Bree Newsome, the woman who climbed the flag pole today to remove the confederate flag, is no stranger to activism for profit.
Indeed, this morning’s entourage encompassed professional videographers to document the publicity stunt.
A resident of Raleigh North Carolina, in 2013 Ms. Newsome was arrested during a protest against voter ID laws:
Bree Newsome, one of six protesters arrested and taken to jail Wednesday night after staging a sit-in at the office of the Republican North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis, said the group is still demanding a meeting with Tillis, who supports the bill. (link)
In 2014 Newsome was a panelist at Octavia Butler Celebration of Arts & Activism at Spelman College; as described: “culminating event brings together the speculative fiction and film communities to discuss the legacy of Octavia E. Butler; the intersection of Afrofuturism, social justice and Butler’s body of work“.
Here’s a video from that event outlining her complete history during the introduction (watch – beginning 24:35)
The movie cited in the introduction, WAKE, was made by Bree Newsome and gained significant appreciation from the social justice community:
Suffice to say the publicity stunt today was a well coordinated campaign by the Black Lives Matter team of social justice warriors.
Ms. Newsome was arrested and released shortly thereafter on a $3,000 bond. Bree Newsome’s attorney will be a familiar name to those who have followed the recent activism within South Carolina.
Todd Rutherford, in addition to being a state representative, is also the attorney on record for video witness Feidin Santana, the man who took the video of the Walter Scott shooting by police officer Michael Slager.
The interconnected relationships between the social justice community do not stop there. Todd Rutherford is also close friends with Brian D Newman, who is the son of the judge in the Slager trial, Judge Clifton Newman.
Obviously Bree Newsome is in good hands. And not to worry, she quickly bonded out at $3,000, while the activists continue to fundraise from her exploits.
5 things to know about Bree Newsome: http://t.co/WIPp91M7FX #FreeBree pic.twitter.com/6yv48h4xzc
— Rolling Out (@RollingOut) June 27, 2015
#FreeBree https://t.co/6DTQJDlura
— Tananarive Due – The Reformatory (@TananariveDue) June 27, 2015
The promotional activity continues:
There are currently negotiations underway for a line of promotional materials, T-Shirts, SWAG and assorted memorabilia to promote the social justice cause. Trademarks being sought, and given the history, context and social network, we can anticipate a short film will soon be introduced with Bree Newsome as the legendary justice warrior; funded, of course, by government grants provided by U.S. taxpayers.