feature image from a photo by allison ivers

This is just the beginning.

“This is the biggest collective demonstration of civil unrest around state violence in our generation’s memory,” writes Jenna Wortham in The New York Times. “The unifying theme, for the first time in America’s history, is at last: Black Lives Matter.”

At The Conversation: 2020 Protests are unprecedented in scope: “as an historian of black social movements, my view is that as widespread and destructive as the 1968 rebellions were, neither their size nor the challenge they posed to the American political system approached what the U.S. has seen over the past two weeks. According to USA Today, as of June 4 there have been protests in 700 cities and towns since the death of George Floyd in police custody.”

Angela Davis: “I don’t know if we have ever experienced this kind of global challenge to racism and to the consequences of slavery.”

The BBC has written about why US protests are so powerful this time. Also powerful? This plan.

AbsurdistWords on twitter:

White people have been treated like Black people by the police for a WEEK and suddenly every state is pondering defunding cops.

This is what it takes every damn time.

— 5'7" Black Male (@absurdistwords) June 5, 2020

In Los Angeles, Black Lives Matter estimates that as many as 100k protesters turned up on Sunday. You can see pictures from protests from around the world here. What would also be great would be for this to happen.

Minneapolis has committed to dismantling its police department. The announcement came after a community meeting held by the Black Visions Collective and Reclaim The Block, who have been pushing for divestment from MPD since 2018.

New York Magazine discusses How the George Floyd Protests Have Already Changed the Country. Changes include: people learning the actual meaning of “defunding the police” and advocating for it and the removal of some Confederate monuments. What if we also did this though?

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have unveiled some “sweeping” proposals for police reform. Also, as noted in The Root: “I have to say that this level of performative justice, these kente-cloth wearing people and their kneeling is just really funny.”

In New York, de Blasio says he will redirect “some” police funding towards youth and social services. In a tweet, De Blasio noted that “saying “I Hear You” is not enough,” and then unveiled a plan that is …. also not enough!!!!

Princeton’s Eddie Glaude Jr. believes that “a moral reckoning is upon us.”

Here’s Where the Movement to Defund Police Is Gaining Momentum

Houston’s mayor commits to banning police use of chokeholds.and so does the LAPD. This is good but again, not anywhere close to where we need to get.

Seattle City Council Considers Defunding Police Department

A New York City officer who shoved a protester has surrendered to face charges.

L.A. Pride are no longer organizing Black Lives Matter solidarity march

Justice for Breonna Taylor

This weekend we participated in nationwide actions to get justice for Breonna Taylor. Today it was revealed that the Officer Named in Breonna Taylor Shooting was Accused by Two Women of Sexual Assault. Officer Brett Hankison is also apparently “the subject in an ongoing civil lawsuit in federal court that accuses him of unrelated unnecessary arrests and harassment of another man.”  On Sunday, Louisville Youth directly questioned their mayor over the response to Breonna Taylor’s killing. Still, no charges have been brought against her killers.

More Uprising Coverage

+ Family reflects on his legacy as George Floyd’s funeral begins

+ Hundreds Were Arrested For Peacefully Protesting; Here Are Their Stories

+ ‘The Bronx Is Not Going to Let This Bookstore Close’

+ ‘It’s So Surreal Thinking About How All This Started on Lake Street’: Young Protestors in Minneapolis Talk About Where It All Started

+ Prison Abolition Should Be The American Dream

+ Queer Celebrities turning up at protests worldwide

Explainers, Clarifications and Resources

+ Colton Haynes and Ashlee M Preston on practicing Anti-racism within the LGBTQ community

+ Support Black Community With Your Money: A Living Index of Local Mutual Aid Efforts

+ Protests aren’t what they look like on TV

+ ‘Defund the Police’ Actually Means Defunding the Police: Defunding is not reforming, it is… defunding.

+ #PassTheMicNow Brings Black Women’s Voices to the Forefront

+ “Be wary of things that are purely symbolic”: How to join the conversation on race

+ How do you sign ‘Black Lives Matter’ in ASL? For black deaf Angelenos, it’s complicated

+ Schomburg Center Black Liberation Reading List

+ Copwatching 101: Keep Your Eyes Open, Keep Your Neighbors Safe

Fuck Trump

+ There is a very real possibility that Donald Trump will refuse to leave office. The only way to prevent it is for Biden to win by a very clear and very large margin, which feels increasingly impossible.

+ Donald Trump Amplified A Conspiracy Theory That Buffalo Protester Martin Gugino Was Trying To “Scan” The Police Before He Was Injured: The 75-year-old man who was brutally pushed to the ground by cops in Buffalo who then left him there with his head bleeding have the support of Donald J trump, inspired by “an “absolutely insane” segment from little-watched cable channel One America News Network.”

Also:

+ Voting chaos in Georgia Another Bad Sign for November

+ Police Have Been Spying on Black Reporters and Activists for Years. I Know Because I’m One of Them.

+ How Tear Gas Became the White Supremacist’s Favorite Poison

+ An Interview With the Man Who Told the LAPD, ‘Suck My Dick and Choke On it, I Yield My Time, Fuck You’

+ Daniel Radcliffe condemns J.K. Rowling’s attacks on trans women in rare public rebuke

+ What does Lea Michele think of J.K. Rowling’s tweets though

+ Baby Names Dot Com has replaced their front page with the names of people murdered by police

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!