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"There just has to be a reckoning."
I interviewed the civil rights lawyer and democracy technician @Sifill_LDF about where we go from here.
Trust me: You will want to read every word of her brilliance. https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
I interviewed the civil rights lawyer and democracy technician @Sifill_LDF about where we go from here.
Trust me: You will want to read every word of her brilliance. https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
I'm going to share some highlights from our interview below.
But first: If you haven't yet, sign up for http://The.Ink , which is free and open to all.
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But first: If you haven't yet, sign up for http://The.Ink , which is free and open to all.
And if you'd like to help keep it free and open to all, consider subscribing.
I asked @Sifill_LDF about her recent meeting with @JoeBiden alongside other civil rights leaders.
And she dropped a piece of wisdom that many activists could perhaps take heart from:
She doesn't expect Biden to be where she is. She expects to move him.
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
And she dropped a piece of wisdom that many activists could perhaps take heart from:
She doesn't expect Biden to be where she is. She expects to move him.
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
I asked Sherrilyn about @esglaude's recent distinction between a diverse cabinet with "Black faces in high places" and a diverse cabinet that is also a real-change cabinet.
She didn't mince words.
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
She didn't mince words.
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
"I don't particularly enjoy the line, 'I'm going to have a cabinet that looks like America,' @Sifill_LDF told me. "I call that cosmetic diversity. I'm not interested in cosmetic diversity. I'm interested in substantive diversity." https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
I asked @Sifill_LDF about the breathtaking Texas lawsuit to overturn the election.
And she was less than breathtaken.
Because, as she points out, it was merely the culmination of something that's BEEN happening.
What's new is they're trying to overturn white votes, too.
And she was less than breathtaken.
Because, as she points out, it was merely the culmination of something that's BEEN happening.
What's new is they're trying to overturn white votes, too.
"What Trump has done is remove any sense of shame or pretense...But I am irritated and annoyed that there was not a mobilization of mainstream forces interested in democracy when we were yelling from the rafters about what was happening to Black voters." https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
I have said it before and will say it again, and @Sifill_LDF says it better than I:
Black people and other marginalized folks are an early-warning system for democratic erosion.
We wouldn't have been surprised by this attempted election theft if we'd been listening to everyone.
Black people and other marginalized folks are an early-warning system for democratic erosion.
We wouldn't have been surprised by this attempted election theft if we'd been listening to everyone.
Now we get to the heart of this interview, where, more clearly than I've seen yet, @Sifill_LDF lays out a three-pronged program for justice and accountability after Trump.
I would summarize it as:
1. Criminal justice
2. Truth and reconciliation
3. Institutional accountability
I would summarize it as:
1. Criminal justice
2. Truth and reconciliation
3. Institutional accountability
To break it down.
1. Criminal justice.
Against those who want "healing" at a cost to justice, @Sifill_LDF argues for criminal prosecutions of everyone who broke laws working for Trump.
"If they've broken the law, they should be held accountable." https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
1. Criminal justice.
Against those who want "healing" at a cost to justice, @Sifill_LDF argues for criminal prosecutions of everyone who broke laws working for Trump.
"If they've broken the law, they should be held accountable." https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
2. Truth and reconciliation
Far more people will have broken "norms, ethics, values," if not laws.
This is where the next two levels come in.
@Sifill_LDF calls for truth-and-reconciliation processes like those in South Africa.
They could be federal, state, local, or private.
Far more people will have broken "norms, ethics, values," if not laws.
This is where the next two levels come in.
@Sifill_LDF calls for truth-and-reconciliation processes like those in South Africa.
They could be federal, state, local, or private.
3. Institutional accountability
This is where @Sifill_LDF really got me thinking.
The first two levels are more familiar.
But Sherrilyn argues for internal processes of accountability within various institutions that have some 'splaining to do. https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
This is where @Sifill_LDF really got me thinking.
The first two levels are more familiar.
But Sherrilyn argues for internal processes of accountability within various institutions that have some 'splaining to do. https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
It's easy to want justice for Stephen Miller.
But so many institutions need to be examined.
I'll own that media is one of them. @Sifill_LDF brings up faith institutions and bar and medical associations. So many of us did not adequately guard democracy.
We need to face that.
But so many institutions need to be examined.
I'll own that media is one of them. @Sifill_LDF brings up faith institutions and bar and medical associations. So many of us did not adequately guard democracy.
We need to face that.
As I was listening, I couldn't help but hear the voices of so many of you who I know would say: But if there was no accountability for Iraq, for Katrina, for 2008, for mass surveillance, for widening inequity, for Covid, etc., why would there be now?
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
I asked @Sifill_LDF about the Democratic penchant for reaching out to moderates and Republicans, often at the expense of energizing their own base.
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
"I'm not an evangelist," Sherrilyn told me. "I have never thought that I had the ability, and I certainly don't have the interest, nor do I believe it is my job, to evangelize to people who don't believe in my own humanity or full citizenship." https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
We talked about the futility of the Great American Quest To Understand White People Who Frequent Certain Diners in Particular Midwestern States.
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
I asked @Sifill_LDF whether she has been able to maintain friendships across the chasm of Trumpism. She was concise.
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
And I asked @Sifill_LDF about the chatter that @JoeBiden should nominate her to the Supreme Court.
Her answer blew me away, neither denying what an honor and fulfillment that position would be nor needing that position, because she is so alive in what she already does.
Her answer blew me away, neither denying what an honor and fulfillment that position would be nor needing that position, because she is so alive in what she already does.
I'm so grateful for @Sifill_LDF's voice, wisdom and leadership.
Read our full interview here: https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
Find her book "On the Courthouse Lawn" here: http://www.beacon.org/On-the-Courthouse-Lawn-Revised-Edition-P1401.aspx
And support the democracy-maintenance work of the @NAACP_LDF here: https://act.naacpldf.org/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=15780&_ga=2.116374086.1990580912.1608045317-1983973461.1607701989&_gac=1.147281093.1608045387.Cj0KCQiA2uH-BRCCARIsAEeef3k1-RipzEqjb3zFcV51NWaE95ohJvGuDYdgidxBRB-bfgDDUYLxAxIaAhi4EALw_wcB
Read our full interview here: https://the.ink/p/justice-after-trump
Find her book "On the Courthouse Lawn" here: http://www.beacon.org/On-the-Courthouse-Lawn-Revised-Edition-P1401.aspx
And support the democracy-maintenance work of the @NAACP_LDF here: https://act.naacpldf.org/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=15780&_ga=2.116374086.1990580912.1608045317-1983973461.1607701989&_gac=1.147281093.1608045387.Cj0KCQiA2uH-BRCCARIsAEeef3k1-RipzEqjb3zFcV51NWaE95ohJvGuDYdgidxBRB-bfgDDUYLxAxIaAhi4EALw_wcB
