Reset America: Surging Global Momentum

www.ozy.com We hope you’re having a safe and restful weekend. Protests against racism and police brutality continue to swell in number across the United States. Join us as we bring you depth and context on the day’s news, alongside solutions for how to Reset America. And don’t miss a special prime-time town hall discussion Monday, June 8, on the History Channel featuring thought leaders from the NAACP, popular culture and beyond — as well as several of you, OZY subscribers. The Time Is Now: Race and Resolution airs at 8 p.m. ET. Momentum Grows 1 Hitting the Streets Saturday saw peaceful anti-racism protesters turn out in enormous numbers across the country, as the movement against police brutality continues to grow — but without the violent clashes that erupted earlier in the week. More than [10,000 gathered in Washington, D.C.](, where the presence of police and military had been drastically scaled back and the mood remained calm. Black Lives Matter demonstrations extended from major cities to small towns, including [Vidor, Texas](, which has an ugly history with the Ku Klux Klan. 2 End the Police? A growing chorus from protesters is “defund the police,” as many would like to see police departments completely abolished, their responsibilities divided among other local departments. When Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a liberal civil rights lawyer, spoke to protesters Saturday and expressed solidarity, he was effectively [cast out on a walk of shame](, with protesters shouting, “Go home, Jacob!” His offense? Not committing to disband the Minneapolis Police Department and saying instead that he preferred reform. 3 Crimson Tide Receding Colin Powell, the retired four-star general and secretary of state under George W. Bush, [said Sunday that he’s backing Joe Biden]( for president — the latest in a line of major military names speaking out against Donald Trump, whom Powell said “has drifted away from” the Constitution. Pushback is appearing behind the scenes among current Pentagon leadership too, which [reportedly opposed Trump’s request]( to call up 10,000 troops to D.C. to quell the protests. Meanwhile, the [New York Times reports]( that Bush, Mitt Romney and Cindy McCain (John McCain’s widow) will not vote for Trump, with more GOP establishment heavyweights likely to join the movement, though it’s unclear how public they’ll be and whether they’ll cast a vote for Biden. 4 Numbers Don’t Lie Does it seem like police react more harshly to these demonstrations than others? A [2017 study in the journal Social Movement Studies]( affirms the suspicions: Looking at 7,000 protests in New York City over 35 years, researchers found that police were twice as likely to show up to protests targeting police brutality than other protests. They intervened with arrests or violence about half the time for anti-police protests — compared to 1 in 3 for other kinds of demonstrations. The Power of Words 5 The Slam Poet Making You Think Twice About Race Though young by standards of the slam poetry world, Mecca Verdell (aka Meccamorphosis) is a red-hot talent. Drawing on personal experience, the 22-year-old Baltimore native (shown above) uses spoken-word poetry to demand attention on charged social issues — like colorism, sexual assault and the disappearance of Black girls. And lately, she’s been [going viral on TikTok]( by tackling racism head-on. [Read more on OZY](. 6 The Book That Shook France’s African Colonial Empire “You build your realm on dead bodies,” wrote René Maran, a French Guyanese colonial administrator, in the 1921 novel Batouala. “You are living a lie. Everything you touch you consume.” A searing indictment of French colonialism in central Africa, the book was an insider’s account that forced France to confront the reality of its “civilizational” mission, much as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness had lifted the veil on Belgian brutality in the Congo two decades earlier. [Read more on OZY](. 7 Mark Twain’s Modest Proposal to End Lynching Twain begins his essay “The United States of Lyncherdom” in the vein of a 19th century Malcolm Gladwell: He wants to get to the bottom of how decent, law-abiding Christians in his home state of Missouri could become vigilantes and willing appendages of a lynch mob. It makes no rational sense, he writes — “even the average child should know better” — to think of lynching as an effective deterrent. Rather, such retributive actions only increase the chances of future acts of violence. [Read more on OZY](. 8 Malcolm X’s Missing Speech Malcolm X’s home in Queens, New York, had been firebombed days before, and his wife and four kids were in hiding. He’d been receiving death threats from former allies angry over his decision to break from the Nation of Islam. He appeared relaxed when he stepped out of his limousine — the ABC News footage shows him laughing and smiling — but during his speech at Barnard College, he said he’d “rather be dead than have somebody deprive me of my rights.” Three days later, on Feb. 21, 1965, he was assassinated in Harlem. [Read more on OZY](. The Movement Goes Global 9 In the Past The mass 1972 protest was a watershed moment, as tens of thousands of African Americans marched through Washington, D.C., to the National Mall chanting, “We are an African people.” With simultaneous marches in San Francisco, Toronto and Antigua, the event represented the genesis of what Komozi Woodard called “one of the most important forces for African liberation in African American history.” [Read more on OZY](. 10 In the Present Protests against racist police brutality that started in the United States have begun to spread around the world. But the protests aren’t limited in focus to American cases; they’re also highlighting cases of police brutality in other countries, with protesters demanding new investigations or at least renewed attention to people of color who were killed or mistreated due to systemic racism, from the U.K. to France to South Africa. [Read more on OZY](. 11 In the Future The Daily Show host Trevor Noah says the U.S. could use a bit of South Africa’s “general ease at talking about race and our racial past,” even though it can be painful. In a [clip from earlier this year]( — months before mass protests overtook the country — the South African comedian says that Americans tend to try to avoid the subject. “Dude, I’m not saying you did slavery,” Noah says. “Calm down.” A Whiff of Good News 12 Take Heart While the news has been extraordinarily gloomy of late, we’ve tracked down the best rays of light that you might have missed last week and the rest of the media won’t dwell on. [Find much more on OZY](. 13 Payback South Korea [sent 10,000 masks]( and other PPE to the Navajo Nation to thank them for their service during the Korea War 70 years ago — when around 800 members of the Navajo Nation used their native language to encode secret radio messages. 14 Flying Green The [world’s largest all-electric plane](, capable of carrying nine people, took its maiden flight last week over Washington state. 15 Map That Gene Researchers at Tulane University School of Medicine have identified a gene that causes breast cancer to rapidly grow — and [figured out how to turn it off](. What You Had to Say 16 Letter From the Editor Last week, OZY CEO and co-founder Carlos Watson shared [a letter]( offering his reflections on the current moment and what it can mean for America, and for the world. He has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of feelings and emails he received in response. Here are some examples: 17 From Ed, retired police officer — I’m sorry for the death of George Floyd, it was horrible and tragic, but the response you gave was very unfairly critical of law enforcement. You’re making it sound like every police officer is a racial bigot and out to hunt down the black man is just as unjust as someone saying that every black man is a thug and thief. This type of generalization and stereotyping is exactly why we have this turmoil … Generational poverty, lack of education, poor outlook on the future, rampant drug use, hatred of authority, glorifying thug behavior, overt violence (often black on black): These are all issues that need to be addressed in every community, but especially in the poorer communities. Let’s make a change to address both sides of the turmoil. The violence and looting only goes to affirm the negative stereotype of the black culture; this needs to be seen as it is: criminal behavior and unacceptable. Too many innocent victims of small businesses were attacked unjustly and many innocent uninvolved people have been hurt. Protesting and demanding change is a right, but it needs to be peaceful and productive. 18 From Janet — Here’s an idea for you: Fund all schools for subscriptions to National Geographic and have classes research and learn about different cultures. Make it a requirement for getting out of grade school. And make a semester of upper-level schools dedicated to sending young people to another country to learn concepts and culture. All kids. Not just the ones whose parents can afford that kind of opportunity and not just to Europe. 19 From Kate — I’m SO READY to be proud of our nation again. … Let’s seize on this moment (unlike the lost opportunity of 9/11) to really enact change. In our criminal justice system. In our economic system. In our political system. In our values. To truly become Americans again. 20 From David — News outlets MUST become reputable again, for the people have lost faith in news as a source of knowledge. As we see a disruption of the education system, it is a time now for people to educate themselves in all ways imaginable, not just at institutions of learning that have also lost the people’s trust and respect. We must move beyond the status quo spectating that our technological means of supposed connection (i.e., social media) affords us, and media outlets must explicitly and unwaveringly seek current truths, which inevitably nest within historical contexts; and yet, our media has trained the masses to consume only the tiniest pieces of information — disjointed and uninformed by the past. So, I think OZY should adopt andragogy as a method for journalism; OZY should educate with its media, not just about current events, but the historical origins of present and how to think about the future. 21 Your Turn You can [click here to weigh in](mailto:carlosrwatson@ozy.com) or respond directly to this email. [TV]( | [Podcasts]( | [News]( | [FESTIVALS]( Modern Media Company OZY Media, 800 West El Camino Mountain View, California 94040 This email was sent to {EMAIL} [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Read Online](