famously inept.

Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the headquarters of the Special Forces, bears the name of Gen. Braxton Bragg, a commander often assailed as one of the most bumbling commanders in the war. Bragg was relieved of command after losing the battle for Chattanooga in 1863, then served as a military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Fort Benning in Georgia, the home of Army infantry and airborne training, is named after Brig. Gen. Henry Benning, who led troops at Antietam and Gettysburg. In remarks in 1861 laying out slavery as the reason for secession, Benning warned that abolition would lead to 'black governors, black legislatures, black juries, black everything. Is it to be supposed that the white race will stand for that?'

Fort Hood in Texas is named after John Bell Hood, who resigned his commission in the U.S. Army to fight against it. His 'reckless' command hastened the fall of Atlanta, one historian wrote, and his losses at the Battle of Franklin were so disastrous that they have been called the 'Pickett’s Charge of the West,' in reference to Gen. Robert E. Lee’s failed charge at Gettysburg."

Thing is, I have a little history (ahem) with this issue.  Way back in 2013 I posted an article to Metafilter on this same issue.  Even blunter and from the New York Times, "Misplaced Honor" by Jamie Malanowski asked:

Confederacy Tears Are Sweet And Delicious

Summer of 2020:

we learn the sound of Confederate/slave owner statues hitting pavement is beautiful beyond words.

— Antifa Means "Kill All Nazis" James (@wetcasements) June 11, 2020

Jesus Christ, What A Pack of Lawless Assholes

If this isn't symbolic of the sea-change in how Americans view cops in 2020 I don't know what is:

"Law Enforcement ‘Strategically Deflated’ Tires During Minneapolis Protests"

(They were using knives, natch.)

"weaponized racism"

NAACP President Derrick Johnson on what makes the public executions of black men possible in America:

"Under no regime but racism could kneeling for eight minutes and 46 seconds on the neck of a man who had already been handcuffed – and who was pleading for breath as bystanders screamed that he was dying – be considered a fitting police response to the suspected use of a counterfeit $20 bill. Five years ago, New York City police choked Eric Garner to death for selling untaxed cigarettes at about $1 apiece. Through such grim arithmetic, we learn exactly how much Black life is worth to America’s police forces.

Each year, more than 1,000 civilians nationwide are killed by police – and Black people are three times more likely to be slain than white people, despite also being more likely to be unarmed. Only 1% of those officers ever face charges. This kind of weaponized racism takes a toll on Black people nationwide. It starts early: the vast majority of Black families find it necessary to have 'the talk' with their children. No, not the one about the birds and the bees. This talk prepares them to expect unfair and disrespectful treatment from police – and to accept such treatment because the slightest objection could result in their death."

How any sane person could look at America right now and think a #BLM protester is more dangerous than a cop is beyond me.

"how dominoes connect"

Trevor Noah on George Floyd and Amy Cooper

So much to say about the madness created by police violence against black bodies.  This video does as good a job as any.