‘The First Time They Hit Me Was From Behind’

The 'Insecure' actor describes his peaceful LA protest that turned into a horrifying scene of police violence. If you have trouble reading this message, view it in a browser.       The First Time They Hit Me Was From Behind   On Saturday, Insecure actor Kendrick Sampson participated in a peaceful LA protest that turned into a horrifying scene of police violence. Esquire's Gabrielle Bruney spoke with the actor—who was struck with police batons and shot with rubber bullets—about his experience. "They were ready to go for no reason, like this was their backyard and we were trespassing," he said. Read More           Inside K-Pop Stans' Social Media War Against White Supremacists   This week, the #BlackoutTuesday campaign marked a grassroots Internet campaign to halt personal promotion during the Black Lives Matter protest in an effort to elevate voices of the movement fighting systemic racism and police violence in America. But, in response to that, white supremacists pushed back with their own movement called #WhiteoutWednesday, an organized attempt to flood the internet with racist propaganda and overwhelm the Black Lives Matter messaging. Then suddenly, their racist efforts were thwarted by an unlikely ally: Fans of Korean pop entered the chat. Esquire's Justin Kirkland takes you inside the heartening effort. Read More           7 Multipurpose Father's Day Gifts He'll Actually Use   Created by Esquire for Crown Royal   Fun and functional, just like your old man. Read More           "This Was the Moment I Was F*cked Up by the Cops"   Chef JJ Johnson made a name for himself at The Cecil in Harlem (Esquire's number one Best New Restaurant in 2014). He published a James Beard award-winning cookbook called Between Harlem and Heaven, then opened a fast-casual, rice-centric restaurant called FieldTrip in Harlem. Before that, however, New York City police pulled him over, assaulted him physically and verbally, and then charged him with assault. Johnson opens up about the experience, and calls upon the white culinary world—and its patrons—to do more than talk the talk. Read More           When Will I Be Able to Retire This Essay?   The righteous anger you see on the streets of America right now was sparked by the murder of George Floyd, but the systemic issues that have plagued America for its entire existance are brewing underneath it. For instance, the nation's response to COVID-19, particularly how it affects black and brown communities, has been a slow-moving tragedy. Rich Benjamin explains why the killing of Floyd and the inequities of our pandemic response are rooted in the same toxic brew of negligence, intransigence, racist double standards, and corporate favoritism that prior crises revealed. Read More           Tom Cotton Is Not Trying to Persuade You. He's Trying to Bludgeon You.   After the New York Times published a fascist screed from a sitting United States senator on Wednesday, in which Tom Cotton argued—using false premises—for deploying the military to crush the ongoing protests in cities across America, a predictable argument erupted in the public square. "Free speech!" some shouted, as if the First Amendment grants everyone the inalienable right to have their shitty opinions published in the Paper of Record and disseminated to as many people as possible. But as Esquire's Jack Holmes points out, there's a whole other argument, riddled with hypocrisy, at play. Read More         Read More on Esquire.com       Follow Us     Unsubscribe  Privacy Notice   esquire.com ©2020 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019