Voices

Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa  

Yesterday I made a concerted effort to listen to more black and brown voices. Below are a few that resonated with me so I’m sharing to amplify them.

This video of black men expressing their raw emotions and frustrations is powerful. It is tense but not violent. I dare you to watch without sobbing.

A college student was confronted by law enforcement while trying to pick up trash around his dorm. This video was taken in 2019, long before the current protests. I thought of son Reid when I watched it. 

Jason Kottke compiled a sampling of what people of color have said about police brutality as well as the unequal impact of the pandemic on their communities.

Jon Batiste and Killer Mike shared their experiences and perspectives with Stephen Colbert. 

Tamika Mallory discussed looting and explained what the uprising is about. 

Tyler Merritt asks white people to think before calling the police.

Views for a Vision is a video project created by black artists to offer people a way to donate and financially contribute to #blacklivesmatter without having any actual money or going out to protest themselves. 100% of the ad revenue this video makes through AdSense will be donated to the associations that offer protester bail funds, help pay for family funerals, and advocacy listed in the beginning of the video. It’s an easy way to help simply by NOT skipping the ads. 

Black Voice News has been giving a voice to the voiceless while shining a light on systemic inequities and disparities since 1972. 

Barack Obama’s voice is vitally important, perhaps more now than ever. Rather than focus on a specific thing he said or wrote, I’m linking to his Twitter account for easy access to most of his recent contributions. 

Other voices:

BlackVoices.com redirects to Huffington Post collection of race related content, mostly from a white perspective.

The Lincoln Project produced a video calling attention to Trump’s support of white supremacists.

Meidas Touch released a short video calling out Trump for inciting violence. 

CA Gov Newsom publicly addressed systemic institutional racism.

George W. Bush released a rare public statement calling threats toward African American protesters "a shocking failure."

10 Reasons to Support Black Lives Matter 

In the spirit of sharing softer news and/or silly vibes:

• Luther: Obama's Anger Management Translator.
• SNL news anchors reported local news while trying not to react to the race of each subject.
• Weekend update: Michael Che and Colin Jost swapped jokes on SNL.

Daily pandemic update:  

A South African court ruled that certain coronavirus lockdown regulations were "unconstitutional and invalid" after a community group challenged the validity of the government's response to the pandemic last month. Italy reopened its borders for travelers from Europe. Aljazeera.com timeline

3 June 2020	Cases		Deaths		Recovered
13:01 GMT*	Yesterday	Today	Yesterday	Today	Yesterday	Today
World	6,400,057	6,474,784	378,071	382,923	2,930,683	3,083,701
US	1,859,772	1,881,256	106,929	108,062	615,654	646,260
NY	380,825	381,912	29,988	30,078	66,867	67,274
CT	42,740	42,979	3,964	3,972	7,511	7,511
NC	29,591	30,022	948	961	18,860	18,860

A moment of silence for those we’ve lost to coronavirus, including the first 100 and the first 100,000 in the US.

As of today 14% of closed cases in the US resulted in death; 86% recovered.

Globally 11% of closed cases resulted in death worldwide; 89% recovered.

Currently 2% of all active cases are considered serious or critical.

*Documenting time of day because real time data updates continuously.
Tracking specific states:  NY is US epicenter. Son Reid lives in CT. I live in NC. 
Worldometers     Coronainusa     Starsexpress2020     https://ncov2019.live/

In the news: 

• Biden met with community leaders at a predominantly African American church in his hometown.
• Cristobal is the earliest third Atlantic named storm on record. Mexico is in the current path though Gulf Coast states could potentially be impacted next.
• Emerging evidence indicates COVID-19 may be a blood vessel disease.
• Iowa republicans voted to end Steve King’s political career in primary. 
• Military advisor James Miller resigned in protest over Trump’s controversial church photo op.
• Nonstop Riders, an urban trail riding club in Houston TX, joined downtown protest on horses.
• Peaceful demonstrators defied curfews and remained on the streets of several cities last night.
  The eighth night of protests saw less violence as well as fewer police clashes. Protests have been reported in all 50 states and several countries around the world.  
• RNC urged by Trump to look for an alternate convention venue outside NC. 
• Tony McDade, a black trans-masculine person, was shot and killed by police in FL last week under suspicious circumstances; media attention was focused on protests.
• Trump’s walk in DC meant to convey toughness drew attention to his weakness.
• NY Gov Cuomo and NYC Mayor deBlasio expressed criticisms of each other.

Following Kenny Beck’s lead to share a few signs of hope:

• 75 positive news stories might have been missed.  
• Fishermen donated 220 lb tuna to frontline health care workers in Hawaii. 
• Josh Gad reunited Lord of the Rings stars while raising money for kids in need. 

In my personal life…

Yesterday I watched a lot of videos on social media and read a lot of personal accounts from a variety of sources. In the midst of disturbing images were also lots of examples of grace and hope… police and protestors embracing each other with hugs, kneeling together, marching together… protestors intercepting a saboteur in DC… people helping each other across the nation. By the end of the day I felt energized and hopeful.

I took a shower yesterday! That may seem insignificant or perhaps inappropriate to share. I didn’t accomplish much else personally so I’m celebrating my shower. Also, Greg’s sister Tonya called last night to check in. She and husband Peter are well, despite 8pm curfew in Raleigh.

I drank a Carnation breakfast essentials packet with milk for late breakfast then had a strawberry smoothie for lunch. Greg and I ate soup with crackers for dinner. Greg always has Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, always. I like a variety of Chunky soups and picked pot roast. I saved the last spoonful to pour over Minerva’s kibble and she enjoyed that quite a bit. After dinner Greg and I finished the last two pieces of cake with vanilla ice cream on the side for dessert.

My daily action for racial justice Wednesday is to amplify black voices by sharing a variety of messages and stories from people of color through my blog. 

“Each and every one of you has the power, the will and capacity
to make a difference in the world in which you live.” 

– Harry Belafonte