Quote of the Day: Who Cares If We Smeared the Wrong Person?

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From Kevin Powell, activist and dance producer, after unleashing an enormous smear campaign which turned out to be targeted at the wrong person:

Regardless if we had proof or not, what we do have proof of is the historical reality of being a person of color in America and having people talk to you in any kind of foul way and thinking it’s okay, even in the state of Minnesota that’s supposed to be liberal and progressive.

City Pages has the whole dismal story, which is worth a read. The obvious lesson here is that you should take at least minimal care before you wreak havoc on someone’s career. The other lesson is that it’s really not that hard to apologize when you make a mistake. Really.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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