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Almost a week ago, I set up a phone interview with Black Lives Matter cofounder Patrisse Cullors for the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 14. By that morning, our interview had taken on a new kind of urgency and direction. Over the weekend, racist violence rocked Charlottesville and the nation, and on Monday morning, I found myself scrapping several of my planned interview questions and writing new ones. Earlier that day, Cullors had released a statement on the terror unleashed by white supremacists that was both hopeful and forcefully clear-eyed about the legacy of racism in America that beget the attacks.

"We live in a world where Black people are targeted for death and destruction," Cullors wrote, "and we should not be surprised when moments such as these occur in fact, Charlottesville confirms the violence that Black people endure every day."

Cullors, who in just four years has helped transform #BlackLivesMatter from a hashtag into a global social justice movement, has been both eyewitness to and active participant in the struggle for racial equality in America and beyond. In our conversation, Cullors discussed why being shocked by the events in Charlottesville denies a legacy of racism in America and shared her advice on how we can meaningfully combat hatred in our day-to-day lives. She also reflected on the power and limits of social media in creating real change.

POPSUGAR: Many people seemed shocked by this weekend's events. Does being shocked by Charlottesville necessarily mean you're coming from a place of privilege, or failing to recognize our history?

Patrisse Cullors: I think to be shocked really means folks have an ahistorical analysis of this country. What we saw in Charlottesville, and what we'll continue to see across the country as white nationalist groups rise up and take to the streets, is that this is very much the fabric of American culture. What I'm most interested in thinking about is how this connects directly to the White House, how this is Trump's base. These are the people that were beating up Black Lives Matter protesters as they protested his candidacy. So we are seeing white nationalists in the streets, but we're also seeing them in the White House. We're seeing them in Trump's cabinet.

PS: The next question I wanted to ask was how you view Donald Trump's culpability and what was your opinion of the statement he gave this morning?

PC: The first statement that Donald Trump put out is exactly how he felt: no remorse. He felt like he had no impact on what happened with the protesters, the white nationalists. His revised speech was damage control. The revised speech was because he was being pressured by both the Democratic party and the Republican party and the American people that he needed to say something stronger. What he first said, the very vague approach that didn't really speak to the issues, didn't speak to white supremacy, that's how Trump actually feels. We should be reminded every single day as he has rubber-stamped and pushed for a Muslim ban, as he tweeted out a transgender ban, as he has developed some of the most regressive policies on climate change. This president of America, 45, is actually racist, homophobic, and transphobic. He can make a statement all day that he condemns white supremacy, but the only way I'll believe that is if he is no longer the president, if he pushes out [Jeff] Sessions, if he transforms. And that's not going to happen.

PS: Especially since the election, there's been a lot of discussion of self-care around activism. I'm wondering how personally, as a human being you're coping with the events of the weekend?

PC: It's been a very challenging three to four years in this current movement, moment. It's been exhausting to have to do the work of making sure that black people don't die at the hands of the police, and now challenge white supremacists that are showing up in our cities, our communities. And most days I feel like I'm mourning. I don't get a chance to breathe. It's constant mourning, and that's exhausting.

PS: We saw really shockingly hateful, misogynistic attack being directed at Heather Heyer, the victim of the terror attack this weekend. It called to mind for me that you have been outspoken about the recent transphobic treatment aimed at Janet Mock. Why is it so vital that we face this threat together as people of color, women, the LGBTQ+ community as an intersectional, cohesive unit?

PC: White supremacy is directly linked to transphobia. It's directly linked to patriarchy. Our work isn't about silos. Our work is about looking at how all marginalized people are impacted by Trump and his regime. This moment is not about saying yes to one identity. This moment is saying yes to all of them and how they intersect and how our work intersects. I want to be showing up to airports and shutting them down when the Muslim ban is enacted, and I want those same folks to be coming out to our marches when Charlottesville happens. It is our work to really connect the dots around why this moment is so important for all of us. This is a matter of survival. This is a matter of life or death. And as we've seen white supremacists in the streets, we see them at every moment in Trump's appointments, and as folks are pushing to be elected and be a part of this new, they call it the alt-right, and I've been really appreciative of the hashtag #NoNewKKK because that's what it is.

PS: What is your response to some of the false equivalency comparing BLM to these white supremacist groups, which I think many heard echoed in Trump's "many sides" comment?

PC: That's a distraction. Black Lives Matter is a group that is fighting for the rights of black people and marginalized communities. White supremacist groups, like the ones who showed up in Charlottesville, are fighting to take away peoples' rights.

PS: Can you share a message to young people on how they fight this in a meaningful way?

PC: My biggest advice right now is to gather with your people. Gather with the people that love you the most, that see you, that fight for you, not with you. That will take care of you. Have family dinners with your chosen family and your blood family. Hug on your children if you have them. Ask people how they're doing; check up on each other. It can be very isolating being in this work, even if you're with a bunch of people. We don't often check on each other, so make sure that you are checking on your team.

What fortifies me I was actually texting with Angela Davis earlier, checking up on her and I said, "I'm low, but I'm grateful to be part of this powerful, powerful movement." I want to encourage young people to join us. Come! You're welcome here. We want you to be a part of this and we know that many of you are partaking online. There are organizations that you can show up to and show up to those meetings, and we will support your leadership

PS: How do you maintain hopefulness in light of days like these?

PC: Sometimes I don't. I want to be honest. Some days I'm really, really hopeless. Some days are harder than others. Today feels better, easier, because I'm talking to people and we're in action. We're planning a national action next weekend, Beyond the Moment, which is a coalition of people, from Black Lives Matter to the Women's March to Black Youth Project 100. We're planning a national action for people to be able to feel agency, to be engaged. In Boston, a white supremacist group is showing up there, so our Black Lives Matter chapter will be doing a counterprotest.

PS: You have a book coming out what can you share about that?

PC: My book is called When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, because Black Lives Matter has been called a terrorist group, and I've been called a terrorist. It's really the story of a young black girl and her relationship building a movement. It really draws on my experience growing up during the war on drugs and the war on gangs. It draws on my experience living with and growing up with a single mother. And it draws on my experience developing and ushering in this new movement.

PS: It's been four years since Black Lives Matter was founded. How has its mission or purpose morphed and how has it stayed the same in those years?

PC: Black Lives Matter has always been a movement and would eventually become a network and organization that challenged antiblack racism here in the United States and across the globe. In the last four years, I think we've been able to see some of the most courageous and innovative approaches to calling forth why black lives should matter, and we've seen people domestically and abroad use #BlackLivesMatter to talk about antiblack racism in that context. We have trained and developed and really amplified the leadership of thousands of black women queer and trans across the globe, and I think that is so powerful.

PS: Black Lives Matter began as a hashtag. How useful is social media in impacting change? Where does it fall short?

PC: Social media is one avenue into becoming an activist, and social media is our current gateway to rising consciousness in this country, and I think across the world. I think social media allows for new voices to be in the conversation. I think the downside of social media is we can often be pretty siloed, because we curate who we talk to and who we listen to. I think many of us did not believe that Trump could be the president, and it's because we didn't have people like that on our walls. We wouldn't have a bunch of white nationalists on our walls; we could block them, we could get rid of them. I don't actually encourage folks [to] sit with a white supremacist or a white nationalist, but I think it's important that we step out of our bubbles and realize what else is happening in the world so we have a better sense and we're not caught off guard in the ways that we have been, I think, in the last several months.

Image Source: Photos courtesy Patrisse Cullors

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Black Lives Matter Cofounder Patrisse Cullors Says We Shouldn't Be Shocked by Charlottesville - POPSUGAR

The local Black Lives Matter organization is asking Bloomington Police Chief Brendan Heffner to denounce a planned rally to support law enforcement and instruct his officers to not participate.

The rally is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. outside City Hall in downtown Bloomington. Its being promoted on Facebook, but few people have RSVPd online. Expected turnout is unknown.

Black Lives Matter BloNo said in a statement Sunday that its members will not participate in the rally or an expected counter-protest also being organized on Facebook. Black Lives Matter sent a letter to Heffner alleging that the pro-police rallys organizer is a white supremacist. The organizer has denied that.

We feel that it is your responsibility as the chief representative of your department, and as a public servant, to make it clear that the worldview of those organizing this event is not the worldview of the Bloomington Police Department by denouncing this event, and by instructing your officers to withhold their participation in this event, Black Lives Matter wrote to Heffner.

The group added: Because of the escalated tensions felt across the nation in the aftermath of the events in Charlottesville, and for the safety and wellbeing of our community, Black Lives Matter Bloomington-Normal is instructing its supporters to keep away from Mondays event.

Bloomington police issued a statement midday Monday in response to the Black Lives Matter letter.

"The Bloomington Police Department respects the First Amendment rights for all groups to assemble in a respectful and peaceful manner. BPD is aware of the event and will respond appropriately if needed."

Regina Noland, who is listed as the pro-police rally's organizer on Facebook, told GLT that the event is to show support "for the men and women who put their lives on the line every day."

"That's all there is to it," Noland said via Facebook Messenger. "I have never been racist and it's a sad thing that in America you can't say thank you without being called a racist."

The Bloomington-Normal branch of the NAACP said it would not be participating in Monday's events.

"In the wake of what transpired in Charlottesville, a rally such as this is ill-timed, insensitive, and has the potential to do more harm than good," the NAACP said on Facebook. "While it is good to support local police, what should be happening now is a stand of solidarity with the victims of violence in Charlottesville."

WGLT depends on financial support from users to bring you stories and interviews like this one. As someone who values experienced, knowledgeable, and award-winning journalists covering meaningful stories in central Illinois, please consider making a contribution.

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Black Lives Matter to Bloomington Chief: Denounce Pro-Police Rally - WGLT News

Patch.com

Black Lives Matter Sign Vandal Caught On Tape In Evanston, Residents Say Patch.com EVANSTON, IL The vice president of the Evanston/Skokie District 65 school board says she witnessed a woman walk onto her property, knock over a Black Lives Matter sign in her lawn and stomp on it around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. Along with two ...

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Black Lives Matter Sign Vandal Caught On Tape In Evanston, Residents Say - Patch.com

DECATUR, Alabama Several Alabama voters blame President Barack Obama for the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville this weekend because, they say, he sowed division in American politics.

Attendees at a rally for Rep. Mo Brooks, a conservative House Republican running for Senate, in Decatur on Monday said they were confident that philanthropist George Soros was bankrolling both sides of this weekend's violent clashes.

And on conservative Alabama talk radio, Black Lives Matter activists quickly emerged as a top culprit in the bloodshed. Callers, citing Facebook posts, claimed that BLM protesters had thrown bricks at the car that then hit and killed Heather Heyer.

Theres a lot of wrong on both sides, and unfortunately all the liberal media talks about is the wrong on one side, said Tom Cowles, 61, a retired engineer from a wealthy section of northeast Alabama.

On Tuesday, I talked to a few dozen people at three campaign events for three conservative Senate candidates about Charlottesville. I also listened for three hours to 101.1 FM Yellowhammer News, a conservative talk radio station in Alabama. While nearly all decried the acts of violence and said they rejected white hate groups, the Alabama conservatives also blamed the mainstream media for ignoring the violence of the left, argued that the Ku Klux Klan was originally an organization of the left, and complained about Black Lives Matter.

I recorded our conversations; the transcripts of their answers are below.

I think when the radical right and the radical left come together, there will always be violence. I think the radical left decided that the radical right didn't have the right to march in the street. And it doesn't matter who started it; freedom of speech is foundational, and they should have allowed it instead of trying to stop it. They had the right to do that. We don't stop them.

Obama set racial relationships in the nation back 100 years with his divisional rhetoric. Being a Southerner, the KKK was always Democrat. So to blame it on Republicans is ridiculous. Did they have the right to march? Absolutely. Did the antifa have the right to stop them? No. That's how violence begins the two polar opposites don't want the other to be heard.

George Soros has paid from the beginning to cause racial division in this country, and he supported Obama and the radical left to disrupt our country. Because he's a socialist and wants the entire world to be socialist and controlled by a global government.

You have to destroy society to build a new one and that's the goal. Both sides, far left and far right, want to destroy society as we know it in order to build a new one the way they want it.

There were two bad groups of people. I dont understand it Im on the board for the preservation of historical monuments, and Im sad that it got picked as an issue because I dont feel any affinity for these white trash groups.

But again, the media is so primed to well, its all about the evil on one side. Its a totally unbalanced presentation of what I suspect the facts were. I suspect that leftist groups bused in a bunch of thugs so the leftist media could beat this narrative about evil. Im not saying the white groups werent evil, but its a media construct, and its unfortunate we cant talk about real things and real issues.

But it was pretty scary if youre black, right?

Well, its pretty scary if youre white to see these Black Lives Matter they assassinated five police officers a year ago in Dallas. Theres a lot of wrong on both sides, and unfortunately all the liberal media talks about is the wrong on one side.

You talked about these antifascists guys these antifa are as fascist as you can be. Anyone who beats other people on the streets? Thats like the Nazi brown shirts in Germany. The antifa have been horrible, and yet our mainstream media doesnt say anything about those guys.

It's very sad and counter to how I think to be racist. And to create conflict is counter to my worldview and the worldview of those I associate with. We, as a rule, look at people as individuals and don't judge people by the color of their skin.

The climate that's created, in part by the last presidential administration, encouraged dissent and encouraged conflict by not denouncing it.

Which kinds of conflicts?

Physical conflicts between conservatives; conflicts that were drummed up against conservatives. Law enforcement. Other races. Those kinds of things.

Berkley was one. The school administration could have done something there. The police stood by and let them destroy because they were instructed by the mayor or somebody the college administration is part of the problem. I'm not as well versed on the Charlottesville thing.

I think Barack Obama is to blame. I think this country is more divided than it ever has been. I think almost all racism in world history can be tied back to liberalism, socialism, the idea everyone's supposed to have an equal outcome as opposed to equal opportunity those are liberal ideas that have been propagated over the past eight years through the administration, with just terrible things going on and the rhetoric we had coming out of the White House during that time.

And I think President Trump's leadership is spot-on we have to reject all kinds of racism, and eventually we have to reject it and refuse to acknowledge it, other than criminal proceedings, and get rid of it.

I think with a lot of things in life we have to ask, "Who is to gain from this?" I don't think you have crowds show up to that sort of thing without somebody to gain. Somebody having something to gain. I think that news media, Hollywood, and Democratic politicians are the top three entities that can gain from something like that.

Unfortunately, you have to follow the money a lot of times. I don't know about the exact scenario about how it got that way; I do know there was another incident a few weeks ago where the police were there to protect the protesters on both sides, and this time they just disappeared. That's kind of fishy to me.

What do you think of the perspective of black people having to watch this happen?

Its got to be horrifying. It sends chills up and down me even thinking about it; its sickening. Its just so despicable. At the heart of that issue is just hate pure hate. Theres no room for it in this country, and I despise that more than I despise Colin Kaepernick refusing to stand during the national anthem. I dislike that as well, but someone saying theyre better than someone else because of how they were born a certain way is the most repugnant, ignorant thing that can be said. I hope they would look to love and our creator.

Of course, any violence is unconscionable, but we've seen a lot of violence coming out of the left. There's a lot more information coming out, but it seems like antifa was there everywhere, agitating. So I don't know enough information about it, but a lot of those people are paid agitators. ...

It's proven a lot of people weren't from those areas. ... It's new, it's still developing, information is still coming out, but we know antifa was there and they have a history of violence. You saw those people at the Trump rallies.

I think the president's response was very good. He came out and denounced violence on all sides. He denounced it and came out again and reiterated he meant on both sides. Violence is unacceptable you should be able to come out and have a dialogue and discourse without resorting to mob activity.

I don't think [Trump] incites violence. I think the left incites a lot of violence they've ratcheted it up.

It's terrible. I think some good is going to come of it. There will be a crackdown on almost all hate groups the white supremacists, the KKK, even on the other side and those against freedom of speech trying to shut down peaceful protests.

I don't think they should have even allowed [the neo-Nazis there]. If you're going to allow it, bring in the National Guard preemptively and make sure the area is secured. If you authorize something like that, there's going to be confrontation I'm surprised there wasn't more destruction of property.

It would have been nice if the president had come out a little stronger against the specific groups, but if you're going to give a rapid off-the-cuff response, it was probably a little bit bland; but if you're going to do that, I didn't have a problem with that. Today he just met with the attorney general and probably got more information today than he did yesterday. It's hard to jump in and start accusing people before you have the facts; and today he named the groups.

Im not in a position to form a judgment as to who is or who isnt responsible until I have more factual information. I just have news clips. Certainly, the guy who drove his car into other people that was dead wrong, and he ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and if the death penalty permits, he ought to be executed.

But I also saw other film clips of different groups of people assaulting each other, but from the scrum it was difficult to determine who was who.

Did the president do enough to condemn white nationalist groups?

I have not analyzed the presidents comments to form an opinion as to whether what he did was sufficient. I can only speak for myself. And that is that problem who are racists, people who are sexists and discriminate against others ... are dead wrong, and if they violate the law, they ought to be prosecuted to the full extent possible.

I think theyre misled I understand why theyre doing it; you cant rewrite history, and so forth. I dont think Gen. Lee would be disappointed in them moving the statue because I think he would want to preserve the union.

I understand that the guy who drove the car was a Democrat. ... You obviously have to be a little crazy to drive a car [like] that. [He says he heard this on Facebook.] Americans need to learn how to resolve issues without violence.

Caller Tony

This was a terrible, terrible tragedy that this happened. I heard on the television and they said the guy driving the car that before he ran over people in the protest that Black Lives Matter were throwing bricks red bricks at his car.

I dont know if the bricks being thrown at his car led him to try to do that, or if he wanted to do that on his own over whatever. I just heard hes had a mental problem also and ... myself, I think people ought to try to mind their own business. ...

I just wanted to call and tell you about the bricks? Is there any truth to it?

Host Andrew McLain

Yeah, well keep an eye on it. And Ive heard that theory as well. And its very possible that he was getting hit that his car was getting hit with bricks.

But it doesnt change the result we get with a young woman dying the outcome doesnt change. But it is clear that, though this may have been after the crash, that people were hitting the car with baseball bats or whatever else. But the decision was made to run the car into the crowd.

Host Andrew McLain

There werent any race wars going on in Virginia over the weekend; it was a hate group war. Hate groups versus hate groups. Antifa is a hate group. Black Lives Matter is a hate group.

Maybe Black Lives Matter was started innocently looking to raise awareness for police shootings where they feel like a very small percentage of black men being shot by police is a rampant problem by police but its been hijacked as well. Now its been hijacked by a group that hates white people and looks to burn down cities and towns. ...

Anytime the mainstream media is guilty of doing something, theyll look to the other side and accuse them of doing it. The mainstream media and the left have allowed their silence to condone the groups of Black Lives Matter, antifa, and the violence they commit. So what do they do? They accuse Trump of being silent on the hate group that is committing violence, a.k.a. the white supremacists.

Caller Jim

Everyone knows the Nazi symbol, but it was originally I cant remember if its Anasazi or the Navajos. And Hitler just took it over. And thats what its forever going to be remembered as. But, just a historical fact.

Host Andrew McLain

Youre absolutely correct. Thats sort of what we were saying, that the Nazi symbol wasnt the Nazi symbol before Hitler took it over. But ever since he has, guess what? The most evil man in the history of this world whatever symbol he was going to use for his movement would forever be labeled that. Thats the first thing youll think of; nobodys going to be able to retake that symbol, nobodys going to be able to rebrand that symbol, even if theyre trying to take it back to its origins. Its forever owned by Hitler and the Nazis.

Same thing on whether you think the Klan was founded on something honorable, or whether you think Black Lives Matter was founded on something honorable, what matters is what they are today. And that is a hate group.

Caller Bill

That whole deal in Charlottesville is kind of like a false flag. ... Where does [Virginia Gov. Terry] McAuliffe, sitting wherever hes at, decide this is an illegal assembly? After a federal judge grants them their First Amendment right to have their protest in Emancipation Park?

Host Jim Moore

Theres no doubt these two groups clashing would advance the ideology of McAuliffe.

Caller Bill

And also it was going to call attention away from the failing Russia story because it was in the Washington Examiner that you guys talked about about the DNC hack being an inside job. So now we know there was no DNC hack at all; it was an inside job.

Seth Rich, Im sure. But they dont want to talk about all that so they create this other scenario to swing back to the left crying out, Racism! racism! racism!

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Barack Obama is to blame: 13 Alabama conservatives on Charlottesville - Vox

BY: Alex Griswold August 14, 2017 3:28 pm

The co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement claimed Monday on MSNBC that hate speech is not protected under the U.S. Constitution.

HostKaty Turasked Dignity and Power Now founder Patrisse Cullors about President Donald Trump's initial statement on the violence from white supremacists at a Charlottesville, Va. rally, which appeared to equate the neo-Nazis with the counter-protesters.

"Draw a distinction for me, if you will," Tur asked Cullors, whofirst spread the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

"I think what is important at this moment is white nationalists are actually fighting to take away people's rights," she responded. "Black Lives Matter and groups like Black Lives Matter are fighting for equality."

"Hate speech, which is what we're seeing coming out of white nationalists groups, is not protected under the First Amendment rights," she continued.

Cullors is incorrect. Under existing Supreme Court precedent, the U.S. government cannot sanction or ban speech simply because it is hateful or unpopular.

That principle was most recently upheld in June in the case ofMatal v. Tam, when the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the government cannot deny trademarks to brand namesit finds offensive.

Justice Samuel Alito's majority opinionargued that the banning of hateful speech "strikes at the heart of the First Amendment. Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express the thought that we hate.'"

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Black Lives Matter Founder Claims Hate Speech Isn't Protected By First Amendment - Washington Free Beacon