Atlanta: The Second Amendment Was Never Meant for Us | America Amended

The laws about who has the right to bear arms were never really meant for Black people. So what does the Second Amendment mean for us now? In this episode of America Amended, we head to Atlanta. We start at a Black owned gun range, where Black women are the fastest growing group of new gun owners. Then we go back to 1906, when a white mob of 10,000 attacked the Black community of Brownsville in South Atlanta. Residents smuggled guns into the city in a coffin and fought back. We follow the Second Amendment from its roots in fears of slave uprisings, through Dred Scott and the disarming of Black Americans after the Civil War, to today’s Supreme Court. We also sit with Aaliyah Strong, founder of Time to Thrive Beyond Grief. She was a gun owner when her fiancé Ty Ross was shot and killed in front of her, and that loss changed how she thinks about firearms. Protection or destruction? Survival or freedom? We close with an Afrofuturist question: what would Black life look like if we didn’t need a gun to feel safe? **This episode includes gun violence, discussion of sexual assault, domestic violence and suicide, and historical racial violence.** Featured Guests: Dr. Clarissa Myrick-Harris White Bryant Isaacs Shelton Johnson Khalil Johnson Kia Glenn Sean Campbell Ashlee Haze Aaliyah Strong Mellssa Murray CHAPTERS 0:00 Never meant for us 0:50 The Second Amendment’s racial history 1:55 Black women and the right to protect 3:30 The 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre 4:55 Why the Second Amendment was born 5:50 Training a family to protect itself 7:05 Aaliyah’s story 8:45 Rights and public safety 9:35 Imagining an Afro future If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. #AmericaAmended #SecondAmendment #Atlanta #BlackHistory #GunRights #WateringHoleMedia