"Angry. Devastated. Scared."
A hell of a year in a week
“Officially, 1,694,599 people have contracted the coronavirus to date, and 100,047 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The US death toll makes up nearly one-third of the total number of coronavirus-related deaths worldwide.
“The US has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths, but public health experts say the real number of infections and deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel virus, is likely much higher than the official count.”
Everything feels horrible right now.
We’re on like, Day 76? - I don’t know, I’ve lost track, but that sounds right, I think? - of a seemingly endless quarantine. We’ve lost more than 100,000 Americans to this relentless plague. Minneapolis is roiled because once again, we’re mourning the murders of Black people.
I am heartbroken. All I want to do is scream; I went to a park tonight, found a secluded rock, climbed it, and wept. And I’m someone who benefits from at least some privilege.
I want justice for George Floyd. It is unconscionable — and yet, all too believable — that we won’t get it. You cannot see what happens time and again, and come to any other conclusion but that we live in a police state. A state where an ostentatiously militarized police goes unchecked and unbound.
You should read what Alicia Garza says here:
You should click through to read the thread, but in case you don’t, I’ve included it here:
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about what we can do right now. Some food for thought.
First, Black people are exhausted. I’m exhausted. Angry. Devastated. Scared.
There is not *one* easy thing you can do right now to make you or anyone else feel better about the fact that this country allows black people to be hunted and killed like animals. There is not *one* easy thing you or anyone else can do to make this go away. I try really hard not to be enraged at these kind of inquiries. Protest for too many is a performance for someone else’s benefit — rest assured people are not facing tear gas to perform for you.
They are sick and tired of being stripped of humanity and no one doing anything.
Ending police violence is a long game. It takes organizing. Protest to up the ante. Public and private pressure. Electoral organizing strategies. Telling new stories about us and what we are fighting for. Imagine holding all that and watching as time and time again a black life is extinguished before our eyes, and the laws protect the killers.
So when I say change the laws and change the people who make them, I’m serious about this. Police should be held accountable for crimes they commit. So should this country. I don’t have easy answers for you. And honestly I want us to stop looking for them and start supporting the organizing work people are doing and have been doing.
Follow @Blklivesmatter for updates and to get involved. Get involved with @ColorOfChange to hold prosecutors and police accountable. Support the hundreds of organizations that work to fight this every day. @ActionSTL @byp100 @Mvmnt4BlkLives
There’s a lot of them.
We gotta stop looking for easy answers and instead join the hard work. Please and thank you. Be good to yourselves. This is a marathon that no one wants to run. #BlackLivesMatter #GeorgeLloyd. Of course, you can also support the work we do at the @blackfutureslab and the @BlackToTheFutu1 to make Black communities powerful in politics. There are SO MANY organizations working hard to change this. Support them. Please and thank you.
I donated to the Minnesota Freedom Fund tonight. You can join me right here: https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/donate.
How some countries brought their Covid-19 cases to nearly zero — New Zealand is a great example of what leadership looks like.
Facebook ignored own research showing algorithms divided users — they reportedly ignored it because changes would disproportionately affect conservatives and might hurt engagement.
Adult Swim revives Tuca & Bertie after contentious Netflix cancellation — Lisa Hanawalt's delightful animated series gets ten new episodes.
A lovely collection of photos by @tara_wray of her older neighbors in Vermont and how they are coping with the pandemic.
This week’s classic Radiohead concert is from May 1994. If I remember correctly, they’d only released Pablo Honey at that point; I don’t think anyone thought they were going to be Radiohead yet. So you’re catching them at a really awesome inflection point.
This is a phenomenally interesting video for me as a space geek. It’s also incredibly relaxing.
OK, so I get that you’re either going to be totally into something like this, or you’re going to take a hard pass, but hear me on this: the Knight Rider theme absolutely bangs. The show? Not so much! Although, I’d be down for a remake, just like I dug the Hawaii Five-0 remake.
OK, that’s all I got. I love all of you so much. Let’s hold space for each other, and let’s try to rest a bit this weekend; we need it so badly. I’m here if you need anything, I’m serious.