Corporate Pride, #ChurchToo, Jordan Neely’s Friend

KTF Weekly Newsletter

Hi everyone,

Two quick things before we start. First, if you’re in the Richmond, Virginia area, you should come to Resist Booksellers in Petersburg at 2:00 pm on Saturday and hang out with Tamice Spencer-Helms for a reading of Faith Unleavened and a signing! Second, remember, we have our launch sale for season 3 of Shake the Dust—50% off for a year of our Substack subscription! Monday is the last day, so sign up while you still can!

And now, on to this week’s highlights!

Jonathan’s Recommendations:

• The Black Lives Matter Movement centers the unique ways that Black people suffer at the hands of police. University of Illinois at Chicago Professor Cedric Johnson offers an interesting critique of the movement’s focus in this episode of The Gray Area podcast about his book, After Black Lives Matter. Johnson wants the broader racial justice movement to put more of its efforts on challenging the conditions which lead to police brutality and state violence against the poor and marginalized instead of emphasizing changes in policing. He argues that this would ultimately lead to greater liberation of both Black lives and all people who suffer under oppression, White Supremacy, and exploitative capitalism. Johnson draws on both today’s scholars and activists and the thinking of leaders from the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party. This conversation offers nuance, thoughtfulness, and an invitation to concrete action.