Angela Davis And Tamika Mallory Join "Red Table Talk" Juneteenth Episode

Source: Red Table Talk / Facebook Watch

Kudos to “Red Table Talk” for always staying current and never shying away from difficult conversations.

A special Juneteenth episode of Red Table Talk is available now on Facebook Watch. Jada Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow and mother Gammy are joined at the Red Table with legendary Civil Rights leader Dr. Angela Davis and activist Tamika Mallory. Watch the episode HERE (rated TV-14).

The episode is rated TV-14 no doubt because the show replays cellphone footage containing explicit images of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks. During the episode Gammy talks about how the phenomenon of videotaping these incidents has managed to make more people become aware of incidents of excessive force and police brutality and in some cases murder.

“That video [of George Floyd] represents what Black people have experienced for generations and generations over and over and over again. When I saw that white cop with his hands in his pocket, nonchalantly murdering this Black man, and we’re collectively mourning the fact that we have not brought about change, our own failure to stand up and say ‘Never again. Never again,’” Dr Angela Davis says of the video.

Jada Pinkett-Smith also addresses Rayshard Brooks’ murder, addressing how people try to justify police violence because there has long been this mythology that black men are somehow MORE threatening and dangerous than other people.

“I think one of the most painful things for me is that the idea that Black men are the most dangerous creatures on the planet. So that, if he’s drunk in a drive-thru at Wendy’s, that justifies him being murdered or everyone talking about whatever George Floyd’s rap sheet might have been as if any of that has anything to do with his rights to be treated as a human being,” Jada said.

Tamika Mallory points out how that mythology extends beyond grown men — so even a black child isn’t looked at or treated like a white child would be.

“Well you can’t even be 12-years-old in a park, because Tamir Rice was shot in a park with a toy gun that is sold in a store that any other child would be able to play with, especially if they’re not a Black child. In this situation, within seconds, Tamir Rice is shot –12-years-old– because they see Black boys also as being Black men. We are criminalized from very young,” Tamika Mallory said.

The episode also touches on the so-called “Karens” of the world, with Tamika Mallory talking through the Amy Cooper Central Park situation where she called the police and LIED on bird watcher Christian Cooper, claiming he’d threatened her, just because he asked her to leash her job. Mallory went on the explain how it’s not just black people’s job to stop the Karens, we’re reliant on our allies.

“So deconstructing white supremacy is dealing with the Karens that work on your job. The Karens that are in your family… your Mama who’s telling you that she’s going to vote for somebody that is harmful to people of color,” Mallory says.

The women also discuss hope for the future, cancel culture and trying to connect the dots between racism and sexism for white feminists who don’t understand that our fight is their fight too.

You can watch the episode below: