Dear John,
Happy Juneteenth!
This month will go down in the history.
As we all sort through the news and media, we want to leave you with this: the end goal of these mass protests is to create a safer, healthier, and more joyful world. Our liberation is tied together, and the time for change has come.
Let us know what you’re thinking about and wrestling with. Check your inbox on Monday for an important call to action.
Here’s what we’re reading, watching, and listening to this week:
Juneteenth
June 19th – Juneteeth or Emancipation Day – marks the day in 1865 when a Union general proclaimed slavery was officially abolished in Texas, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Black communities in Texas and around the country have celebrated it for decades. If you want to learn more, here are some places to start:
• A Q&A in Slate about what Juneteeth celebrates and why it’s resonant this year.
• This Twitter thread about how enslaved people weren’t passively waiting for their freedom – they took it themselves.
• And the case for making Juneteeth a national holiday by Jamaal Bowman in The Nation (more about him below).
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Black Trans Lives Matter
Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells. Riah Milton. Tony McDade. Nina Pop. Layleen Cubilette-Polanco. Black trans folks deserve justice.
Last weekend 15,000 people in New York took to the streets last weekend wearing white to mourn and celebrate murdered Black trans folks. Check out pictures in GQ and read this piece written by one of the organizers of the New York march.
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Supreme Court
Good news: in a 6-3 decision earlier this week, the Supreme Court ruled that you cannot be fired for being gay, trans, or queer. This is a huge deal. Read more in The Intercept and learn about the plaintiffs in the case in The New Yorker.
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Special Session
We have the power and responsibility to act, through our government, to #DefendBlackLives and make decisions for the common good.
The DFL POCI caucus and allies have been tirelessly fighting for meaningful change at the Legislature. Negotiations with the Senate GOP have been fruitless and painful, but our resolve to create a better, more just world is only getting strong. Get caught up in MinnPost.
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Narrative Power
Policy follows narrative, not the other way around. Must read piece on narrative power, political imagination, and massive shifts in public consciousness.
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Tulsa to Minneapolis
Our new inten, Maya, reflects on Juneteeth and growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Read her blog on our website.
takeactionminnesota.org/growing-up-in-tulsa-reflections-on-juneteenth2020/
Contradictions
This simple graphic caught our eye on Twitter this week: a frame and context for white allies involved in racial justice work. Check it out.
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Jamaal Bowman
Jamaal Bowman is a New York public school educator taking on a Congressman who has been in office since 1989. And he might win. Read more in New York magazine.
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AOC
We can always count on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to lead with clarity. Check out her new ad on Twitter about what we’re facing right now.
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Solar Eclipse
There’s a huge new moon eclipse on Sunday, the summer solstice. Get the astrological scoop from Chani Nicholas.
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That’s a wrap.
-- Kenza Hadj-Mousssa & Patrick Burke
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