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1/ Quality journalism is so critical in this era of click bait & distraction. This article published on 10/10 by @azcentral is an in depth look at the recent racism in #PrescottAZ within the historical context of racism in 'Everybody's Hometown'
<THREAD> https://twitter.com/azgreenday/status/1315312814597177345?s=20
<THREAD> https://twitter.com/azgreenday/status/1315312814597177345?s=20
2/ Journalist @azgreenday spent months researching & interviewing over 50 people for this story, we strongly recommend supporting his work with a subscription to read the story in full. John has spent a lot of time in #PrescottAZ recently, including at the Square on 9/4.
3/ One of the biggest issues we face here is the mis & disinformation our neighbors fall for. We are grateful this truthful accounting is now in the public record, hopefully it will help close the reality gap of misunderstanding & assumptions that have impeded an honest dialogue.
4/ This thread is a mere supplement to the article, Prescott #Indivisible is mentioned in it, as are 3 of its members, we have been in the thick of what has happened here recently.
#DemCastAZ #ONEV1 @IndivisibleTeam @IndivisibleofAZ https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1302009965008347136?s=20
#DemCastAZ #ONEV1 @IndivisibleTeam @IndivisibleofAZ https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1302009965008347136?s=20
5/ Last fall we hosted the #NeighborhoodSummitForEquity, an event focused on addressing the importance of racial equity & education in our community, this work helped lay the foundation needed to confront the challenges we have faced in 2020. https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1269070432004644865?s=20
6/ The #BLM rally in June was a beautiful event of #solidarity, there wasn't the slightest hint of a threat of violence on the Square... if you don't count those intent on 'guarding' The Palace & the "man in a sniper position at a second-story window". https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1267993953338486784?s=20
7/ The accounting of #AZ04 @RepGosar posing with Proud Boys & Oath Keepers is accurate, captured by journalist @VaughnHillyard on July 4th. https://twitter.com/VaughnHillyard/status/1279484319312953344?s=20
8/ @azcentral opinion writer @ejmontini is recommending @azgreenday's article, calling it "thoroughly researched, elegantly written and deeply disturbing" & making several astute observations in this recently published piece. Spot on EJ! https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/2020/10/12/reason-surging-racism-prescott-should-not-surprise-you/5964864002/
9/ The hate directed at @Prescottcollege educator Patrisse Cullors was truly alarming, the overreaction to her employment with @Prescottcollege was completely uncalled for, the reality is she was hired over 2 years ago & has never lived in #PrescottAZ. https://twitter.com/JayRuby_PAZ/status/1283940160913244160?s=20
10/ The Cullors incident would've been a great opportunity for Mayor Mengarelli @GMMOPAZ to make a public statement denouncing racism in "Everybody's Hometown". Sadly he missed it, but @TheDailyCourier ran a solid Op/Ed directly addressing the issue. https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1283071012809191425?s=20
11/ None of this is new to #PrescottAZ, the article mentions longtime (& still) City Councilman Steve Blair's opposition to a mural 10 years ago because, "The skin of one of the children being depicted in it, an actual student, was too dark." https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1287233944237244421?s=20
12/ In August we did the 'Ride For Change' car parade promoting our progressive values. To us #BlackLivesMatter 
isn't really about the organization, but a plea for understanding that our neighbors of color deserve to be seen, heard, & valued in #Prescott. https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1294497811254226944?s=20
isn't really about the organization, but a plea for understanding that our neighbors of color deserve to be seen, heard, & valued in #Prescott. https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1294497811254226944?s=20
13/ All Nyah Jones @nyhhjo wanted to do with her friends on 9/4 is simply express that her life matters in her own downtown. Her speech planned for the Square was given after the rally moved to Prescott College. This video features her words: https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1303170199831670785?s=20
14/ Retired Green Beret Nick Chonko was shocked, “I feel bad for those students,” he said. “They're the survivors of the school shooting generation. They're not used to having weapons in their face. Sixty-eight-year-old women, they're not used to having weapons in their face.”
15/ "He said he saw a video of the rally on TMZ that turned his stomach."
What Nick saw on the Square on 9/4 was enough to get him to seek out and join Prescott #Indivisible in #solidarity, we are happy to have him! https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1302665601236660225?s=20
What Nick saw on the Square on 9/4 was enough to get him to seek out and join Prescott #Indivisible in #solidarity, we are happy to have him! https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1302665601236660225?s=20
16/ One of the Prescott #Indivisible members quoted is Rosemary Dixon @wegetupstandup. She has led the way in much of the recent efforts, her background in racial justice training has proven invaluable. She sums up her perspective in a thread of her own: https://twitter.com/wegetupstandup/status/1316160335481454592?s=20
17/ In the past 4 years racist displays have become even more normalized. It’s sad that city leaders like @GMMOPAZ see the Confederate flags, the racist facebook posts, and the bigoted videos and choose not to speak up.
Saying "We have to be better than this" isn't enough.
Saying "We have to be better than this" isn't enough.
18/ We talk to the city. We ask and ask again, why do you refuse to speak publicly about the racism here?
"We’ve heard from folks on both sides of the issue” they tell us.
BOTH SIDES?? “What is the “other side” of racism”? In what possible way is it justified?
"We’ve heard from folks on both sides of the issue” they tell us.
BOTH SIDES?? “What is the “other side” of racism”? In what possible way is it justified?
19/ A month to the day after the #BLM rally downtown, a group of 1200 concerned citizens signed an Open Letter To Our Community: Love Your Neighbor - A Moral Imperative. The intention of #LoveYourNeighborAZ was to counter the hate with a message of love. https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1312861091613999105?s=20
20/ If elected officials will not lead on this issue then it is up to us to do so. Every person at the #BLM protests in Prescott, AZ in 2020 was a local. Many of us are over 60. Many of us are students. We are parents, teachers, retirees, lawyers, health care workers. #WeAreHere
21/ Why, in Prescott, AZ, in the last 4 years, have various local groups protested more than 50 times, yet never, ever had armed men standing around waiting for us to “get out of line”? Why, when we hold a protest for the people of color in our community, do the guns come out?
22/ We see injustice & can’t be silent. Really, we are the person next door, our kids go to school together.
We’ve had over 1000 people marching for women. No guns.
Many hundreds marching for science. No guns.
We've marched for the climate. No guns.
Do you see a pattern?
We’ve had over 1000 people marching for women. No guns.
Many hundreds marching for science. No guns.
We've marched for the climate. No guns.
Do you see a pattern?
23/ We care, we care for our children. What does it mean in our America, to see grown men, fully armed, in military style clothing spitting on and screaming at children to go home. Our children ARE home, the reality that "Everybody's Hometown" is our hometown. #WeAreHere
24/ The aftermath of the 9/4 rally brought more irrational paranoia & the city shut down the Square on 9/11 over a rumor that antifa was busing in protestors to destroy downtown... at 3pm on Friday afternoon. Pure fiction. This article covers that story: https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1309989902872961035?s=20
25/ This recently published article in @5ensesM is a great read on the importance of media literacy in the context of these recent local events, it does a great job of pointing the way toward discerning quality journalism that resembles fact based reality. https://twitter.com/IndivisPrescott/status/1313671655307304960?s=20
26/xx Which brings us back to John D'Anna's @azgreenday incredible effort. Please make the investment to support and read his work, and by doing so gain a deeper understanding of the challenges we face here in "Everybody's Hometown" 
#DemCastAZ #ONEV1 https://twitter.com/azgreenday/status/1315316289796071425?s=20
#DemCastAZ #ONEV1 https://twitter.com/azgreenday/status/1315316289796071425?s=20
