This is who Bree is and what she truly represents, not “some white wonder woman” caricature who has done nothing more than represent a cartoon image that doesn’t actually work for a living. She is officially the Rosa Parks of the New Millennium, forever with her name in the history books.

May all of Black America carry on and move forward in her name and the names of our forebears of the past and all of the ones to come.

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Who is Bree?

Brittany Ann “Bree” Byuarium-Newsome is an activist and filmmaker from Charlotte, North Carolina who was arrested on June 27, 2015 for taking down the Confederate flag displayed on the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse in direct action.Newsome, age 30, was confronted by police whilst scaling the 30-foot pole and told to get down. She responded, “In the name of Jesus, this flag has to come down. We come against hatred and oppression and violence. I come against you in the name of God. This flag comes down today.” She removed the flag, descended, and was arrested along with fellow protester James Ian Tyson on charges of defacing a monument on state Capitol grounds. By late afternoon, a crowd-funding campaign had raised over $60,000 for her bail. Filmmaker Michael Moore also offered on Twitter to pay her bail and legal fees. Calls for the flag’s removal have been on the increase since the Charleston church shooting of June 17.

Newsome was previously arrested in 2013 at a sit-in while protesting North Carolina’s voter ID law.

Newsome’s film Wake has won numerous awards, including the Outstanding Independent Short Film award in the Black Reel Awards of 2012 and the Best Short Film at the BET Urban World Film Festival.

It has been screened at many film festivals including the 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival in France, the New York International Latino Film Festival, and the Montreal International Black Film Festival.

While still in high school, Newsome created a short animated film for which she won a college scholarship. She studied film at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2004 she was named one of the “20 Coolest Teens in America” by YM magazine.

Currently, there is a GoFundMe account for bail for Bree. It’s well beyond the money needed to bail her out, let’s make sure she has a least a million in the next seven days to carry on her work in film.

FREE BREE: #dropthechargesdroptheflag

***for credit to Edie Anderson for the spotlight on Bree Newsome***