Only Mel Will Tell

Go watch Soul because it actually has black people on screen for most of the movie.

Go watch Soul because we’re not caricatures or flat, one-note black stereotypes.

Go watch Soul because it actually has an important message on one’s passion and purpose in life that I refuse to spoil here.

Go watch Soul because the trailers DON’T actually give away the plot and the movie’s genuinely better the trailers.

Go watch Soul because you bet your ass corporate’s gonna blame low numbers on the film having vast majority black characters and try to stop this kinda movie from ever happening again.

Go watch Soul because judging the entirety of a movie before it even airs based on the freakin’ trailer (which is hardly ever actually put together by the creators of the film itself and is more tied to the marketing department) instead of the actual film itself is an incredibly ignorant thing to do.

Go watch Soul and form your own opinion instead of jumping on a woke bandwagon.

Signed,

The “fren” dogwhistle comes from the (now deleted) neo-nazi subreddit r/frenworld, which was dedicated to posting fascist ideology disguised as (sigh) Pepe the frog memes, childish speech, and other bizarre behavior.  The subreddit was banned in June 2019, but white supremacists on other platforms still use some of the language developed in that community. Obviously, people likely used “fren” before the subreddit existed as general pupper talk, but in light of what happened it’s better to use alternatives like “friemd”.

[ID: Attorney statement re: execution of Brandon Bernard.

“Tonight, those of us who love Brandon Bernard - and we are many - are full of righteous anger and deep sadness at the actions of the federal government in taking his life. Brandon’s live mattered. To us, his legal team, to his two beautiful and talented daughters, to his mother, brother, and sister, and to the countless people around the country who came to know him and his story in recent weeks.

Brandon made one terrible mistake at age 18. But he did not kill anyone, and he never stopped feeling shamed and profound remorse for his actions in the crime that took the lives of Todd and Stacie Bagley. And he spent the rest of his life sincerely trying to show, as he put it, that he “was not that person”. Brandon showed us that and so much more, carrying himself with grace and generosity, and always treating everyone around him with kindness and respect. He worked to help other troubled kids avoid similar devastating mistakes, and he lived every day his commitment to serving both God and humanity. 

Many things went wrong to put Brandon on death row, including egregious government misconduct in concealing evidence and misleading the jury, which the courts refused to remedy. Before Brandon’s execution, five of the jurors who sentenced him to death said they no longer stood by that verdict. They joined the lead appellate prosecutor on Brandon’s case in urging President Trump to commute his death sentence to life without parole. Those pleas for clemency were joined by hundreds of thousands of supporters, including celebrities, faith leaders, and members of the United States Congress.

Brandon’s execution is a stain on America’s criminal justice system. But I pray that even in his death, Brandon will advance his commitment to helping others by moving us closer to a time when this country does not pointlessly and maliciously kill young Black men who pose no threat to anyone, when we hold prosecutors to the highest standards of integrity in every case, and when our leaders exercise their moral authority where it is needed. 

We were proud to call Brandon our client and our friend, and we will miss him greatly.”

-Robert C. Owen, attorney for Brandon Bernard

brandon bernard’s is not the only federal execution scheduled. according to the bbc, trump has five executions scheduled up until january 20th. we need to keep fighting so that these executions do not happen.

i wish brandon’s family all the best and i’m so sorry we could not do more.

i’m including a few links to spread awareness and inform people. 

https://innocenceproject.org/ is an organization that uses modern forensic technology to overturn wrongful convictions.

https://prisonbookprogram.org/for-people-in-prison/national-prisoner-resource-list/ is a list of resources that those who have loved ones in prison or who are in prison can use. it has links to several other similar lists as well.

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/ is a website that provides information about capital punishment in the united states. one of the first things written on their website is “At least 18 people have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt. Official misconduct is the leading cause of wrongful capital convictions.”

LPT: Don't throw your junk mail away. Use it to to help the USPS instead!