As a former freelancer for Sacramento News and Review, I was not surprised by their recent cover story – or that they photographed the officer in a Superman shirt – this was the officer that shot Joseph Mann 14 times after attempting to run him over twice with a police car.
What I was surprised by was their utter lack of professionalism in tagging local organizers and those who spoke in opposition to their cover choice on social media networks.
This brand of doxing is far more alt-right than arts and lifestyle weekly.
When I started working as a journalist in Sacramento, SNR was a highly coveted spot for me. I read Josh Fernandez’s columns religiously and got to know the Sacramento Hip Hop scene through its pages. When Josh left/got fired?/was the coolest journalist i’ve ever known, there was a void in coverage for the Sacramento Hip Hop scene.
I ended up filling the void and being the coverage go-to for a few years. I started working for Sol Collective and SNR around the same time and was becoming increasingly aware of my own white privilege and what systemic racism looked like. It started to feel really gatekeeper-esque, but if I wasn’t the Hip Hop plug for SNR then who would be the community’s connection?
In January 2014, I published my last freelance article for SNR and started ZFG Promotions (Full disclosure: I contributed a ‘special to SNR’ column once in 2015 in the wake of the shooting at the Nipsey Hussle show – requested by SNR to because they were getting a lot of heat surrounding their portrayal of Hip Hop culture as violent and gang-infested).
My reasoning for no longer writing for SNR was twofold: The first reason is that my affiliation with the magazine was hindering ZFG artists from getting coverage/consideration. The second is I felt that there were enough straight, white, male voices represented. I wish I could claim those two were the other way around. That is not my truth, but both played a significant role in the decision.
I started actively working with youth in media through Sol Collective and met an incredible young black female journalist named Taylor Desmangles. I can’t really take credit for any of Taylor’s talents (she was born magic), but I was able to put her in touch with SNR and she landed some gigs working for them and has worked her way up from music reviews to think pieces while building up her own personal following via a podcast, weekly videos, and work with SacTV and other local media outlets.
She is one of the success stories I brag the most about. Unfortunately, her’s is a story that is not told often enough in the pages of the Sacramento News and Review or most publications. Her getting her foot in the door should not have required my introduction or cosign. They should have come and found her. She should be working on cover stories and they should be knocking down the doors of some of the incredible young black writers I know.
I wasn’t surprised Thursday night at the #BlackLivesMatter protest. This has been coming for a long time. What I was surprised by was the tears that came watching young poets lead chants that echoed like chants their grandparents cried out 60 years ago.
What I was surprised by was journalists coming out to cover, take pictures, and tell the story that didn’t fix their faces long enough to pay respects by saying BLACK LIVES MATTER with the people.
In case you haven’t noticed there is a war going on outside. The papers won’t tell you. They’ll just lock their doors, sneak out the back and schedule incestuous press conferences with each other over craft beer and overpriced cheese platters.
Representation matters. For today. For tomorrow. And for generations to come. Break the cycle.
Thank you for your tireless work, dedication, and leadership Black Lives Matter Sacramento. ❤
—andru defeye
Flommist Andru Defeye is the Guerrilla Poet Laureate of Sacramento. Copyright © 2017 Andru Defeye.
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