📖 reading time: 6m 07s.
fig. 1. black lives matter from space.
amid tensions with the president over his deployment of federal officers during protests, washington’s mayor — muriel bowser — had “black lives matter” painted near the white house in an unmistakable assertion of control.
- the new york times.
👋 hi.
if you’ve been struggling to discern clear actions from the deluge of the information shared this week, here are some organisations that i have made a donation to.
i encourage you (if you have the ability) to do the same:
on the agenda this week:
pandemic protests, final words, & police reform.
⚡️ tag me on instagram or follow me on twitter if you enjoy this week's brain drain!
as always, feel free to skip any section that doesn’t interest you or reply directly to this email. & a special thank you to my paid subscribers — i really appreciate the support.
📝 a note on: pandemic protests.
fig. 2.
protesters chant slogans outside the us embassy in minneapolis. photograph by sean smith.
my brain has been at war with itself over the past week.
i’ve looked on at protests in america with a combination of feelings — horror at police brutality and a simultaneous newfound fear of large gatherings of people.
i don’t have to walk outside and fear that i will be killed because of the level of pigmentation present in my skin. my only fear is that this invisible virus that has us sequestered within the confines of our homes is kept at bay.
this comes from a place of privilege. it’s unacceptable to remain ignorant and it’s inexcusable not to educate myself.
“i’m just as likely to die from a cop as i am from covid,” he said.
“if something is going to take me out when i don’t have a job, which one do i prefer? folks who don’t have much else to lose — they understand that this system isn’t built for black people. and that’s why people are in the streets.”
- the new york times.
i’ve spent most days watching videos of police brutality or reading articles proposing exactly how these protests can and will manifest change.
one of the most tangible ideas posited so far has been to defund the police departments and divert that funding to initiatives that positively affect communities.
it’s difficult to comprehend the scale of police militarisation — the u.s. spends more than $100 billion on policing per year. $100 billion is a greater sum than the gdp of some 38 world bank member nations. we’ve all seen the images of militarised police over the past week — the extent to which the united states has equipped their law enforcement officers in the same way they do their military is astonishing.
fig. 2.
value of military items distributed by the department of defence 1033 program.
the marshall project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organisation, details the pentagon’s ‘1033 program’ that distributes surplus weapons, aircraft and vehicles to police departments nationwide.
police in johnston, r.i., with a population less than 29,000, acquired two bomb disposal robots, 10 tactical trucks, 35 assault rifles, more than 100 infrared gun sights and two pairs of footwear designed to protect against explosive mines.
the johnson police department has 67 sworn officers.
- the marshall project.
it’s clear how the iraq & afghanistan wars have contributed to the militarisation of u.s. police departments. #blacklivesmatter are now calling for a national defunding of police — demanding investment in their communities and the resources to ensure black people not only survive, but thrive.
what can you do to help?
sign the petition here: defund the police petition.
📚 word of the week:
“gerontocracy”.
a state or government in which old people rule.
gerontocracy, that is, government by the aged, is the most ancient form of government.
- emile faguet.
🤪 mildly humorous:
outtakes from the twitter-sphere.
🧠 brain candy:
📝
final words
.
george floyd’s final words, written in the sky. the aerial demonstration was the work of jammie holmes, an emerging dallas-based artist.
just after 12:30 p.m. on saturday, as cooped-up new yorkers spilled onto the battery park city esplanade — most in groups of two or three, each stationed a safe distance apart — a small plane glided past the statue of liberty and into view over the hudson river. a banner swelled behind it, which read, “they’re going to kill me.” these were among the last words of george floyd, a black man who was killed while in the custody of the minneapolis police department on may 25, and whose death has spurred demonstrations all over the country.
similar banners, each emblazoned with more of floyd’s final words, billowed behind planes above a handful of cities across the united states: the sentence “please i can’t breathe” could be seen circling downtown detroit while “my stomach hurts” loomed overhead in miami; the phrase “my neck hurts,” flying atop a peaceful protest in dallas, made local news as “everything hurts,” seen later in photos posted on social media, stood out against the gray los angeles sky.
jammie holmes grew up in thibodaux, la., a small city on the banks of bayou lafourche, known for an 1887 massacre in which the all-white state militia and vigilantes slaughtered scores of black farm workers who were on strike. “those bodies are buried under the houses that we lived in,” holmes said. “that blood is in the soil, so that place hasn’t changed.”
👉 read more via the new york times.
🚓
police reform
.
for young black men in america, being killed by police is the sixth most common cause of death. but reform is possible, writes the economist:
more than 350 cities nationwide erupted after george floyd, an unarmed african-american man, was killed by a white police officer. for nearly nine agonising minutes, deaf to mr floyd’s pleas and the growing alarm of the crowd, the officer choked the life out of him.
no wonder the spark ignited a bundle of kindling lying nearby. the fire this time is burning for the same reasons it has so often in the past: that many african-americans still live in places with the worst schools, the worst health care and the worst jobs; that the rules apply differently to black people; the fact, rammed home by covid-19, that whenever america suffers misfortune, black america suffers most; a sense that the police are there to keep a lid on a city’s poor, even as they protect wealthy suburbs. and, yes, the sheer intoxication that comes from belonging to a crowd that has suddenly found its voice, and which demands to be heard.
the cycle of injustice, protest, riot and conservative reaction has come round many times since 1968. so many, that it would be easy to conclude that police violence and racial inequality in america are just too hard a problem to fix. yet such pessimism is unwarranted. it is also counter-productive.
👉 read more via the economist.
👂 earworm: seeyousoon.
“still alive but i’ve seen both sides
feeling like a bird but the wings don’t fly
trying to get a grip on time
feeling like i’m lost inside my mind”
stream now:
multiple senses activate once the music plays. you hear it in the air. you see it on stage. you feel it inside. seeyousoon appeal to all of these senses. a collective of florida creators equally versed in old school hip-hop, neo-soul, and street style, the group kick out a hard-hitting hybrid of hypnotic hooks, nimble rhymes, and unpredictable production registering audibly, visually, and emotionally. the nine—ignacio, kenny, denny, maddie, josh, dre, drex, luke, and mitch—take a series of left turns to deliver a dynamic, diverse, and definitive sound.
- seeyousoon.
listen to seeyousoon on spotify or on apple music.
🦶 footer:
did you know that word of mouth is the only way something like this grows?
tell one of your colleagues what they’re missing out on.
they can sign up here.
🚨 if you post a screenshot to instagram stories of your favourite part of the email & tag me (@sam.travel), i’ll repost the best ones.
you can also support me but upgrading to a paid (€5 a month, it’s the lowest price i can charge on this platform) subscription:
🎉 get social:
instagram: @sam.travel
twitter: @sammcallister
email me: smcallis[at]gmail.com
website: sammcallister.me
👋 read one of my last 5 posts:
⛪️ drive-by mass.
👨💻 permanently wfh.
🏠 isolation.
or click to see them all.