Vanity Fair's September issue, guest-edited by Ta-Nehisi Coates

August 29, 2020 2:39 PM

Ta-Nehisi Coates guest-edits Vanity Fair's September issue. Featuring Coates's interviews with Breonna Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer; Eve Ewing on police unions; Ava DuVernay in conversation with Angela Davis; and much more. (Note: You can read some articles for free but will eventually hit a paywall.)
posted by ferret branca (4 comments total)

If you hit the paywall try this: https://beta.trimread.com/
posted by jim in austin at 3:40 PM on August 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

I am very moved by the interview with Tamika Palmer. I live in Grand Rapids and while I don't think I know anyone who knew Breonna, everyone here is hurt and angry and resentful. So this interview with Breonna's mother showed a very clear picture of what her experience in Grand Rapids was. I'm going to share it around.
posted by rebent at 7:48 PM on August 29, 2020 [2 favorites]

I hugely enjoyed the Eve Ewing article on police unions, and while it was excellent at painting how disturbing and fascistic these police fraternities are, and how they have absolutely zero involvement or history with any actual union/labor movement, I still wish to understand better why they have SO MUCH DAMN PULL over what seems like every single democratic mayor of every city? Is it literally just the fact that they are a large enough and hive-minded enough voting bloc and donor base to threaten their re-election? Or is it that they collectively have the ability to hugely fuck with a mayor? Or even override their power? I imagine it's different in every city, but either way I'd love to learn more about why and how these police unions seem to have every city mayor, council members, even state legislatures just completely fucking whipped.
posted by windbox at 12:00 AM on August 30, 2020 [5 favorites]

Ava DuVernay and Angela Davis: two brilliant people discussing revolution.

Davis: "I’ve always recognized my own role as an activist as helping to create conditions of possibility for change. And that means to expand and deepen public consciousness of the nature of racism, of heteropatriarchy, pollution of the planet, and their relationship to global capitalism. This is the work that I’ve always done, and I’ve always known that it would make a difference. Not my work as an individual, but my work with communities who have struggled. I believe that this is how the world changes. It always changes as a result of the pressure that masses of people, ordinary people, exert on the existing state of affairs. I feel very fortunate that I am still alive today to witness this."
posted by mareli at 5:16 AM on August 30, 2020 [3 favorites]