Hey Everybody,

I hope you all are doing well as we head into the holiday season. This week has been one of the more difficult weeks of this year, as we have witnessed the legal system prove to us once again that injustice has no limitations. Just a couple of hours before I began typing this message a jury in Wisconsin found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of murdering two men during last year’s protests in Kenosha. Kyle Rittenhouse was the beneficiary of privilege and gun laws that have always favored white men in this country.

On the contrary, we also were able to rally for Julius Jones’ life to be saved in Oklahoma, but for Gov. Stitt to ultimately decide that Julius should remain in prison for the rest of his life for a murder that he did not commit. Julius being born Black was not granted the privilege of Kyle Rittenhouse and may have to remain incarcerated for the duration of his life.

This week the team at The North Star covered these stories and more, including an incredibly important piece by Donney Rose who spoke with an administrator from the American Psychological Association about their recent apology/admission of perpetuating systemic racism through the field of psychology. Every instance of injustice we look at on a micro-level is protected by macro-level systemic oppression.

It’s not that we do not understand this. It’s just that being aware of it does not lessen the sting of being impacted by the unfairness of it all.

It is my hope that you and your loved ones can enjoy yourselves as we enter the holiday season. In many ways, 2021 has been equally as difficult as 2020, but with its own unique challenges. But we have to believe that we can always find joy as well as justice. We have nothing else to hold on to but that belief.

Love and appreciate you all.

Your friend and brother,

Shaun

ARTICLES THIS WEEK

Steve Bannon Finally Surrendered to the Feds after Weeks of Flippantly Middle-Fingering Congress. I Doubt He Will Serve Much Time by Donney Rose

After weeks of non-compliance with the federal government regarding his role in the coordination of the January 6 insurrection, Bannon turned himself into the FBI earlier today on charges of criminal contempt of Congress after he refused to cooperate with the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol. Prior to turning himself in, Bannon found time to do a promo for his radio show where he advised his supporters to not “take their eye off the ball,” along with issuing a promise to “take down the Biden regime.”

Lawyer For Defendant William Roddie Bryan Calls For A Mistrial After Ahmaud Arbery’s Mother Cries and Other Stupid Sh*t He Tried by Kendi King

I’d like to think that the insensitivity of the lawyers’ for the accused in the McMichael’s / Bryan case is just an act. The defense seems to be grasping for straws, using any and every small moment to avoid murder indictments for the defendants. But in the short time the trial against the men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery has been underway, the blatant disrespect perpetuated by both lawyers is despicable.

Over Half of White Americans Recently Surveyed are Opposed to the Movement for Black Lives by Donney Rose

The “racial reckoning” of 2020 is officially old news, and now there is data to support many white Americans’ new-old attitude about the movement for Black lives. NBC News recently reported on the decline in Black Lives Matter support, based on polling conducted by Civiqs, an online polling and analytics company. We had a sneaking suspicion that our ally friends did not feel the same as they did when they were fired up to get justice for George Floyd a year and a half ago. By “we”, I mean Black folks who are well-versed in the flimsiness of white folks supporting our rights to be treated equally, and by “ally friends,” I mean white folks who saddled up as “woke weekend warriors” during the blaze of the 2020 uprisings, and after getting that bit of social justice advocacy out of their system, went right back to their regularly scheduled privilege/questioning the role that Black folks played being treated inequitably.

Clinical Notes: Unpacking the American Psychological Association's Apology for Perpetuating Systemic Racism by Donney Rose

For nearly 130 years the American Psychological Association (APA) has functioned as somewhat of a co-conspirator in the cultural crime of systemic racism. Late last month, after years of “contributing to systemic inequities” and hurting “many through racism, racial discrimination, and denigration of people of color,” the APA offered a lengthy apology to communities of color in which it admitted to failure in its mission to benefit society and improve lives and provided a detailed list of resolutions to atone for its role in essentially serving as a watchdog structural racism.

A List of People Who Received Harsher Sentences Than Kyle Rittenhouse For Doing Far Less by Kendi King

Juror number 56 read aloud the five charges against him, following each one with “not guilty”.

I turned my phone off.

There is much to be said about the connotations of this landmark trial and the way it ended, but right now I just want to grieve. I want to grieve for the hundreds of thousands of people who did nothing wrong but received harsher sentences for the crime of being Black in this country.

PODCASTS THIS WEEK

The Breakdown with Shaun King: Ep. 536 - American Police Exist to Advance White Power (November 15, 2021)

The trial of white supremacist Kyle Rittenhouse who murdered two people at a Black Lives Matter protest is going on right now. I’m following it closely and I encourage all of you to do the same. Today we are rerunning the first Breakdown episode on the Kenosha shooting as we brace ourselves for what’s next.

The Breakdown with Shaun King: Ep. 537 - Understanding the Inside/Outside Ways of Fighting for Change (November 17, 2021)

While I'm out on the road this week, the team at The North Star is replaying some of their favorite episodes of The Breakdown.

In this episode, I share a painful, personal story about a lesson that I learned about organizing for change as an outsider and organizing for change as an insider. In the winter of 2014, I found myself in a deep funk after failing in so many fights for families fighting for justice. And I got a call from The White House that forever changed the way I saw my role in this movement. I wanted to speak like and lead like Malcolm, but have the access to rooms of power and privilege like Martin. It didn't work. Let me unpack and explain how that informs almost everything I do as a leader today.

The Breakdown with Shaun King: Ep. 538 - Why simply telling people to "vote" is just not specific enough (November 18, 2021)

While I'm out on the road this week, the team at The North Star is replaying some of their favorite episodes of The Breakdown.

Did you hear the disturbing clip of Kenosha, Wisconsin Sheriff David Beth saying Black people need to be locked up, warehoused, and never let out again? He said this after a shoplifting incident. But listen, that man was VOTED into office. We have to start being very, very specific about who and what people should be voting for and against nationwide. Or we get him.

#InTheseTweets | 87th Edition

“In These Tweets” is The North Star’s weekly cultural dive into trending topics on Twitter impacting our community, hosted by TNS Chief Content Editor, Donney Rose. This week, Donney looks at the end of the student protest at Howard University, the lessons in equality from Sesame Street, and the defense for Travis and Gregory McMichael and William Roddie Bryan wanting to exclude all Black people from being in the court.

We are outchea in these tweets!

THIS WEEK’S SONG OF FREEDOM

The North Star will be sending out a weekly song of inspiration, hope and liberation from our These Songs of Freedom playlist. This week’s freedom song is “Music” by Eric Sermon. Listen here on Spotify or here on Apple Music.

COMING SOON TO THE NORTH STAR…

The Word.Life Podcast is a weekly podcast that sits at the intersection of literary art, liberation politics and social commentary hosted by Donney Rose, Chief Content Editor at The North Star.

Each week on Word.Life Donney Rose will be unpacking themes, context and messaging of dynamic pieces of literary art and music, and occasionally in conversation with the creators. Borrowing from the idea that “art imitates life”, Word.Life seeks to examine the roles art and culture play in bringing about revolutionary change.