FX’s Atlanta is not currently airing new episodes, but a clip from one of its most memorable past airings has gained new appreciation online in the wake of recent protests about police violence against people of color. Donald Glover’s FX show is certainly not known to pull punches on racial issues, and it’s become a cultural touchpoint in recent days of protests as tens of thousands take to the streets to protest police brutality.

The cartoon, an ad for the fictional Coconut Crunch-O’s cereal, features cartoon children exploring what looks like a tomb with a police officer. The group then encounters a wolf, presumably the Wally the police officer on the box is admonishing.

The three children get the bowls of coconut cereal as Wally bursts out of his sarcophagus too late. As he approaches the children, though, he’s taken to the ground by the police officer, who insists he “stop resisting” and roughs him up while he’s cuffed on the ground. The children look on in horror, insisting Wally could have some cereal as the officer puts a knee into the wolf’s back and then, on his neck.

“He was trying to steal your cereal, right?” the officer asked, otherwise emotionally blank as the children tell him to stop and say he’s hurting the wolf. The scene is reminiscent of the disturbing images captured of George Floyd’s death, where a police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he died screaming for help.

The commercial continues as usual, but the children look horrified by what’s taking place in front of them in an otherwise cartoonish scenario. The in-episode commercial made waves in 2016 when it first aired during an episode in which the show’s main character appeared on a fictional cable news show. The cereal commercial was among the fake “ads” that played during the episode. But as the nation has fixed its attention on another swath of images of police brutality the video recirculated on social media, the similarities between the in-episode critique on police brutality has popped up online across various platforms. It’s a reminder that the events that have made Americans leave their homes to protest have happened across American cities for a long time, and Atlanta is just one of the places where that kind of violence has been critiqued long before 2020.

View Entire Post ›

Other than like, fiber and plenty of water for that *particular* kind of bathroom problem.

View Entire Post ›

“It’s encouraging to see Zuck post this, but I’ll maintain my skepticism until some sort of action is taken by the company,” one Facebook employee told BuzzFeed News.

View Entire Post ›

A list for anyone who periodically gets the My Buddy and Kid Sister jingle stuck in their head.

View Entire Post ›

“Because he was black, they felt that they needed five cops to tackle him to the ground and drag him to behind the other cops.”

View Entire Post ›

Protests over the death of George Floyd have culminated in some of the largest civil rights uprisings in history. And white, wealthy areas like Santa Monica are no longer exempt.

View Entire Post ›

A Mexican man was found dead from blunt trauma to the head after being detained by the police for not wearing a mask in public.

View Entire Post ›

Tonight on the WWE Friday Night Smackdown open discussion thread:

Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles took very different paths to the Intercontinental Championship Tournament Finals, but they are the last two competitors remaining in what was an extremely impressive field.

Bryan chose to earn his spot in the championship round by defeating Sheamus in a grueling semifinal matchup. The Phenomenal One embraced the “work smarter, not harder” mantra by accepting a bye into the title match.

Will the two decorated competitors stay civil, or will the allure of championship gold set the stage for a more brutal title showdown? (via WWE.com)

Tonight’s card is about as stacked as Smackdown gets with Bayley and Sasha Banks versus Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in a Women’s Tag Team Championship match, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles in the finals of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament, Jeff Hardy explaining why he opened last week’s show with a weird car accident, and more.

As always, give a thumbs up to any comments from tonight’s open thread you enjoy and we’ll include 10 of the best in tomorrow’s Best and Worst of Friday Night Smackdown on Fox report. Make sure to flip your comments to “newest” in the drop down menu under “discussion,” and enjoy the show!

The NFL was at the center of America’s culture wars back in 2016, when now-former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat and, eventually, knelt for the national anthem in an attempt to raise awareness of police brutality and systematic oppression against Black individuals. Despite the fact that Kaepernick spoke to former Green Beret and NFL long snapper Nate Boyer about how he could protest while still respecting those who served in the military, which led to him choosing to kneel over taking a seat, Kaepernick found himself at the center of a firestorm about how and when someone should protest.

Those efforts worked, and individuals in power who wanted to avoid having the uncomfortable conversation Kaepernick brought into the discourse were able to shift the narrative. Kaepernick opted out of his deal in March of 2017 to become a free agent, and has not appeared in the NFL since.

His efforts have reentered the discourse in recent days, though, following the nationwide protests in response to the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was killed by a Minnesota police officer. This is in part because of the firestorm stirred up by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who gave off-base remarks on kneeling for the anthem, and this video by a handful of Black NFL players.

On Friday evening, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell joined the chorus of individuals speaking out, as the league posted a video in which Goodell invoked the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and noted that the league was “wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier, and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest.”

As you noticed, while the video is an attempt to put the NFL on the right side of history, there is no mention of Kaepernick anywhere, just a vague allusion to the fact that the league failed to listen in the past. While this video is a start, the league still has a way to go to atone for the sin committed against Kaepernick, and a good way for that process to begin would be for the commissioner of the league, along with its 30 owners, to admit this and say his name.