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June 2020
The Call to Harm & Kill
The Radicalization of American Terrorists
Discrimination & hate Watch
Tracking Discrimination & Hate in America — Part II
CEO of Séjour Creations turns Tragedy into Triumph
+
The Arts: Melanated Excellence: The Genius of Entrepreneurs Noble Johnson & Tyler Perry
Photo Story: Viola Gregg Liuzzo
CONTENTS
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
18 06 | About Us
28
04 Colin Kaepernick Tribute 09 Editor's Letter 10 Business. CEO Turns Tragedy into Triumph by C2Change Staff
14 Photo Story. Viola Gregg Liuzzo 16 Cover Story. The Call To Harm and Kill: The Radicalization of American Terrorists
by R.L. Byrd
24 Health. Cornoavirus Disinformation by C2Change Staff
18 Arts & Culture. Melanated Excellence: The Genius Behind Film
Entrepreneurs Oscar Micheaux, Noble M. Johnson & Tyler Perry by R.L. Byrd
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25 Political Satire. The Adventures of Jefferey by Tré Wynn
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Change
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C2Change (Channeling Creative Change) Magazine—integrating historical context to the pressing challenges of today—focuses on providing a racial justice platform for voiceless and disenfranchised people of color. C2Change Information Publisher | R.L. Byrd Publishing Digital Publication/Distribution | ISSUU Inc. C2Change Magazine, founded in 2018, is an online instrument for racial and social justice.
Social Media | Stay in Contact
Twitter: c2changemag Facebook: c2changemagazine Instagram: c2changemagazine Linkedin: 2change-magazine Youtube Channel: C2Change Magazine Issuu e-zine Channel: C2Change Magazine
32 | Ask Gee 26 Lifestyle. Mask Off:
A Lethal Stance
Before, During, and after COVID-19 by Jason H. Wynn
28 Editorial: Georgia State of Mind by R.L. Byrd
LIVING THROUGH
Advertising & Media Inquiries media@c2changemagazine.com Channeling Creative Change (C2Change) Magazine is a digital publication available online at www.c2changemagazine.com. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. All content is the property of C2Change Magazine and/or the respective artists, writers, photographers and advertisers, and are protected by copyright and trademark laws. Copyright © 2020.
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CEO of Séjour Creations Turns Tragedy into Triumph
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
1917
decad
EAST ST. LOUIS RIOT OF 1917 During the racial East St. Louis Riot of 1917, a mob beats an African American man in front of a street car, while the militia charged with restoring order stands by and does nothing. (Photo via Getty Images)
1992
LOS ANGELES (RODNEY KING) RIOT National Guardsmen and a police officer take up security positions in front of a burned and looted shopping center, 01 May 1992 in central Los Angeles. The 1992 Los Angeles riots, with looting and arson events, erupted 29 April 1992 when a mostly white jury acquitted the four police officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King, after he fled from police. 52 people were killed during the riots and Rodney King became a reluctant symbol of police brutality. (Photo credit should read HAL GARB/AFP/Getty Images)
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des of struggle is why . . .
1965
SELMA, ALABAMA PROTESTS An officer accosts an unconscious woman as mounted police officers attack civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama who were attempting to begin a 50 mile march to Montgomery to protest race discrimination in voter registration. Mounted policeman in background are part of Sheriff Jim Clark's Dallas County posse. Police used tear gas, clubs, whips and ropes to turn back the demonstrators as they crossed bridge over the Alabama River at the city limits (Photo via Getty Images)
2014
CHICAGO (LAQUAN MCDONALD) PROTESTS. CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 12: Demonstrators march through downtown on December 12, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. A recently released video showing the shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke has sparked almost daily protests in the city and calls for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez to resign for trying to cover up the circumstances surrounding the shooting. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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There are two types of people: The ones that make change happen, and the ones that watch change happen. Which change are you?
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ABOUT US | PUBLISHER'S LETTER
"AS AN ANSWER TO THE COUNTRY’S DECLINING STATE OF AFFAIRS (HATRED, DIVISION, AND HEIGHTENED RACIAL & SOCIAL TENSIONS) DUE TO THE CURRENT POWERS IN GOVERNMENT; C2CHANGE MAGAZINE WAS INITIALLY PITCHED AS A 12-MONTH, YEARLY, CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION OF TIME, MANPOWER AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO AN EMERGING ORGANIZATION FIGHTING RACIAL AND SOCIAL INJUSTICES—BUT, SOMETIMES, THE UNIVERSE HAS OTHER PLANS."
A s an answer to the country’s declining state of affairs (hatred, division, heightened racial and social tensions) due to the current powers in government, C2Change Magazine was initially pitched
as a 12-month, yearly, charitable contribution of time, manpower, and financial resources to an emerging organization fighting racial and social injustices—but, sometimes, the universe has other plans. And nothing can be more voluminous as a “no thank you” than silence. (We understood and still support their cause because their success is our success.) Their silence was the universe telling us to regroup, repurpose, and turn left. The gravitational pull to keep going, growing stronger each day our country’s freedoms, principals, and core values were challenged or stripped away by the current administration. (One person can be the catalyst for destruction, but it takes a following, either by conformity, duplicity, or complacency to bring the destruction into existence.) With the country progressively going backwards, if not on a new, different and dangerous path, we needed to be a voice. A voice for the voiceless and disenfranchised. A voice that pushes for CHANGE.
Why the name C2Change? We wanted to invoke change not only in the contents of the
magazine, but in the name itself. C-2 Change not only implies seeing about the business of changing our circumstances, but our role in channeling creative change to do so.
Why the chosen format? One of the untapped resources of African American culture (and our
struggle) can be found within the earlier, 20th century issues of the NAACP Crisis Magazine (one of many like-minded Black publications of the era). I found this to be true when researching a relative who was part of the documented 3,000+ lynchings in America's history. Within the February 1918 issue, I found his name (along with many others), as well as, details of the world people of color had to exist within; since then, I've gone through every issue. With this in mind, we used the W.E.B. Dubois years of the NAACP Crisis Magazine as the exemplar of how we wanted to disseminate information—report on the every day lives and injustices of people of color while showcasing our culture and chronicling our history. Each generation should push for the continual change and betterment of our communities for the next generation. C2Change Magazine strives to provide information for communities of color to use in that push—we channel creative change.
R .L. Byrd , Publisher
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"Each generation should push for the continual change and betterment of our communities for the next generation. C2Change Magazine strives to provide information for communities of color to use in that push—we channel creative change."
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EDITOR'S LETTER
In this issue of C2Change Magazine C2CHANGE IS AN ONLINE RACIAL JUSTICE PUBLICATION CHANNELING CREATIVE CHANGE.
In every aspect of our lives . . .
I
n the age of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, people of color have shown that although we have come a long way from the days of Civil Rights icons like Medgar Evers, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Fannie Lou Hamer, we are still fighting to overturn systemic discrimination and racism in the very institutions we as taxpayers help to fund, and as consumers help to thrive. C2Change officially launched, just days after Black History Month 2020, to chronicle and bring attention to social and racial injustices—providing a platform for voiceless and disenfranchised people of color. In this issue, readers will find today's pressing issues aligned with historical facts in government and politics, domestic news, arts and entertainment, and sports. How far have we come, as opposed to how much further we need to push forward to create change, is the question and answer we channel. Each generation should push for the continual change and betterment of our communities for the next generation. C2Change Magazine strives to provide information for communities of color to use in that push.
Rodney Berry, Editor In Chief
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BUSINESS
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
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CEO of Séjour Creations Turns Tragedy into Triumph FRANKIE KOUNOUHO, CEO OF SEJOUR CREATIONS OF PHOENIX, ARIZONA, TELLS C2CHANGE ABOUT TURNING HER TRAGEDY INTO TRIUMPH.
Throughout the country, individuals have been impacted by the Coronavirus through the loss of loved ones; the loss of financial security; and the loss of navigating to a familiar way of life—grieving, worrying, wondering how they will get through their life’s circumstances. C2Change wants to channel creative change with stories of encouragement and healing through just-like-me personal journeys. Journey's like that of Frankie Kounouho, CEO of Séjour Creations of Phoenix, Arizona, who tells C2Change about her tragedy into triumph in a personal interview.
C2Change: How did you start Séjour Creations? Well, Séjour Creations was a dream in the making. A journey that started in 2007, a year after my only child, Donovin, unexpectedly died at the age of four. In the foggy haze of dealing with unsurmountable grief and sorrow, I found myself searching for an outlet. An outlet for the energy consuming me with the pain of losing my child. And as strange as this may sound, my journey to starting Séjour Creations—and finding that outlet for the energy consuming my world—began as just a typical run to my neighborhood grocery store. While shopping, I encountered a shopper that was wearing a stunning necklace. It was gorgeous! Just breathtaking! Upon inquiring where she had purchased it from, I learned that her friend, in California, had made it for her. (It was a unique custom-made piece.) And for some reason, I got it in my head that I could make a similar necklace for myself. So, with the image of the necklace ingrained in my memory bank, I headed for a popular arts and crafts store and proceeded to ask the
clerk for all the items I would need to make my own (very first) necklace—with my own flavor of course. The clerk provided me with all the necessary items and even went a step further and pointed me in the direction of their weekly class on making jewelry—I, of course, attended. And from that moment on, I started making my own unique jewelry pieces. At first, the jewelry was not for sale. It was mainly a therapeutic release for me. My therapy for helping me with the grief of losing Donovin. But one day, while I was out shopping for more jewelry-making-tools, a lady stopped me and inquired about a bracelet I was wearing. (God was bringing me full circle!) Upon informing her that I made the piece myself, she shared with me some information about a trade show that I might be interested in attending; a way of selling my jewelry pieces. And although I had not a clue as to what I was doing or about to get into, I attended the trade show. To my surprise, I had attendees buy my creations and Séjour Creations was born!
C2Change: Why the name Séjour Creations? Séjour is derived from the French word stay/endurance (when used as a noun) and fit perfectly for the new journey I was on—overcoming tragedy and walking into triumph. A new journey that not only helped bring me out of darkness during the saddest time of my life, but a journey that awakened my passion to help anyone wearing my jewelry feel, and know, that they are unique in a world demanding that we be identical.
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The jewelry at Séjour Creations (We don't duplicate any of the jewelry pieces.) is as unique as the individual wearing it; and is currently available for purchase at: https://sejourcreations.com/ https://www.etsy.com/shop/SejourCreations
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE
Since each piece is unique, there will be a continual rotation of pieces listed for sale.
C2Change: Has starting Séjour Creations been easy for you? O-M-G! I’m telling you; the struggle is real! (And put a thousand exclamation marks behind the real.) When Séjour Creations was established, I was working fulltime. Longing. And I do mean “longing” to spend more time doing what my heart was screaming to do…create more jewelry that is. I struggled trying to balance the two worlds; and while I no longer work a full-time job, the struggle with balancing multiple responsibilities still exists. Additionally—I need to throw this out there for those on similar journey’s thinking about giving up. Don't!—self-doubt is a struggle that I continue to battle with. There have been moments where I thought about just giving up. Giving up and going back to being comfortable with a day-to-day life that I was familiar with. To exacerbate these feelings, I would find myself comparing my journey to other individuals creating jewelry—even those on a larger scale. Which left me wondering: Could I ever be as good as they are? Could I ever be an established brand? When that self-doubt awakens (and it does), I remind myself of one of the guiding principles of Séjour Creations: We are unique in a world demanding that we all be identical. Last, one of the biggest struggles has been the financial struggle of establishing a business, sustaining a business, and continually growing that business. That struggle (if you stick with it) will continue! You just get better with navigating those financial struggles as you and your brand grows.
C2Change: What are you most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others? Séjour Creations is a company that designs and creates oneof-a-kind, handcrafted, jewelry pieces; using only the finest materials. Each piece is painstakingly created, by hand, without blueprints or drawings. Just creativity in its rawest form. My decision to never duplicate any of the jewelry has and continues to set Séjour Creations apart from others. And I am most proud of the fact that through the highs and lows, I haven’t given up on my passion, the jewelry business, nor the Séjour Creations company and brand. Equally, I can never forget the tragedy that put me on this path. Not a day goes by that a part of Donovin is not in a decision or creation I make. You can connect with Séjour Creations via its Social Media channels: Twitter, Facebook, LinekdIn, Instagram
FRANKIE KOUNOUHO, CEO OF SEJOUR CREATIONS
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In
the
U.S.,
according to the kaiser family foundation, blacks account for more
people living with hiv—an estimated than any other to represent the
468,800 of the more than 1.1 million people— racial group. Additionally, Blacks (along with Latinos) continue majority of deaths among people with HIV and new HIV diagnoses.
"I AM GREATER THAN AIDS" VIDEO FEATURING JUSSIE SMOLLETT, ALIMI BALLARD, JESSE WILLIAMS & OTHERS. To learn about HIV/AIDS and available resources, visit: http://www.GreaterThan.org.
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HIV|AIDS Awareness
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14 VIOLA GREGG LIUZZO
PHOTO STORY
Thursday, March 25, 1965. Seventeen days before her 40th birthday, Viola Gre Klux Klansmen as she helped shuttle Civil Rights marchers in the historic Selma to the Ferris State University Jim Crow Museum; after watching news reports of th the Edmund Petus Bridge—known as “Bloody Sunday”—the mother of five left with the Civil Rigts movement in Selma. On the last day, while transporting Afric from Montgomery to Selma, a car carrying four klansmen (one who happened up alongside Liuzzo's car and fatally shot her in the head. Liuzzo’s death mad killed in the Civil Rights movement. Watch the Jim Crow Museum’s “1965 Murder of Viola Liuzzo” story here.
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Photo: Busted Window with Blood on Door
(Original Caption) March 26, 1965 - Lowndesboro, Alabama: This is a close-up of the smashed window and bloodstained door of car in which Mrs. Viola Gregg Liuzzo, Detroit, Michigan, civil rights worker, was shot to death near here late March 25, 1965. Mrs. Liuzzo was slain just hours after she participated in the climax of the Selma to Montgomery freedom march.while driving from Montgomery to Selma, Alabama.
egg Liuzzo was murdered by four Ku to Montgomery march. According he attack on Civil Rights marchers at t her Detroit, Michigan home to help can American teenager Leroy Moton d to be a paid FBI informant) pulledde her the only known white woman
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of their animosity towards the race, ethniticity, or religious affiliation of their fellow men and women.
ROBERT BOWERS, GREGORY BUSH, DYLANN ROOF, MICHAEL WADE PAGE, AND FRAZIER GLENN MILLERJR., are American domestic terrorists who murdered fellow Americans because
COVER STORY JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
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17 CURRENT EVENTS DO INDIVIDUALS, ORGANIZATIONS, ONLINE FORUMS, AND BUSINESSES THAT PROMOTE FALSE REPORTING, DEVISIVE RHETORIC, AND HATE SPEECH CONTRIBUTE TO THE RADICALIZATION OF AMERICAN HOMEGROWN TERRORISTS?
RADICALIZING AMERICAN TERRORISTS In August 2012 (the same month Michael Wade Page killed 6 and wounded 4 in an Oak Creek, Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting) US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in addressing the Republican party’s future and its declining white votership at its national convention said: “The demographics race we’re losing badly. We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.” His statement, along with a stream of individuals, organizations, politicians, Online forums and multi-media businesses pushing out false reporting, conspiracy theories, divisive rhetoric and hate speech, year-after-year, begs the question: Is America radicalizing its own terrorists? The question—as we approach another Republican National Convention, 8-years later—not only encompasses individuals who commit domestic terrorism on a mass scale like Robert Bowers (massacres 11 in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Jewish synagogue), Dylan Roof (kills 9 parishioners of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina) and Omar Mateen (massacres 49 people and wounds 53 inside Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida), but citizens who terrorize, hamper, and pose harm to the liberties and freedoms of citizens on a small scale. C2Change (as we believe one issue's article can not adequately answer the question) has committed upcoming issues to chronicle how individuals, organizations, Online forums, and businesses that promote false reporting, divisive rhetoric and hate—under the guise of free speech—continue to fuel beliefs and call-to-actions, which on a small scale, may be overlooked as the radicalization of American terrorists.
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ARTS & CULTURE
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
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19 R.L. BYRD
Melanated Excellence!
THE GENIUS BEHIND FILM ENTREPRENEURS, NOBLE M. JOHNSON, OSCAR MICHEAUX & TYLER PERRY. If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. — Comedian, Milton Berle
Born in the beginning of the film industry (July 12, 1908), comedian Milton Berle said, "If
opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." And with a career that spanned some 80-years in film and television, one might say Berle was a master of creating opportunities that contributed to his success and career longevity. And while Berle was able to create, open, and stand inside the doors of opportunity he created, people of color were relegated to stand outside the doors of others; the reality of building their own similar doors of opportunity almost impossible. Closed industry doors, Jim Crow racism, stereotyped role casting, race-based film censorship, lack of funding, distribution challenges, and problematic movie theater exhibition were just a few of the long list of obstacles melanated entertainers and film makers faced. Creating one's own favorable circumstances—in environments where doors were bolted lock and door knocks were few—required persistence, drive, wit and unwavering fortitude to go the extra miles to build a whole building (rather than just a door) while knocking down the many obstacles that stood in the way. Noble M. Johnson, Oscar Micheaux, and now Tyler Perry are among the melanated pioneers who didn't just build doors of opportunity for themselves (and others); they went the extra miles and built buildings—knocking down obstacles and creating opportunities from the inside out. Their journeys, unbeknownst or forgotten by many, are to some degree similar (as with Oscar Micheaux and Tyler Perry) or interconnected (as with Noble M. Johnson and Oscar Micheaux). 19/ 0 4 6
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A SNAPSHOT OF BLACK PROGRESSION IN THE 1927
1924
EBONY MAGAZINE FOUNDED NOV. 1, 1945
PINKY
1949
1943
STORMY WEATHER
GONE WITH THE WIND
20TH CENTURY FOX
1935 1934
PRODUCTION CODE ENFORCE 1934 IMITATION OF LIFE
SCREEN ACTORS GUILD FORMED
1ST ACADEMY AWARD CEREMONY
MILLION DOLLAR PRODUCTIONS
1929 1933
HATTIE MCDANIEL WINS ACADEMY AWARD
1939
COLOMBIA PICTURES
WALT DISNEY & WARNER BROS. PICTURES
OSCAR MISCHEAUX "THE HOMESTEADER"
1916 1919 1923 BERT WILLIAMS - AMERICA'S FIRST BLACK MAINSTREAM STAR
THE LINCOLN MOTION PICTURE COMPANY OPENS
FOSTER PHOTOPLAY COMPANY CLOSES
Ebony Race Mov Academy Award Magazine Declin to McDaniel 1950s 1945 1940
SOUND
1912 UNIVERSAL & PARAMOUNT PICTURES FOUNDED
1910
FOSTER PHOTOPLAY COMPANY OPENS
CAKEWALK SHORT
1903
"The Birth of a Nation" film 1913 1915
PIONEER ERA
SILENT ERA
TALKIES/SOUND ERA
GOLDEN AGE ER
The recording of film started appearing on reels in the late 1800s from simple, rudimentary equipment. The new storytelling medium — typically less than 5-minutes long (see 27-second circa 1903 Cakewalk short) — focused on news, stage plays, and documentaries. The first black film company, Foster Photoplay, emerges in 1910.
The era focused on professionally made films of comedies, dramas and romances which ushered in the establishment of the major movie studios. Black independent filmmakers and production companies (focusing on telling positive stories of black life in what would be known as Race Movies) continue to emerge as Foster Photoplay closes.
Sound in film slowly opens doors for blacks by bringing an end to white portrayal of black life through caricatured performances in blackface. Hollywood (in the age of Jim Crow racism) would relegate black actors to only supporting roles as slaves; and maids, butlers or similar service industry positions.
The "Golden Age" for b actors would continue service industry roles the late 40's when p attitudes began to shift. Movies would see a de and phase out by the en the era. And the era w end with film industry trust regulations and the of television.
1895 - 1910
1911 - 1926
1927 - 1940
1941 - 1954
In 2015, disappointed that talent from people of color wasn't going to be recognized by the Oscars (The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), April Reign created the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. Ironically, 100 years before Reign's hashtag would go viral around the lack of diversity at the Oscars, blacks were literally in the streets protesting the 1915 release of D. W. Griffith's incendiary film, The Birth of a Nation. A film which characterized African Americans as savage criminals and heroized the Ku Klux Klan as saviors of the South. The film (released during President Woodrow Wilson's administration) would be the first movie screened inside the White House; and Wilson, in commenting on the movie, would reportedly claim, “It's like writing history with lightning. My only regret is that it is all so terribly true.”
ELLIOTT & SHERMAN FILM CORP., D.W. GRIFFITH'S "THE BIRTH OF A NATION" POSTER. 1915. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
In a time where disenfranchisement and institutional racism was the norm in every facet of black life (now being perpetuated within the film industry with The Birth of a Nation) Hollywood would find resistance in having black and brown stories told through the lens of non-blacks that were untrue or of a negative perspective. Resistance in the form of black independent filmmakers and production companies who, despite their obstacles, would emerge outside of Hollywood's studios to focus on telling positive stories of black life, with black actors, for a black audience. 1915 being a pivotal year not only for the release of The Birth of a Nation, but for the creation of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company by brothers Noble and George Johnson with the help of a group of investors. 20/ 0 4 6
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FILM INDUSTRY ERAS
RA
black with until public Race ecline nd of would antie rise
TELEVISION ERA 1955 - 1976
The Television Era highlighted people of color and tackled racial and social issues like the first interracial couple in television in the 1975 TV comedic series The Jeffersons. The era (with the conclusion of the Civil Rights movement) saw the explosion of the Blaxploitation genre of films with more heros, heroines, and identifiable (and relatable) African American men, women and children on screen and working in the film industry.
NOBLE M. JOHNSON
NOBLE M. JOHNSON (APRIL 18, 1881 - JAN. 9, 1978)
BLACK PANTHER / BLACK KLANSMAN
2018
HONARARY OSCAR TO CICELY TYSON
MOONLIGHT / THE BIRTH OF A NATION / FENCES / HIDDEN FIGURES
SELMA / GET ON UP
THE HELP
HUSTLE & FLOW
ALI
2001
12 YEARS A SLAVE / THE BUTLER / 42 / FRUITVALE STATION
2005
DJANGO UNCHAINED / THINK LIKE A MAN
2012 2013 2011
WAITING TO EXHALE
BOOMERANG / MALCOLM X / THE BODYGUARD
SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT
THE COLOR PURPLE
COMING TO AMERICA / SCHOOL DAZE
1995 1992 1991 1988
1984 1985
PURPLE RAIN/BEVERLY HILLS COP
CLEOPATRA JONES
SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG
SOUNDER / LADY SINGS THE BLUES
1971 1973
SIDNEY POITIER WINS ACADEMY AWARD
NO WAY OUT
WESTSIDE STORY
1961 1964
2019 2016 2014 2017
1986
1974 1976
SPARKLE
1972
Tyler Perry Studios
Harpo Productions
1980
1970s
THE BLUES BROTHERS
1963
BET Network
THE FIVE HEARTBEATS / BOYZ IN THE HOOD
M.L.K. "I Have a Blaxploitation Dream" speech Movies
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN
vies ne s
BLOCKBUSTER ERA
NEW MILLENIUM ERA
Special effects, advanced film production techniques, and world-wide distribution usher in the "Blockbuster Era." Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" (1975) becomes the first film to earn over $100 million at the box office and is considered the first blockbuster film. The Blaxploitation genre ends. BET and Harpo Productions evolve.
Content driven On Demand Services provides a new platform for artists of color to showcase their work. The era brings in films by independent filmmakers and Hollywood studios with people of color producing, directing, and cast in supporting and starring roles. 107-years after the founding of the now major behemoths Universal and Paramount Pictures in 1912, Tyler Perry founds Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia in 2019.
1977 - 1990s
2000s
Almost two years after the first black film company (Foster Photoplay) shuttered, Noble M. Johnson, an actor in the early eras of the film industry (like comedian Milton Berle), would build his own door of opportunity as an answer to Hollywood's negative role casting and stereotyping of people of color. One of a few notable and highly paid black actors in Hollywood, Johnson's 6'-2" 200-pound stature and ambiguous looks would garner him small character roles (credited and uncredited) as Latinos, Arabians, Native Americans, Africans and African Americans, but never as a leading man. Under contract with Universal Pictures, Noble's creation of The Lincoln Motion Picture Company would afford him the leading roles he sought which, according to IMDb, included The Realization of a Negro's Ambition (1916), A Trooper of Company K (1917), and The Law of Nature (1917). Interconnected (Noble and George Johnson and Oscar Micheaux). Looking for content for Lincoln's next film, Noble's brother George Johnson (who ran the business side of the film company) would contact homesteader/author Oscar Micheaux to discuss the film adaptation of Micheaux's widely popular, selfpublished book The Homesteader. (The Homesteader is a more dramatic rewrite of his first autobiographical novel The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer. A disguised account of Micheaux's move from Chicago to become one of a few black land owners in South Dakota's land lottery; detailing his challenges and relationships with his white neighbors (and a particular woman by the name of Agnes) and that of an 21/ 0 4 6
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impious religious man by the name of McCracken who would become his father-in-law.) As Patrick McGilligan notes in Oscar Micheaux: The Great and Only: The Life of America's First Black Filmmaker, Micheaux would initially visit George Johnson at his Omaha, Nebraska home in May of 1918 to discuss the film adaptation of The Homesteader; but the business venture would unravel over the course of several months. Negotiations stalling when Universal would notify Noble of its perceived conflict of interest with his involvement in the Lincoln Motion Picture Company while starring in Universal Picture productions—Noble would choose Universal (his bread and butter) and leave Lincoln. Without the great Noble Johnson to play Micheaux's alter ego, John Baptiste, Micheaux would build his own door of opportunity (finding investors, cast and crew) and produce The Homesteader himself. Filmed on a shoe-string budget, the 8-reel full-length feature premiered in Chicago on February 20, 1919 and its success would launch a film-production enterprise that would span throughout the Silent, Talkies/Sound, and Golden Age film eras—some three decades. The Homesteader (1919), the first 8-reel, all-black, full-length feature directed by an African American would premier in the Silent film era; The Exile (1931), the first all-black, full-length feature directed by an African American with sound; and The Betrayal (1948), the first African American full-length feature to open in white theaters premiered in the Golden Age film era.
OSCAR MICHEAUX
OSCAR MICHEAUX (JAN. 2, 1884 - MARCH 25, 1951)
Yet despite his successes, unlike his non-melanated counterparts, Micheaux would have the added hardships of Jim Crow racism, race-influenced state film censorship boards, lack of funding, distribution challenges, and limited theater screening locations across the U.S. In a time and world filled with roadblocks, Micheaux would not only build doors of opportunity, he would build buildings of opportunity. Favorable circumstances that would showcase positive African American talent, in leading roles, in a time where doors were closed and bolted lock for people of color. Persevering and rising above the societal roadblocks, Micheaux would write, produce and direct over 40 films in his lifetime—The Betrayal being his last. And while no copies of his groundbreaking film, The Homesteader, is known to exist, Within our Gates (Micheaux's answer to D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation which showcased white aggression against blacks.) is his earliest surviving director's piece and the oldest known surviving feature-length film by an African American director. Considered the first "major" African American feature filmmaker, Oscar Micheaux died on Sunday, March 25, 1951 at the age of 67. He was buried within the Great Bend Cemetery in Great Bend, Kansas, marked by a small metal plate until the 1980's when his work would begin to be widely rediscovered and acknowledged again.
Thirty years after his death, the accolades for Micheaux's work and contributions would begin to pour in. In 1986, the Directors Guild of America awarded Micheaux the Golden Jubilee Special Directorial Award for his contributions in film. In 1987, he received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. In 1988, Micheaux's family, friends and fans would replace the metal grave marker and dedictate a tombstone which reads: Pioneer Black Filmmaker & Author. A Man Ahead Of His Time. In 1996, the Producers Guild of America would create the Oscar Micheaux award for individuals who would overcome tremendous obstacles to accomplish great things in film and television. In 2010, the U.S. Postal Service issued an Oscar Micheaux commemorative stamp. In 2017, Georgia State University graduates Noel Braham and Courtney Branch would found The Micheaux Film Festival for Indie Filmmakers. (It runs in February, the month of Micheaux's first film's debut.) And in 2019—almost onehundred years after its premier—Micheaux's Within Our Gates (1920) would be the winner of the Maupintown Film Festival Showcase. Click here to view films made by the first "major" African American feature filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. Similar Journeys (Oscar Micheaux and Tyler Perry). Art Imitates Life. Both Oscar Micheaux and Tyler Perry began their careers by creating bodies of work from their own life experiences. Micheaux would use the challenges of being black in a segregated America, experiences as one of a few black homesteaders in the South Dakota land lottery, and the complexities of his love for a white woman (frowned upon at the time) and marriage to a preacher's daughter to write several books; adapting them into screenplays and film. Perry, as he notes in his book Tyler Perry: Higher is Waiting would use his experiences with childhood abuse (being abused by his father and seeing his mother abused) as a backdrop for his first play, I know I've Been Changed (the story of two adult survivors of child abuse), and for later bodies of work.
You let your past destroy you, or you use it to create something better. — Tyler Perry
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TYLER PERRY
2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 02: Director Tyler Perry attends the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/ Getty Images)
"You let your past destroy you, or you use it to create something better," Perry is noted saying. And from his initial failure in 1993 at the Atlanta 14th Street Playhouse where he would pour all of his finances and time into his first stage play I Know I've Been Changed, to his first break to the road to success 5-years later at the House of Blues, since 2005, Perry has compiled an extensive catalog as an actor, writer, director, and producer; receiving over 40 award nominations and over a dozen wins for his work. In 2006, he would continue to impact communities through his philanthropic deeds by establishing The Perry Foundation which, according to the site, aims to "transform tragedy into triumph by seeding individual potential, supporting communities, and harvesting sustainable change." 100-years after D.W. Griffith's incendiary The Birth of a Nation. In the city for which the sleeper train car was named that Oscar Micheaux would start his career as a Pullman porter. In 2015, Perry would make Atlanta, Georgia the home of Tyler Perry Studios; acquiring 330-acres of the 475-acre Fort McPherson Army Base to make one of the nation's largest studio lots—becoming the first African American to own and operate a major film studio. (Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California covering 460 acres, and Pinewood-Atlanta Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia covering 700 acres are two of the largest U.S. studios.) In a June 2019 BET Awards acceptance speech for the Ultimate Icon Award honor, Perry would tell an applause-driven audience that Tyler Perry Studios was once a "Confederate army base—and I want you to hear this. Which meant that there were Confederate soldiers on that base plotting and planning on how to keep three-point-nine million Negros enslaved. Now, that land is owned by one Negro." For his creation of an entertainment empire spawned by portraying the comical, no nonsense character Madea, Perry would be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 1, 2019 to which he would dedicate to "the underdogs" of entertainment. "For anyone whose dreams may be on life support," Perry told the audience, "I want you to walk past this star in particular and know that I've been there."
Pioneers Noble M. Johnson and Oscar Micheaux, despite the challenges and hardships of their time, metaphorically built their own doors of opportunity; blazing a path for others behind them to follow. On their footsteps, entertainment mogul Tyler Perry would turn the metaphor of "building one's own door of opportunity" into a literal reality by becoming the first African American to own a major film studio. And as he ended his 2019 BET Awards acceptance speech to crowd-standing applause, he left the audience with a statement that best summarizes his and the lives of Johnson, Micheaux and countless others: "I want you to hear this. Every dreamer in this room. There are people who's lives are tied into your dream. Own your stuff. Own your business. Own your way."
Tyler Perry Gives Powerful Speech Of Motivation As He Accepts Ultimate Icon Award | BET Awards 2019
Noble M. Johnson. Oscar Micheaux. Tyler Perry. Three men who defied their life's circumstances and built their own doors (and buildings) of opportunity; film industry trailblazers who have enriched our community's voluminous history of Melanated Excellence!
RESOURCES Bogle, Donald. Hollywood Black (Turner Classic Movies): The Stars, the Films, the Filmmakers. Running Press Adult, 2019. Elliot & Sherman Film Corp. ... present D.W. Griffith's 8th wonder of the world The Birth of a Nation ... (n.d.). Retrieved June 20, 2020, from https://www.loc.gov/ item/90709023/ McGilligan, Patrick. Oscar Micheaux: the Great and Only: The Life of America's First Black Filmmaker. HarperCollins e-Books, 2009. Perry, Tyler. Higher Is Waiting: Passages of Inspiration. Spiegel & Grau, 2017. Reign, April. “#OscarsSoWhite Creator: With a Mostly White Academy, What Could We Expect? (Column).” Variety, Variety, 15 Jan. 2020, variety.com/2020/film/news/ oscarssowhite-nominations-diversity-april-reign-1203467389/.
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HEALTH
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
24 C2CHANGE STAFF
Coronavirus Disinformation IN A RESTAURANT EXECUTIVES MEETING AT THE WHITE HOUSE ON MAY 18, 2020, PRESIDENT TRUMP CLAIMED HE WAS TAKING THE MALARIA DRUG HYDROXYCHLORONIQUE AS A PREVENTATIVE FOR COVID-19, DESPITE WORLD HEALTH EXPERTS CONCERNS ABOUT THE DRUG.
C-SPAN. RESTAURANT EXECUTIVES MEETING AT THE WHITE HOUSE. MAY 18, 2020
Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat or prevent malaria, and is often used by doctors to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. It is known to have serious side effects, including muscle weakness and heart arrhythmia. Numerous clinical trials are looking to see if it’s effective in fighting Covid-19, but it is not a proven treatment and the FDA has revoked its "Emergency Use Auhorization." AS COVID-19 cases spike and hospitalizations rise as states roll back lock-downs and reopen, the CDC has issued a list of guidelines which reiterates advice to avoid crowds, wash hands, social distance, and wear masks. 24/ 0 4 6
Follow Je entreprene
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effery (a twenties something one-scheme-after-another aspiring eur) month-to-month as he and his overtly religious Aunt navigate through life situations impacting people of color. 25/ 0 4 6
LIFESTYLE
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
URBAN CENTERS TYPICALLY HAVE HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF BOTH AIR POLLUTANTS AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR. THE POLLUTANT’S FINE PARTICLES PENETRATE DEEP INSIDE THE BODY, EXCACERBATING HYPERTENSION, HEART DISEASE, BREATHING ISSUES, AND DIABETES; SOME OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF HEALTH-RELATED ISSUES IN BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES.
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JASON H. WYNN
MASK OFF: A LETHAL STANCE BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER COVID-19
Mask
OFF
“If you’re getting COVID, and you have been breathing polluted air, it’s really putting gasoline on a fire.” — Francesca Dominici, Harvard University Biostatistics Professor 26/ 0 4 6
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ou’ve seen them on an Instagram feed or perhaps in your latest editorial issue. Modern, stylish, and effective would be good ways to describe them. They’re masks. As these accessories take on the newest fashion trend, longstanding air-quality and COVID-19 crises in urban regions of Asia start to feel more like decorated conversation pieces. However, in the United States where urban centers are similarly polluted and primarily home to African American communities, the topics of conversation are not so stylish. Air quality and health disparities across racial lines are not mutually exclusive in the U.S. Luckily, this fashionable emergence seems to promote more nuanced conversations about public health while exercising caution for COVID-19 simultaneously. Possibly more than just a trend, face masks are an ongoing showcase for the lethalness of air pollution and a lack of governmental investment in public health.
Unmasking the Contents of Our Air & Related Health Disparities Since the human body is greatly affected by the air we breathe, it is important to note that microscopic pollutants, or PM2.5 as they are referred to by science, exist in almost all air around us. Most importantly, the effects of PM2.5 are dangerous for all communities and even lethal for some. There is a strong relationship between PM2.5 and a number of critical health conditions. In several cases, the fine particles penetrate deep into the body, promoting hypertension, heart disease, breathing trouble, and diabetes; the leading causes of health-related deaths in the African American community particularly. With respect to COVID-19 and in recent findings by National Geographic, “researchers from Harvard
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University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed data on PM2.5 levels and COVID-19 deaths from about 3,000 U.S. counties covering 98 percent of the U.S. population. Counties that averaged just one microgram per cubic meter more PM2.5 in the air had a COVID-19 death rate that was 15 percent higher.” Check the air pollution in real time for your area here. With the current U.S. health crisis, the need for cleaner air is now more imperative and adds to the already exclaimed needs of access to healthier food options, improved diets, and affordable health care. Until governments (local and abroad) respond to public health issues promptly, face masks may be one of the only saving graces for individuals with pre-existing health conditions and/or poor access to health care. Polluted air only makes us sicker and we must be aware and stay informed to protect ourselves.
Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, brands such as Louis Vuitton are making 100,000 units of masks per week. Short handedly, its simply the right thing to do. With shortages for PPE far from a decline, corporate citizenship and its assistance fighting Coronavirus is more paramount now than ever before. Interestingly enough, there is now global synergy due to face mask shortages. It has implored everyone to utilize domestic and often recycled resources to create masks on our own. From using bandanas to sewing masks from left-over fabrics, we have subconsciously upped our sustainable efforts. Minimal yes, but a step in the right direction nonetheless. Much like a country’s flag represents patriotism, the emergence of face masks presents a united posture for healthier and sustainable lives and ecosystems.
SOCIAL COMMENTARY
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
Georgia Jim Crow State of Mind
A Brunswick native's commentary on the Ahmaud Arbery Murder
A
s the video of the Ahmaud Arbery shooting circulated around the country, all the stories heard throughout my childhood (awful as they were) came rushing back. Stories of Georgia's Jim Crow past; its murders and lynchings (including within my own family); the terrorism imposed by those sworn to serve and protect; the lawful voter suppression of the "White Primaries;" and the many other social and civil injustices people of color were made to endure while pursuing those unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Ahmaud Arbery
Segregation, voter suppression, lynchings, lack of state and federal protection, and the daily oppression of Jim Crow laws were the rule of order for people of color in the 40s. The oppression not only impacted the quality (and perceived value) of black life, it would serve as the backdrop for the upcoming Civil Rights movement of the 50's and 60's.
Brunswick, like other southern cities, mirrored the The city of Brunswick, Georgia changed for the better oppressive Jim Crow way of life for people of color. The with each generation of my family, unfortunately, some city was segregated in every possible way; neighborhoods, of its residents did not. public spaces, retail establishments and jobs, all the way down to the separate but unequal tax-payer-funded public When my grandparents, and eldest aunt, migrated to schools. And as my eldest aunt (who still lives in Brunswick) Brunswick in the 1940's, Thurgood Marshall would be reminded me, "Black folk weren't even able to sit down in a key factor in the U.S. Supreme Court striking down a restaurants. We had to order from the counter and stand Texas state law (used throughout the south) to impede there to eat. We couldn't sit at those white people's tables." the black vote in "white-only" primary elections. Some 300 miles northwest of Brunswick, George and Mae Murray Dorsey, and Roger and Dorothy Malcom are brutally murdered around the Moore's Ford Bridge; allegedly over voting rights and George Dorsey's relationship with a white woman. (No one was ever charged or held accountable for the murders.) The gruesome murders attracted national attention and sparked multi-city protests. President Harry S. Truman, in its aftermath, created the President's Committee on Civil Rights and introduced federal anti-lynching legislation; the anti-lynching legislation would fail due to Southern legislators in the Senate.
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BY R.L. BYRD
"Black folk weren't even able to sit down in restaurants. We had
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to order from the counter and stand there to eat."
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Byrd,
known
for
writing
Contemporary Realistic Fiction with memorable characters and vivid scenes of confronting personal and social issues, continues to confront personal and social issues as the founder and publisher of C2Change Magazine. To find out more about R.L. Byrd, visit his website at www.richardleonbyrd.com.
And while my grandparents and eldest aunt lived through the horrors and injustices of the 40's, my mother and her younger sister would see the sweeping changes ushered in from the Civil Rights movement. My mother would graduate from the all black high school and her younger (by 7-years) sister would graduate from an integrated Brunswick High School. Gregory McMichael, according to my mother's sister, would be in the same integrated graduating class.
and lived through this type of hate and conditioning timeand-time again. The forgotten Georgia cold cases of James Brazier and Hulet M. Varner, Jr., are two of many reminders. Brazier harassed and murdered by law enforcement and the cover-up that ensued to protect his assailants. 16-yearold Varner gunned down in front of his home by a white civilian driving through his neighborhood. In Brazier's 1963 trial—even with the involvement of the FBI and NAACP—the camaraderie between law enforcement, physicians (providing protection through medical misdiagnoses), and the judicial system in Terrell County, Georgia proved too strong to bring justice for Brazier's murder.
Gregory McMichael, 1973 Brunswick High Year Book (l), and 2020 booking photo courtesy of the Glynn County Sheriff 's office (r).
So when the cell phone video of Ahmaud Arbery's killing surfaced—prompting national and worldwide condemnation of the three men involved in his murder—I was shocked, but not surprised. Gregory McMichael grew up in a Jim Crow South where the lynching of blacks was accepted and went without punishment; and we've seen
In Varner's 1967 trial, the assistant solicitor general, George McPherson, challenged a Fulton County, Georgia jury to find a white man guilty of murdering a black child—a crime that often went unpunished in the Jim Crow South. As reported in the Cold Cases Project, McPherson told the jury, “You have an opportunity to destroy an ugly, malicious stigma—that a white man will not be convicted in the South of murdering a Negro. I ask you to find this man guilty of murder regardless of how you feel toward the Negro population.” Today, 53-years after McPherson's jury challenge, despite all the societal advancements and changes, we're still addressing individuals hanging on to that Jim Crow state of mind.
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DISCRIMINATION, BIAS & HATE WATCH
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
30 SPECIAL FEATURE: TRACKING HATE - SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING
LIVING THROUGH
Photo Credit: iStock.com/KeithBishop
SHOWCASING INJUSTICES, ONE BY ONE, TO OVERCOME AND ERASE IT Hate itself is not a crime---but when it impinges on the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of others, we must all be vigilant in the fight to overcome and erase it. Hate crimes, as defined by the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, are “crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, gender and gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.” Race-based hate and discrimination against minorities throughout history, and the race-related struggles that minorities continue to endure today, is the continued focus of this "Special Feature." 30/ 0 4 6
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Bias and Systemic Racism in Policing Police Fueled Riots 316 YEAR TIMELINE Racial injustice, economic hardship, and community mistrust of the police are common denominators for protests, uprisings, and rioting in America's communities of color.
1704 - 1865 - UNITED STATES Slave Patrols. Slave Patrols, according to the National Law Enforcement Museum, was an early form of American policing. After 1865, post-Civil War "Southern police departments often carried over aspects of the patrols."[1]
Systemic Racism in Policing Stalled at the intersection of perception and reality— America's can-do-no-wrong perception of policing and communities of color's policing reality—systemic racism in policing has endured, with impunity, one generation after another; a losing (if not fatal) battle for many American citizens of color.
APRIL 28, 1836 - ST. LOUIS, MO Missouri
Francis McIntosh. Overzealous policing leads to murder and the rioting and mob lynching of Francis McIntosh.
MAY 1 - 2, 1866 - MEMPHIS, TN Tennessee
Memphis Race Riot. Mobs—including policemen, firemen, and businessmen—attack former slave’s camps and neighborhoods.
I think there is racism in the United States still, but I don't think that the law enforcement system is systemically racist. — U.S. Attorney General, William Barr
JULY 30, 1866 - NEW ORLEANS, LA New Orleans Race Riot. A mass killing of black residents at the hands of police in downtown New Orleans.
Louisiana
AUGUST 15, 1900 - NEW YORK CITY New York City Race Riot. Police and residents spark the NYC 1900 race riot.
JULY 1 - 3, 1917 - EAST ST. LOUIS, IL
Illinois
East St. Louis Race Riot. Police indifference (some fleeing and refusing to answer calls for help) add to the riot's lawlessness.
AUGUST 23, 1917 - HOUSTON, TX Texas
Houston, Texas Mutiny & Race Riot. Members of the local police were at the root cause of the rioting.
JULY 19 - 24, 1919 - WASHINGTON, DC Red Summer Race Riots: Washington, DC. Metropolitan Police Department failed to intervene in attacks on black residents.
JUL 27, 1919 - CHICAGO, IL Red Summer Race Riots: Chicago, IL. Police refused to arrest white men responsible for the drowning of black teenager Eugene Williams.
MARCH 19 - 20, 1935 - HARLEM, NY
New York
1935 Harlem, NY Race Riot. Police handling of Lino Rivera incident, coupled with public mistrust of police, spark Harlem race riot.
JUNE 20 - 21, 1943 - DETROIT, MI Detroit Race Riot. Detroit police did little to qualm the violence between whites and blacks; often siding with the white rioters.
Michigan
AUGUSGT 2-4, 1964 - JERSEY CITY, NJ Jersey City Uprising. The arrest of a young woman in the Lafayette Gardens housing project lead to 3-days of rioting.
New Jersey
AUGUST 15 - 17, 1964 - CHICAGO, IL Chicago (Dixmoor) Riots. Protests erupt when a woman is arrested for allegedly stealing, but store owner is not charged for physically assaulting her.
Illinois
AUGUST 28 - 30, 1964 - PHILADELPHIA, PA
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Race Riots. Tensions between black residents and police explode when police respond to a domestic dispute.
AUGUST 11 - 15, 1965 - LOS ANGELES, CA Watts Rebellion. Racial injustices, coupled with police brutality, erupt in rioting after the arrest of Marquette Frye's family.
California
SEPTEMBER 6, 1966 - ATLANTA, GA Georgia
In wake of the current national protests against police brutality, Attorney General Bill Bar—in a June 7th "Face the Nation" interview—told Margaret Brennan that although he believes racism in America still exists, he doesn't believe there is systemic racism in policing. (How one believes you can have one without the other should be the question.)
Summerhill Riot. Discriminatory policing, and racial inequities, fuel protests after the police shooting of an unarmed black man.
JULY 12 - 15, 1966 - CHICAGO, IL 1966 Chicago Riot. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., pointed to socio-economic issues, and Chicago's city officials and police for the rioting and violence in Chicago.
Illinois
SEPTEMBER 27 - 30, 1966 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA San Francisco (Hunter's Point) Riot. Police shooting of teenager provides catalyst for years of area unemployment and poverty.
California
JULY 12 - 17, 1967 - NEWARK, NJ Newark Riots. The arrest of a cab driver by police with a long history of discriminatory policing spark the Newark riots.
New Jersey
JULY 23, 1967 - DETROIT, MI Michigan
1967 Detroit Race Riot. Economic hardship, racial discrimination, and police brutality were the underliers of the riots sparked by a police raid.
AUGUST 11 - 15, 1967 - HOUSTON, TX
Texas
Texas Southern University Riot. Police shoot over 3,000 rounds of ammunition into a dormitory and arrest nearly 500 students.
FEBRUARY 8, 1968 - ORANGEBURG, SC South Carolina
South Carolina State University Massacre. Officers open fire on a group of protesting students.
SEPTEMBER 2, 1969 - CAMDEN, NJ 1969 Camden Riots. Riots form after a rumored young, black, female motorist is beaten by officers.
New Jersey
MAY 15, 1970 - JACKSON, MS Mississippi
Jackson State College Killings. City and state police open fire on a group of students killing two and injuring twelve.
AUGUST 20, 1971 - CAMDEN, NJ 1971 Camden Riots. Riots form after motorist, Raphael Rodriquez Gonzalez, is beaten and killed by police officers.
New Jersey
MAY 18 - 21, 1980 Florida
Miami (Liberty City) Riots. Protest/Rioting erupt after 4-policemen are acquitted of the murder of motorcyclist Arthur McDuffie.
APRIL 29, 1992 - LOS ANGELES Rodney King Riots. Riots began after 4policemen are acquitted for using excessive force in the televised beating/arrest of King.
California
OCTOBER 24, 1996 - ST. PETERSBURG, FL
Attorney General Barr went on to say, "I think we have to recognize that for most of our history our institutions were explicitly racists. Since the 1960's I think we've been in a phase of reforming our institutions and making sure that they are in sync with our laws and aren't fighting rearguard actions to impose inequities."
Florida
Tyron Lewis Riots. Rioting occurs after 18year-old Lewis is shot; and after a grand jury clears the officers of Lewis' death.
APRIL 9 - 14, 2001 - CINCINNATI, OH Ohio
Timothy Thomas Riots. Riots are sparked after 19-year-old Thomas is shot by police while being pursued for non-violent misdemeanors. California
JANUARY 7, 2009 - OAKLAND, CA Oscar Grant Protests. Oscar Grant was shot and killed while detained at the Fruitvale Train Station. Protest erupt afterwards.
JULY 23, 2014 - NATION WIDE United States
Trayvon Martin Protests. Protests after Security Guard, George Zimmerman, is acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin.
AUGUST 10 & NOVEMBER 24, 2014 - FERGUSON, MO Missouri
Michael Brown Protests. Protests after the teen was shot by police (8/10); and after the non-indictment of the officer (11/24).
DECEMBER 4, 2014 - NEW YORK CITY, NY New York
Eric Garner Protests. Protests after officer, Daniel Pantaleo, would not face charges for the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
APRIL 8 - MAY 4, 2015 - BALTIMORE, MD
Maryland
Freddie Gray Protests. Protests begin after accounts of police officers using excessive force in Gray's questionable arrest and death.
SEPTEMBER 20 - 23, 2016 - CHARLOTTE, NC
North Carolina
Keith Scott Riots. Rioting after police shot Scott while searching for an unrelated man.
JUNE 16, 2017 - ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
Minnesota
Philando Castile Protest. Protests after officer, Jeronimo Yanez, is found not guilty of killing Philando Castille.
MARCH 3, 2019 - SACRAMENTO, CA Stephon Clark Protests. Protest erupt after DA's office decline to hold police officers accountable for the death of unarmed Stephon Clark. Minnesota
California
MAY 25, 2020 - MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA George Floyd Protests. National protests after video emerge of police officer Derek Chauvin's indifference to the "help" pleas of Floyd as he laid handcuffed with officer Chauvin's knee pressed against his neck.
C2Change offers an opposing point of view for the top law enforcement officer of our nation concerning bias and systemic racism in law enforcement. We chronicled some of the most significant police fueled riots over a course of 300+ years—from America's own history pages—where discriminatory policing and systemic racism were involved.
June 7, 2020. U.S. Attorney General William Barr discusses systemic racism in policing with Margaret Brennan on CBS' Face the Nation. (Twitter/Face The Nation) Watch video here.
Reference 1. Hansen, Chelsea. "Slave Patrols: An Early Form of American Policing." National Law Enforcement Museum, 10 July. 2019, lawenforcementmuseum.org/2019/07/10/slave-patrols-an-early-form-of-american-policing. Accessed 9 June 2020.
Bibliography BlackPast. “Racial Violence in the United States Since 1660 •.” RACIAL VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1660, BlackPast.org, 1 Mar. 2020, www.blackpast.org/special-features/racial-violence-united-states-1660/. Swaine, Jon, et al. “Baltimore Protests Turn into Riots as Mayor Declares State of Emergency.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 28 Apr. 2015, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/27/baltimore-police-protesters-violence-freddie-gray. Jeffrey, James. “Remembering the Black Soldiers Executed after Houston's 1917 Race Riot.” The World from PRX, The World, 1 Feb. 2018, 4:00 PM, www.pri.org/stories/2018-02-01/remembering-black-soldiers-executed-after-houstons-1917-race-riot. Gomez, John. “Woman's Arrest Led to Uprising in Jersey City in 1964.” Nj, The Jersey Journal, 24 Apr. 2017, www.nj.com/jerseyjournal150/2017/04/womans_arrest_led_to_uprising_in_jersey_city_in_19.html. “Ferguson Unrest: From Shooting to Nationwide Protests.” BBC News, BBC, 10 Aug. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30193354.
SOURCE:
https://www.c2changemagazine.com
Police Fueled Riots Timeline — 316 years of systemic racism in policing. Click graph to view "responsive" timeline. 31/ 0 4 6
RELATIONSHIPS & ADVICE
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
32 ASK GEE
DEAR GEE
F
amily, I need to throw up a few prayers of forgiveness as this year marks my eighth year— remember, eight is the number of new beginnings—from being literally kicked out of my first and only marriage:
I Married the Devil Incarnate! As I was attending a funeral and literally
God, I know you hate divorce, but all I have to say to that is: Please forgive me because know I shouldn’t have married that man!
walking away from the gravesite (Funeral,
Forgive me because I didn’t heed the warnings.
cemetery, and gravesite should have been my
Forgive me because I didn’t pray on it as I should have.
first warnings.) my sister says to me, “that
Forgive me because I didn’t listen to those family elders who told me a thing or two about why I shouldn’t go through with it.
man over there is going to be your husband.”
Forgive me because I didn’t listen to that little voice inside of me screaming: No Gee! Girl, don’t you do it. Don’t you do it!
Perplexed. I looked over at the man, then back at my sister, then back over at the man and thought to myself: No, I do not think that’s what the Lord has in mind for me! Well, longstory-short, "the man over there" and me got married. And, family, hear me when I tell you this! As soon as the ring hit my finger I knew I had married the devil incarnate.
Further clouding my better judgment was the fact that I was looking for a life-partner late in life; constantly thinking that my time was running out and needing to act fast before it was really too late. Long-story-short, I married this man late in life because I was focused on my career and wanted to take my time living—living life to the fullest as they say. Well, as I was living, the clock ticked and tocked and I was an “Old Maid” before I knew it; having to face the stark reality of living alone, becoming content with settling into a comfortable life with me, myself, and I. However, after the death of both parents (I had moved back home to take care of them and decided to stay in our small Southern town of no more than 3,000.) and no children of my 32/ 0 4 6
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own, I felt I was missing out on something. So, I prayed about it and asked God to send me a husband. And loand-behold did he not answer. But I guess I should have been more specific because as I look back on it now, the old saying, "the grass is always greener over a septic tank when looking at it from a distance," comes to mind. How did we meet (Warning 1)? Well, as I was attending a funeral and literally walking away from the gravesite (funeral, cemetery, and gravesite was my first warning) my sister says to me, “that man over there is going to be your husband.” Perplexed. I looked at the man, then back at my sister, then back over at the man and thought to myself: No, I do not think that’s what the Lord has in mind for me! Who was he (Warning 2)? He was the preacher himself! A “Preacher” in name, but not a “Minister” at heart. And if you're wondering what’s the difference: A Minister is someone who cares for people; a Preacher is a person that preaches—and, family, did my ex-husband like the sound of his voice. (Y'all know what I’m talking about!) Be that as it was, I was somewhat hesitant of a relationship with him at first. Slow to respond during a "perfect" courtship of nearly 18 months; although, coming from a small town, I had known “of him” my entire life. What did I do, next (Warning 3)? Well, three weeks before exchanging vows (I was happy but conflicted)— and I know my next words will blow you away—I carefully informed him that I was not totally in love with him but had feelings that were growing. (Yes, I know you’re saying, “Well, girl, you’re to blame.” And maybe I am.) But I was honest and told him if he wanted to cancel, I would completely understand. And as everybody said this was a good, understanding man, in that moment, he so sweetly told me, “But I have enough love for the both of us; I’ll wait patiently for you, baby.”
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Family? Family! Hear me when I tell you this! As soon as the ring hit my finger I knew I had married the devil incarnate. Not the man I had known from the previous 18-months. Not only was this the first time in my life that I truly heard and met the devil in the flesh; I was . . . living . . . with . . . him! The verbal and mental abuse began almost immediately, and was consistent and daily—despite whatever I did and however I tried to please him (and maybe I was overcompensating trying to love someone I truly didn't love). I never thought someone could be so derogatory and mean, while carrying and quoting the bible at the same time. Yes, I wasn’t in love with him, but I had love for him, and was honest and told him so. He knew who he was getting; I just didn’t know who I was getting. The echoes I was repeatedly subjected to were: “I could have married a woman who worked for the school board that wanted to buy me a 5-series Benz." (Hell, I couldn't buy myself a 5-series Benz.) When I didn’t step up to the plate and assist him as he expected financially (Where did this come from? We both knew each other's financial worth before getting married.), it was on. I was called everything but a woman of God and eventually just asked to leave; mentally tortured until I did. Tossed on the street for the next woman with a gold Lexus and a vanity license plate to take my place shortly afterwards. My Lesson learned: Listen to your intuition. Be true to yourself and others. And when encouraged to do something that doesn't sit well with you, “Don’t Do It.” It took me months to trust the man in my new relationship after taking eight years to grow beyond the man from my marriage. Share your comments and thoughts. Until next time, let's continue: : Channeling “Creative Change” in every aspect of our lives. — Gee In this Coronavirus driven world of today, many of us are facing challenges and life-altering changes—be it through the loss of a loved one; a change in job status or finances; or simply through the loss of one’s mobility as we shelter inside our homes for safety. And as I suspect throughout this pandemic and many moons afterwards, the challenges will be long for some and many more will be forced to walk a new path in life. Challenges. New life paths. New beginnings as a result of not-so-pleasant circumstances.
JUNE 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
Breonna Taylor: Taylor Family Photo
June 5, 1993 - March 13, 2020
Breonna Taylor
Remem Two Empty Am 34/ 0 4 6
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Kendrick Johnson: Facebook/Justice for Kendrick Johnson Post
October 10, 1995 - January 10, 2013
Kendrick Johnson
mbering merican Chairs 35/ 0 4 6
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