It's not that I'm surprised, but it's ugly nonetheless.
Newly obtained documents from Jason Leopold of VICE confirm what we already suspected: The Department of Homeland Security is not only fully monitoring the accounts of black activists and leaders, but has taken a cultural stance on who they are.
A lifelong educator and former Head of Human Capital for Minneapolis Public Schools, DeRay McKesson has poured his heart and soul out as a leading voice nationally on the the issues of police brutality and racial injustice. He's also my friend and we've come to know and respect each other a great deal over the past 12 months, most of which he was working full time in education while moonlighting as an advocate for victims across the country.
See the document below...
A few things immediately disturb me about this document.
1. Homeland Security is not yet properly monitoring police brutality and violence, but has clearly found the time, budget, and staff to monitor the social media accounts of people fighting against it. Our government can't even give us an honest count of how many people are killed by police annually, but this is a priority? Furthermore this revelation comes just a few weeks after a document from security company ZeroFox called leaders DeRay McKesson and Johnetta Elzie serious "physical threats" to public safety in Baltimore.
2. I fundamentally reject the label of DeRay McKesson as a "professional demonstrator/protestor." In fact, what's particularly disconcerting about the label is that it is the exact label regularly used by ultra-conservatives to describe McKesson and so many others. To see Homeland Security using the same false label as ultra-conservative commentators causes me to conclude that their goals are one and the same. This label is meant to demean and diminish not only McKesson, but other courageous women and men whose lives have been completely interrupted by American injustice.
When people teach you what they think about you, believe them. This is our government showing us what they truly think about us. I know I'm foolish for being disappointed, but it's a mess.