Ep. 73: The Police & Passive White Folks Are the Problem

EQ: How do we make sense of the world in which we presently live? No, really - how? We need ideas. 

In this episode, Annie and Hope move through a range of thinking about current events in the US.

Some key points:

1. For some white people this is their “awakening moment” what many experienced in 2012 with Trayvon Martin’s murder, in 2014 Michael Brown’s murder, in 2016 with Philando Castile  & Alton Sterling, 2017  Freddie Gray murder 

2. We need white people to fight white supremacy (especially the “milk toast”, conservative types0

3. Murder isn’t political. Stop making it that. Neither is Coronavirus for that matter

4. To what extent is the white response to George Floyd’s murder performative?

5. White people need to move from actors, to allyship, to being accomplices (see White Accomplices)

6. We need the political will to address police brutality

7. It is worth the risk to join the protests and stand up for Black lives

8. We need to reimagine policing (maybe even abolish the police)

Learn More:

• What Say U Podcast Ep 18 “Unapologetically Black”

• Wes Moore’s Boo From Freddie Gray to George Floyd (Wes Moore)

• #Defundthepolice & #Abolishthepolice

• The Guardian: 

  • What Does Defund the Police Mean? 

  • Movement to Defund Police Gains “Unprecedented Support”

  • Minneapolis Public School Board Votes to Terminate Its Contract With Police

• The Atlantic Defund the Police

• Life Hacker Let’s Abolish the Police Force

• The New York Times Cities Ask if it Time to Defend Police & ‘Reimagine’ Public Safety

• Vox 8 Can’t Wait, Explained

• #NerdFarmReads Know My Name: A Memoir

Champagne & Real Pain:

🥂white people who are doing the work and putting their bodies on the line; people of color who’ve continued to lead change 

👎🏻 The police!

Do Your Fudging Homework:

• Annie: Go learn about the Marshall Project 

• Hope:  Listen and follow Melannie Denise & Audrey Cunningham’s podcast What Say U Podcast Ep 18 “Unapologetically Black”

  • Listen & follow the podcast Higher Learning w/ Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay

  • Read Andrew Hammond TNT “I Could’ve Been a Hashtag”; Manuel Ellis Killing, Tacoma

Follow us on Twitter @IWL_Podcast or Facebook: Interchangeable White Ladies Podcast

Lastly, don’t forget to pick up your copy of The Body is Not an Apology for the #readlessbasic book club