THIS IS REVOLUTION＞podcast Ep. 208: Minneapolis Post George Floyd and Abolish the Police w/ Eamon Whalen

The summer of 2020 was an explosive moment in America.  Not since the uprisings of the late 60’s had we seen the country, en masse , light up in a wave of fiery protest. With a string of high profile vigilante and police killings, the tipping point for people to take to the streets and demand justice was the police murder caught on camera of George Floyd in Minneapolis.  As bystanders stood by shouting for law enforcement officers to release their deadly hold, kneeling on the neck of Floyd, his death became the catalyst for a movement to not just defund bloated police budgets, but to do away with them altogether.  Promises were made by certain municipalities, but not much has been done in major metropolitan areas to change law enforcement.    Did the Defund/Abolish movement do enough to get their demands met? Are we stuck in the era where hashtags and trending on social media are confused with true policy change?  With most of the country opening up, is this revolutionary moment gone? Can the activists that organized these radical protests pivot to electoral positions of power to enact real substantive change? We’ll ask these questions and more   This is Revolution.   About Eamon Whalen: Contributed writing about music, culture and politics to publications including The Nation, Belt Magazine, The Outline, The FADER, Minnesota Reformer, Canada's National Observer, The Daily Dot, City Pages, contexts magazine of the American Sociological Association and Bandcamp Daily.   About TIR Thank you, guys, again for taking the time to check this out. We appreciate each and every one of you. If you have the means, and you feel so inclined, BECOME A PATRON! We're creating patron-only programming, you'll get bonus content from many of the episodes, and you get MERCH! Become a patron now: https://www.patreon.com/join/BitterLakePresents Please also like, subscribe, and follow us on these platforms as well, especially YouTube! THANKS Y'ALL YouTube: www.youtube.com/thisisrevolutionpodcast   Twitch: www.twitch.tv/thisisrevolutionpodcast & www.twitch.tv/leftflankvets  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thisisrevolutionpodcast/  Twitter: @TIRShowOakland Instagram: @thisisrevolutionoakland Pascal Robert in Black Agenda Report: https://www.blackagendareport.com/author/PascalRobert  Get the music from the show here: https://bitterlakeoakland.bandcamp.com/album/coronavirus-sessions