Bree Newsome feels honored to be invited by the Rev. Osagyefo Sekou to be in Ferguson for the one-year anniversary of the police killing of Michael Brown Jr. that sparked a new national civil rights movement, of which she is one of the newest national leaders.
“I am honored to come into that space and be with them in that moment,” Newsome told The St. Louis American in an August 7 phone interview.
Newsome is the Charlotte, North Carolina organizer who literally climbed her way to a national platform by scaling a flagpole at the South Carolina capitol and taking down the Confederate battle flag on June 27, aided by another activist, James Tyson.
She prayed as she climbed, and on Sunday, August 9 – one year to the death after the killing of Brown – she will join a panel that follows remarks about faith and the movement by Dr. Cornel West. She said she prefers to remain private about her faith, but her praying on the flagpole – where her life was at risk from defenders of the Confederate flag – made her faith public.
“We are all children of God,” she said, is the basic tenet of her faith. “I believe in a theology of liberation.”
Since her daring direct action – for which she has been charged with crimes that carry a maximum penalty of three years in prison – she has been invited to lead many other actions. “I’ve been asked to come take down every Confederate flag in America,” Newsome said. But that is not her intent.
“I really want people to look at what I did and see what they can do, in terms of direct actions,” she said. “Some people have told me that what I did inspired them. That’s amazing. I want people to emulate my action.”
Her new national prominence has resulted in a flood of requests for interviews and speaking engagements, and “quadrupled” her work as a local, unpaid organizer with The Tribe. “That’s a good kind of busy and stressed out,” she said. Newsome also is a member of the Charlotte Branch of the NAACP and a paid staff organizer for Ignite North Carolina, which facilitates fellowships for young organizers, ages 18-30.
Though now a national leader of the multi-leader movement that started in Ferguson, Newsome said she has much to learn by visiting the source. “I spent a sleepless week watching live feeds,” Newsome said of the Ferguson unrest. “I followed people on social media. I was so inspired. I can’t even imagine what it was like for them to be in that moment. Clearly, there are some powerful people there.”
As for her legal charges, she said she has a trial date set for November 19, but has not spoken with her counsel, Todd Rutherford, who is also the House minority leader in the South Carolina state Legislature, since she first appeared before the court.
“I am charged with defacing state property, but we were careful not to deface anything,” Newsome said. “There was a flag back up in 45 minutes. I highly doubt they will give me the three-year maximum, but I honestly don’t have a read on what is likely to happen.”
Newsome will be a featured panelist as Dr. Cornel West facilitates a conversation with clergy at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 9 at Greater St. Mark’s Church, 9950 Glen Owen Dr in Ferguson. For more information and a full schedule of the Ferguson Commemoration activities happening this weekend, visit http://fergusonaction.com/united-we-fight/
