July 17, 2019 The House is scheduled to vote on whether to consider articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, another in a series of reactions to Trump's racist tweets targeting four Democratic House members.
The move is unlikely to amount to much, the product of a procedural mechanism that seems easy to countermand. But, Rep. Al Green, the Texas Democrat who instigated the vote, said from the House floor this morning: “It is time for us to send the president a clear message that he is not above the law.” Politico has all sausage-making here.
The impeachment news joins a three-day-long, full-metal media swirl of sort of talking about race, all of it pegged to the president's remarks. Tweets; racist tweets; were they racist tweets?; what is racism?; are you calling me racist?; is calling out racism really racist? and so on.
Much of it feels unproductive, the result of a culture which is unprepared to talk about race.
It's excruciating to watch an already difficult conversation devolve further in the public sphere, after finding a home in the people's house.
That's partly why it was such a balm to see how richly rewarded Ava DuVernay and the When They See Us family were in the 2019 Emmy nominations, announced yesterday.
The four part-series was the most watched show on Netflix for weeks after it was released on May 31, and earned the streaming platform sixteen Emmy nominations , including outstanding limited series, outstanding lead actor in a limited series or movie for Jharrel Jerome, outstanding lead actress for Niecy Nash and Aunjanue Ellis, and directing and co-writing nominations for DuVernay herself. (She shares the latter with Michael Starrbury.)
When They See Us tells the story of Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Yusef Salaam, all black or Hispanic boys who were wrongly convicted of crimes related to the brutal rape of a 28-year-old white woman who had been jogging in New York City's Central Park in 1989.
DuVernay's deft storytelling reframed the infamous "The Central Park Five" to "The Exonerated Five." It helped return the five boys, now men, to the center of their own stories and shed light on the deeply racist systems that robbed them of justice.
"It's one thing to be recognized for a general role, but for me to be recognized for playing Korey Wise, that's what's hitting me," Jharrel Jerome told Deadline. "Just understanding the fact that Korey Wise is his own person, his own inspiration. He's somebody who the world looks up to now. For me to be the only person on this planet who got the chance to bring that to life, that's the nomination and the award right there."
The series has renewed criticism of the media and the entire criminal justice apparatus. The ripple effect has been profound. One example: Linda Fairstein, the once celebrated sex crimes prosecutor who led the case, has been dropped by her publisher and forced off of several prominent boards.
Unfortunately, Emmy nominations for black, brown, and Asian talent were down significantly this year—only 26 actors or reality hosts were nominated, a major dip from last year's record number of 38. It feels like a setback, and Varietyhas the whole breakdown here.
But the recognition afforded DuVernay and her team is hard proof that art is essential and that difficult conversations about race can be had and complex stories about society can be told. It just takes work.
With hate speech in the air and bad news around every corner, it's a hopeful reminder.
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