Bree Newsome and her companion James Tyson made headlines on Saturday, June 27, 2015 for an act of civil disobedience that has received both praise and criticism. Newsome, 30, an award-winning filmmaker and #BlackLivesMatter activist, scaled the flagpole wearing a helmet and climbing gear and removed the Confederate Battle Flag flying in front of the Capitol in Columbia, South Carolina. She and Tyson, 30, were charged with a misdemeanor, defacing a monument, which carries a three-year jail term or hefty fine. An online petition has already been started to demand the charges be dropped.
It’s refreshing to see such a young bright mind fighting for a cause that seeks “true racial justice and equality.” A new millennium foot soldier, Bree Newsome, née Brittany Ann Byuarium Newsome, is set a part from a selfie-obsessed culture that is dominating her generation. A critical thinker, she stands in active opposition to a symbol of “systemic oppression and racial subjugation” that waves at passersby in spite of. In spite of the fact that it is a reminder of the past. In spite of the fact that the NAACP, South Carolina’s governor Nikki Haley, a bipartisan coalition of policymakers, an expanding number of American businesses, and countless Blacks around the world stand in direct opposition to this symbol of white supremacy.
In Alabama, Newsome’s actions sparked a new movement: #SouthernLivesMatter. Families gathered in Montgomery, Alabama, on Saturday brandishing the controversial Confederate flag and donning T-shirts bearing the Confederate symbol that read: “Try Burning this one … a$$hole;” “Heritage … Not Hate;” “Everyone Loves a Redneck Girl.” Others draped the flag over their bodies as if it were a Superman cape.
One demonstrator shouts,”We are being exterminated.” The Confederate enthusiasts outcries are unsympathetic of the pain this symbol inflicts on so many. The profundity is this very symbol is the backdrop for the deaths of the Emanuel Nine, nine Black parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on June 17, who were laid to rest this weekend. Either the protestors are disillusioned or delusional if they believe it symbolizes anything other than segregation and subjugation.
A graduate of NYU with a with a B.F.A. in Film and Television, Newsome has received awards and honors from The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, New York University, MTV, HBO and Saatchi & Saatchi, to name a few. For her final film project as an undergraduate at NYU, Newsome wrote WAKE, a tale steeped in the southern gothic tradition. Newsome wrote, co-produced, directed and edited the film in which she explores ideas about creation and power as well as religion and social custom. It is the winner of aforementioned awards as well as Best Short Film at BET Urban World Film Festival (2011) and Best Short Film at Hayti Heritage Film Festival held in Durham, NC.
Newsome was honored in June 2010 with an invitation to screen her film at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood. WAKE was awarded by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, one of the most revered critic circles in the nation and won the Paul Robeson award for Best Short Narrative at Newark Black Film Festival, the longest-running black film festival in the United States. WAKE was subsequently invited to screen in several other major film festivals including the 63rd Festival de Cannes in France, the New York International Latino Film Festival, the International Black Film Festival of Nashville, Montreal Black Film Festival in Canada and Cucalorous Film Festival in Wilmington, NC.
“Newsome as she stands for justice like many NAACP activists including Henry David Thoreau, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and numerous Americans who have engaged in civil disobedience. The NAACP calls on state prosecutors to consider the moral inspiration behind the civil disobedience of this young practitioner of democracy. Prosecutors should treat Ms. Newsome with the same large-hearted measure of justice that inspired her actions. The NAACP stands with our youth and behind the multigenerational band of activists fighting the substance and symbols of bigotry, hatred and intolerance,” writes Cornell William Brooks, NAACP President and CEO.
Lonnie Randolph Jr., president of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, said the two activists were apparently “well-intentioned,” but he cautions that “(i)mpatience must always be tempered by purpose and prudence.”
“This is not yet the time for civil disobedience, but a time for grieving over the tragedy in Charleston and a reflection on symbols and the hatred they fuel,” he said in a statement.
The proposal to take it down must be approved by two-thirds majorities in both chambers of the South Carolina Legislature. Randolph urges flag opponents to give the General Assembly the opportunity to address this issue in July “to at last remove this hurtful symbol from the people’s State House.”
Filmmaker Michael Moore announced on social media he wants to pay the bail and “any legal fees” incurred. Newsome’s actions inspired the hashtag #KeepItDown and #FreeBree, which were both top trending topics on Twitter in the U.S. Rev. Jesse Jackson chimed in tweeting: “We thank God that @BreeNewsome had the courage to take the flag down! #KeepItDown #FreeBree”
Both Newsome and Tyson are residents of Charlotte, NC. A judge gave them each a $3,000 bond and told them they were allowed to leave the state if they wished. Democratic state Rep. Todd Rutherford of Columbia, who also is an attorney, will represent Newsome. Rutherford is minority leader of the state House of Representatives.
Newsome has awakened a passion in many of us that has been buried so deeply and distracted by reality TV and social media, and striving for Twitterlebrity and becoming Instafamous. Her actions restore our faith in becoming who we were destined to be, servants and not superficial spotlight seekers. We’re not here to curate fairytale lives in a digital space and display all the trappings of success, all while being insignificant and self-serving. Drs. Dorothy I. Height, Mary McCleod Bethune, Maya Angelou and so many of our angelic ancestors are aflutter at the news and very proud.
While you wait with me to get tickets to Newsome’s biopic, take a moment to enjoy her short film WAKE in the interim (on page 2). Popcorn and red wine please.
