Read & Resist: W’s Daily Briefing for June 22
From Trump’s reported horror at attendance in Tulsa to racist encounters in the fashion industry, here are the stories not to miss.
Back in the day, W started off the morning with a quick round-up of links to that day’s fashion- and culture-related news. Times have changed; in the weeks since a white police officer named Derek Chauvin killed an unarmed Black man named George Floyd, protests have erupted across the country. Now, more than ever, it’s important to stay up to date, which is why we’re reviving “Chic in Review” as the slightly more radical “Read & Resist.” Here are the stories, videos, and tweets we’re hoping you don’t miss this Monday:
“Why Was a Grim Report on Police-Involved Deaths Never Released?,” by Mara Gay for the New York Times
The real number of people killed by police officers in New York is more than double what the NYPD reports. That’s just one of the revelations Mara Gay shares in this opinion piece on an unreleased internal review the NYPD conducted several years.
“The Presidents Shock at the Empty Seats in Tulsa,” by Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni for the New York Times
There were thousands fewer attendees than expected at Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday. (Thanks, apparently, to K-Pop stans and TikTok teens.) Before he took the stage, Trump and several staff members reportedly surveyed the crowd with horror.
“Trump’s Rally Looked Like His Vision of America: Limited and Pitiless,” by Robin Givhan for the Washington Post
Fashion critic Robin Givhan takes a closer look at those who did attend the rally: “It’s tempting to say it was a crowd that didn’t look anything like America because it appeared to be so lacking in diversity—so overwhelmingly white. But, in fact, the crowd looked precisely like America does in more than a few suburbs, counties and hollers. In churches and offices. In the president’s inner circle,” she writes. “Such a homogenous throng might be jarring to some. For others, it’s completely normal and right. For the president, it was like coming home.”
“Man Arrested in Death of 19-Year-Old Activist Toyin Salau Confessed to Killing Her, Say Florida Police,” by Anne Branigin for the Root
TW: Investigators have concluded that 49-year-old Aaron Glee kidnapped the 19-year-old Black Lives Matter activist Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau, and repeatedly raped her over the course of the three to five days he held her hostage. Glee has now confessed to the murder, as well as the murder of 75-year-old volunteer and retired state worker Victoria Sims.
“The FBI Used Its Most Advanced Spy Plane To Watch Black Lives Matter Protests,” by Peter Aldhous for Buzzfeed News
The FBI typically uses its elite Cessna Citation spy jet for surveillance over large-scale federal drug and gang busts. But the bureau also used it to surveil Black Lives Matter protests at least twice—after the 2015 police killing of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, and after President Donald Trump’s infamous Bible photo-op earlier this month in Washington, D.C.
“Racist Hate for Bubba Wallace Was Inevitable. Now NASCAR Must Stand With Him,” by Jerry Brewer for the Washington Post
A noose was discovering hanging in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace—NASCAR’s only Black full-time driver—on Sunday, less than two weeks after Wallace helped successfully petition NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its events.
“A Racist Incident at Fashion Week,” by Tiffany Reid for Business of Fashion
The stylist, brand consultant, and Bustle Digital Group fashion director Tiffany Reid recalls an incident during Paris Fashion Week that’s emblematic of the situations Black professionals encounter all too often in the fashion industry.
“The U.K. Film Industry Has to Change. It’s Wrong, It’s Blatant Racism,” by Steve McQueen for the Guardian
The Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen calls for an overhaul of the British film industry: “The UK is so far behind in terms of representation, it’s shameful.”