Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson and NSA whistleblower and American fugitive Edward Snowden initiated a provocative dialogue about government surveillance on Monday night, exploring the levels of state violence and surveillance faced by today’s activists.
Snowden initially posted:
Ask yourself: at every point in history, who suffers the most from unjustified surveillance? It is not the privileged, but the vulnerable.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 12, 2015
If you want to protect your rights, you’ve got to protect the rights of others. Social justice is common sense.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 12, 2015
Mckesson, one of the most prominent Black Lives Matter activists, proceeded to ask Snowden his thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement.
What are your thoughts about Black Lives Matter, the movement re: ending police & state violence? https://t.co/KfvYA8mtlL
— deray mckesson (@deray) October 12, 2015
Snowden responded by posting: “Police violence, like surveillance, is unevenly distributed. Arbitrary violence is a threat to civil society.”
He applauded the Campaign Zero platform as proposals that “could end the increasing militarization of society.”
Mckesson also asked how activists within the movement can secure their information and communication from being monitored by the government. Then, Snowden asked McKesson how people “can highlight the danger” of black leaders being disproportionately targeted by state surveillance, citing the example of J. Edgar Hoover’s wiretapping of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The dialogue ended with the two agreeing to participate in a public forum about the topics explored in the exchange.
.@Snowden, would you be down to have a public talk re: intersections b/t surveillance & state violence w/ me if we can figure out logistics?
— deray mckesson (@deray) October 13, 2015
I’m down. Let’s make it happen. https://t.co/IJxPmmpWSC
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 13, 2015
