Samantha Bee on police brutality and defunding the police

Now that I've posted John Oliver on the police, it's time for me to amplify another late-night comedian/talk show host on the nation-wide protests and police response. This time, it's Samantha Bee, who I last featured in Samantha Bee explains why we need to save the Postal Service at the end of April. It's about time I give her a turn.

Like Oliver, Bee devoted an entire show to the protests and police response and uploaded it as four clips to the show's YouTube channel. I present all of them, beginning with America’s Long-Standing Tradition of Police Brutality.

When video evidence of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police surfaced, millions of people witnessed the horrifying truth about police brutality in America. But it’s important to remember that police brutality exists even when there isn’t an iPhone camera to catch it.

Much of this covers the same material as Oliver, but scrolling the list of dead victims of police violence is an angle he and his writers didn't explore.

Some of the same clips Oliver used also appear in It’s Time to Defund the Police, but Bee and her Emmy-winning writers put their own original spin on them.

Despite the recent wave of support for police reforms, many changes already in place are woefully ineffective. The good news is that there IS an effective movement we can back: #DefundThePolice.

Neither of the above are the most viewed clip from the episode. Instead, Legislating Healing and Justice with Ayanna Pressley is. Watch Bee display her interviewing skills and Representative Pressley respond beautifully.

Sam sat down with fearless leader and Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley to discuss how to make the rest of America feel as safe and secure without police as the suburbs do!

Yes, the country is multitasking in all the wrong ways. Not only are there protests, but a pandemic and recession as well. It's for times like these that I decided to write this blog nine years ago — but enough about me.

Bee concluded her show with a call for action, Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Donate to A Bail Fund!

Show your support for those risking their health and safety to protest for change by going to The National Bail Fund Network and donating to a fund of your choice. Visit https://www.communityjusticeexchange.... now!

Since I shared it, I might have to do what Bee says. What about you?