2020 has been one heck of a year. Starting with the loss of a legendary athlete, Kobe Bryant, to a pandemic that put the entire world in a panic state, to the passing of George Floyd which has sparked police brutality protests both nationally and internationally, and it seems as though the news is on top of it. Broadcast outlets constantly giving us new updates about COVID-19 and how we can keep ourselves safe, new footage of protests and riots demanding justice and an end to police brutality. Yet, there are many scenes that you would think deserve national coverage, but we are only aware of these events if we are there or via social media. In fact, one of these events recently took place in Birmingham, Alabama when city officials and black residents received threats from the Ku Klux Klan.
Birmingham, like many other cities, took action after the murder of George Floyd. Protestors marched the streets demanding justice, an end to police brutality and the removal of a Confederate statue. However, the removal of this statue sparked rage with the KKK, as they have threatened to “kill the mayor” and “shoot every black person they saw,” says Birmingham resident, Sterling Hutchinson.
In light of these threats, several business establishments including the University of Alabama at Birmingham and various private owned businesses closed their doors early and a city-wide curfew was set in place. However, Birmingham residents showed no fear. A crowd of protestors gathered outside Linn Park beginning about 3 p.m. and steadily grew as the hours went on. Some were familiar faces from previous protests, but there were a lot of new faces as well. Many of those who attended Thursday’s protest said they did so because of rumors that the KKK was in town.
Luckily, there were no sightings of white robes or even tiki torches in Birmingham that night. However, that same night a motorist driving along an interstate highway in a majority African-American county near the home of historically black Tuskegee University found a cross burning on an overpass. Though this county was not initially targeted with threats, cross burnings have historically been used by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist organizations to rally supporters and terrorize black people in the South.
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Many of us outside of Alabama knew nothing of these events because we rely on the news outlet to report what’s going on, and we often think that is enough to keep us informed. However, the news is not required to give us all the information. Take a look at some of the footage they are using to report the protests. Some of the more violent videos or scenes of looting only consist of black faces, however, social media users managed captured plenty of videos of Caucasian people looting as well, yet these shots never made it on television. News outlets also failed to capture police officers slashing tires and macing peaceful protestors, but they capture citizens doing the cupid shuffle with the chief of police. These images are not an accurate representation of what is actually going on. What’s terrifying about it is we will continue to be misinformed if we continue to rely on news outlets as our main source of information.
So, how do we move forward and continue to keep our people informed of the truth? We capture the moment ourselves. Our cell phones, cameras, and social media platforms are our best bet to ensure our experiences are documented and shared. In an era where everyone has a platform to share information, we must take it upon ourselves to report our own news because the media won’t always do it for us, and when they do, it may not be the most accurate representation of what is actually going on. Also, take what you shot and upload it to the media outlets so they can see what you see. You never know, your voice may be heard on social media and on the news outlets!
