Skip to content
  • Home Home Home, current page.
  • Moments Moments Moments, current page.

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Language: English
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bahasa Melayu
    • Català
    • Čeština
    • Dansk
    • Deutsch
    • English UK
    • Español
    • Filipino
    • Français
    • Hrvatski
    • Italiano
    • Magyar
    • Nederlands
    • Norsk
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Română
    • Slovenčina
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • Tiếng Việt
    • Türkçe
    • Ελληνικά
    • Български език
    • Русский
    • Српски
    • Українська мова
    • עִבְרִית
    • العربية
    • فارسی
    • मराठी
    • हिन्दी
    • বাংলা
    • ગુજરાતી
    • தமிழ்
    • ಕನ್ನಡ
    • ภาษาไทย
    • 한국어
    • 日本語
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
  • Have an account? Log in
    Have an account?
    · Forgot password?

    New to Twitter?
    Sign up
michaelharriot's profile
Michael Harriot
Michael Harriot
Michael Harriot
Verified account
@michaelharriot

Tweets

Michael HarriotVerified account

@michaelharriot

Sr. Writer at http://TheRoot.com , writer at Amber Ruffin Show, author of upcoming book “Black AF History,” board-certified wypipologist, last real Negus alive.

The Southside of Wakanda
kinja.com/michaelharriot
Joined December 2009

Tweets

  • © 2021 Twitter
  • About
  • Help Center
  • Terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies
  • Ads info
Dismiss
Previous
Next

Go to a person's profile

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @

Promote this Tweet

Block

  • Tweet with a location

    You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

    Your lists

    Create a new list


    Under 100 characters, optional

    Privacy

    Copy link to Tweet

    Embed this Tweet

    Embed this Video

    Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Hmm, there was a problem reaching the server.

    By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.

    Preview

    Why you're seeing this ad

    Log in to Twitter

    · Forgot password?
    Don't have an account? Sign up »

    Sign up for Twitter

    Not on Twitter? Sign up, tune into the things you care about, and get updates as they happen.

    Sign up
    Have an account? Log in »

    Two-way (sending and receiving) short codes:

    Country Code For customers of
    United States 40404 (any)
    Canada 21212 (any)
    United Kingdom 86444 Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2
    Brazil 40404 Nextel, TIM
    Haiti 40404 Digicel, Voila
    Ireland 51210 Vodafone, O2
    India 53000 Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance
    Indonesia 89887 AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata
    Italy 4880804 Wind
    3424486444 Vodafone
    » See SMS short codes for other countries

    Confirmation

     

    Welcome home!

    This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.

    Tweets not working for you?

    Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.

    Say a lot with a little

    When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.

    Spread the word

    The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.

    Join the conversation

    Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.

    Learn the latest

    Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.

    Get more of what you love

    Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.

    Find what's happening

    See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.

    Never miss a Moment

    Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.

    Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

    So much of history has been whitewashed for the sake of making it palatable for white consumption that we are starting to perpetuate things that are not only misconceptions, but outright lies. A lot of what you're told about protests, MLK, etc. is wrong. A thread.

    12:32 PM - 8 Jun 2020
    • 69,778 Retweets
    • 151,450 Likes
    • Amer Zeidan, MBBS, MHS Melinda P Simpson Bongolethu Jane Morgan John Mucha 江沐鹤 ET Dan S elle Jane Aster Roe
    1,302 replies 69,778 retweets 151,450 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        I drove past a protest on the lawn of a local police department on Saturday and later saw a news report that described it as "peaceful" and "non-violent" and said MLK would be proud. Not really, tho. That wasn't really MLK's thing.

        37 replies 1,017 retweets 13,989 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        I get it. No one mentions MLK without mentioning his stance on nonviolence. But that's not really how MLK worked. MLK used TWO phrases to describe his work more than any other: 1. "Direct action." 2. "Civil Disobedience."

        34 replies 2,960 retweets 22,490 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        Contrary to what you've been told. MLK wasn't about marching and protesting to bring awareness to a cause. Every move he made was a calculated strategic move towards a DIRECT GOAL.

        22 replies 1,797 retweets 19,715 likes
        Show this thread
      5. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        Sorry, guys. MLK wasn't about going to protest in a designated area and playing by the rules. His goal was to make people uncomfortable and cause chaos. He ADVOCATED breaking the law. It's almost like no one ever read the Letter from a Birmingham Jail where he said all of this:pic.twitter.com/lvreFyCf2o

        104 replies 7,644 retweets 35,929 likes
        Show this thread
      6. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        He didn't want it to be violent but he wanted to be contentious. They wanted a confrontation. It was part of the plan. John Lewis still calls it "good trouble." You can't have civil disobedience without DISOBEDIENCEpic.twitter.com/Cvsfvyvtf1

        34 replies 3,740 retweets 26,877 likes
        Show this thread
      7. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        For example: The Montgomery Bus boycott was an effort to impose an economic sanction on the bus company. The state strictly forbade them from organizing boycotts but they did it anyway. It was a DIRECT ACTION against the rule, not a symbolic gesture.

        18 replies 2,001 retweets 20,559 likes
        Show this thread
      8. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        The black people in Montgomery PAID for the buses that dehumanized them. It wasn't a demonstration for demonstration's sake. AND it was only PART of a strategy that included NAACP attorney Fred Gray filing the lawsuit Browder v. Gayle to stop segregation on city buses.

        8 replies 1,187 retweets 14,507 likes
        Show this thread
      9. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        AND, despite what you were taught, the Montgomery Bus Boycott didn't end segregation on Montgomery city buses, it was the COURT CASE that changed the city buses... Kinda. See, the untold story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott is that it didn't stop segregation on Montgomery buses

        5 replies 1,253 retweets 13,607 likes
        Show this thread
      10. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        Two days after the boycott ended, a white supremacist fired a shotgun at MLK. The next day, on Christmas Eve, a black girl was attacked for riding a bus. 4 days after that, racists attacked 2 buses and shot a pregnant woman. 2 weeks later, the Klan started bombing black churches.

        9 replies 1,710 retweets 13,801 likes
        Show this thread
      11. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        So what happened? Well, the city stopped bus services. And when it resumed, guess what happened? Rosa parks had to leave the city. And black people started sitting on the back of the buses just to be safe. Black people didn't really sit anywhere on city buses until the 70s

        13 replies 1,369 retweets 13,596 likes
        Show this thread
      12. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        What did you learn about Selma to Montgomery March on Bloody Sunday? That black people in Ala. tried to march for voting rights but Alabama state troopers attacked. Then they marched again, and congress passed the VOting Rights Act. But that's not really what happened.

        5 replies 1,101 retweets 11,739 likes
        Show this thread
      13. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        The Selma to Montgomery march wasn't a symbolic demonstration. It wasn't even an original idea. See, black ppl all over Ala. were attacked when they tried to register to vote. So local organizers would get large groups of people to march to their respective courthouses.

        6 replies 1,419 retweets 12,920 likes
        Show this thread
      14. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        That's how those marches started. They weren't protesting. They were GOING TO REGISTER. And they figured: "If we're in a group, they can't beat us all." But y'all know white people. They will definitely try their best. I think they call it "American exceptionalism."

        40 replies 2,082 retweets 18,731 likes
        Show this thread
      15. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        They were headed to Montgomery to confront the governor in person and demand their right to vote when Bloody Sunday happened. But here's the part about the Selma to Montgomery marches most people are never told: It was NOT nonviolent.

        7 replies 1,225 retweets 12,242 likes
        Show this thread
      16. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        See, after Bloody Sunday, MLK came down to organize a second march. But the SAME state troopers still planned to open a can of whip-ass. So what did MLK do? He turned the whole march around. That's where James Forman came in.

        4 replies 905 retweets 10,648 likes
        Show this thread
      17. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        James Forman is one of the civil rights leaders you don't hear about because he wasn't with that "getting-his-skull-cracked" shit. Plus he never wore a civil rights suit He wore overalls. Forman often disagreed with MLK because he figured: "You don't even go here!"pic.twitter.com/2CPDPEjMJ5

        18 replies 1,201 retweets 11,582 likes
        Show this thread
      18. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        Why be nonviolent in the face of violence? Plus, he thought MLK was a figurehead who didn't understand what people on the ground knew: They were never gonna get their voting rights unless they fought back.pic.twitter.com/tKtsWfGOam

        31 replies 1,783 retweets 14,005 likes
        Show this thread
      19. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        So Forman's peeps, along with some students from Tuskegee who weren't about that fuckshit said "fuck this. We're getting across that bridge." So on the THIRD march, Forman and his folks had bricks, sticks and dress cans of whip-ass for the cops. They made it across.

        18 replies 1,374 retweets 12,985 likes
        Show this thread
      20. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        MANY of the politicians who voted for the Voting Rights Act said THIS was the thing that made them vote for it — the fact that we were fighting back. It wasn't nonviolence It was, in part the prospect of violence that passed the VRA

        14 replies 2,278 retweets 15,872 likes
        Show this thread
      21. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        Now, Forman was friends with Robert F. WIlliams, who is in my top 5 Civil Rights heroes of all time. Simply put, Robert F WIlliams was a bad motherfucker. But before I begin, I wanna tell you about one of the craziest stories in the entire civil rights movement

        24 replies 938 retweets 11,088 likes
        Show this thread
      22. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        In 1958, a 7-year-old white girl named Sissy Marcus told her parents that she had kissed 2 black boys on their cheeks. Her parents told the police. The police arrested the boys for rape. They were 7 & 9 years old.

        27 replies 1,857 retweets 11,698 likes
        Show this thread
      23. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        This happened in Monroe, NC, which had one of the largest chapters of the KKK in the country. in a town of 12,000, the chapter had a reported 7,500 members. The town also had a large NAACP chapter. And the reason why, was important.

        12 replies 931 retweets 10,048 likes
        Show this thread
      24. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        Robert F. WIlliams had served in the marines. When he returned from WWII, he was joined the NAACP but they barely had any members because the people were afraid of the Klan. So Robert F Williams decided to do something about it. He built an army.

        8 replies 1,003 retweets 10,710 likes
        Show this thread
      25. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        He organized 50 -60 black men and created the "Black Armed Guard. " We often talk about the Deacons for Defense and the Panthers but the Black Armed Guard was perhaps the most influential of these groups.

        28 replies 1,176 retweets 12,410 likes
        Show this thread
      26. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        In 1957, the KKK decided to attack the NAACP vice president, who was also the town's only black physician. They went to the house to do a drive-by and saw it was surrounded with sandbags to stop the gunfire. But the Klansmen fired anyway. But it wasn't just sandbags.

        9 replies 1,057 retweets 10,360 likes
        Show this thread
      27. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        The Black Armed Guard was waiting behind the sandbags and opened fire on the KKK. Not only did the Klan never fuck with the NAACP in Monroe again, but the city passed an ordinance that required the Klan to get a permit every time they wanted to meet.

        19 replies 1,498 retweets 14,311 likes
        Show this thread
      28. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        So when the boys were arrested in the Kissing Case, RObert F Williams got the whole world involved. Police beat the boys for a week until they confessed. A judge sentenced the boys to imprisonment until they were adults.

        6 replies 932 retweets 9,836 likes
        Show this thread
      29. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        But Williams got the whole world involved and the Black Armed Guard protected the boys parents. They literally had shootouts with the Klan. The parents of the kids said they had. to "sweep mounds of bullets off their porches."

        4 replies 1,026 retweets 11,155 likes
        Show this thread
      30. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        Eleanor Roosevelt spoke out. So did leaders across the world. After a year, the boys were pardoned by the governor because no judge would overturn the sentence. The city and the state have still never apologized.

        13 replies 1,310 retweets 13,336 likes
        Show this thread
      31. Michael Harriot‏Verified account @michaelharriot 8 Jun 2020

        But this is what made Monroe, NC one of the hubs of the civil rights movement. It became the home base for the Freedom Rides because the KKK knew not to fuck with the Black Armed Guard. In fact, the whole black section of Monroe basically just stopped letting white people enter

        51 replies 1,210 retweets 13,370 likes
        Show this thread
      32. Show replies

    Loading seems to be taking a while.

    Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

      Promoted Tweet

      false

      • © 2021 Twitter
      • About
      • Help Center
      • Terms
      • Privacy policy
      • Cookies
      • Ads info