Activism

Bree Newsome drew national attention in 2015 when she climbed the flagpole in front of the South Carolina Capitol building and lowered the confederate battle flag. The flag was originally raised over the South Carolina capitol dome in 1961 as a statement of opposition to the Civil Rights Movement and lunch counter sit-in protests occurring at the time.  

Bree’s great-great-great-grandparents, Theodore and Minerva Diggs were enslaved in Rembert, SC on the eve of the US Civil War and Bree is a descendant of their first child to be born in freedom. Born with an artist’s soul and spirit, she has always been sensitive to the essential role that art and symbols play in shaping culture and consciousness. As she watched the funeral of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of nine people slaughtered in the name of white supremacy at Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, SC, she recognized the message being communicated clearly when both the American flag and South Carolina state flag were flown at half-mast while the Confederate flag remained untouched.

Working with a team of activists who also refused to accept the premise of this image—that white supremacy is supreme, untouchable and invincible—she scaled the 30-foot flagpole in front of the statehouse and removed the “stars and bars” declaring, “This flag comes down today!”  Bree’s intention was to create a new image, a new symbol and a new consciousness of the power inherent in direct action. The iconic picture of her on the pole, flag in hand, has become a touchstone of empowerment for disenfranchised people around the world.

A staunch advocate for human rights and social justice, Bree was arrested once before in 2013 during a sit-in at the North Carolina State Capitol where she spoke out against the state’s recent attack on voting rights. “Art is activism and activism is art,” she insists, as she seamlessly blends her talents in pursuit of social and economic justice. 

From 2013-2015, she served as the Western Field Organizer for Ignite NC, and she is one of the founders of The Tribe, a grassroots organizing collective.  The Tribe was created in the aftermath of the 2014 uprising in Ferguson to address similar issues of structural racism and police violence confronting the community of Charlotte, NC.  

​During the 2016 Charlotte uprising, Bree helped organize protests and community meetings. She continues to organize at the grassroots level in Charlotte, focusing on developing models for sustainable community organization.

Much of her activism has focused upon incidents of young black people being unjustly killed and issues related to structural racism.  She travelled with a group of youth activists from North Carolina to Florida during the Dream Defenders’ occupation of the statehouse as a protest against the killing of Trayvon Martin.  She also participated in an 11-mile march from the Beavercreek, OH, Wal-Mart where John Crawford was killed by police to the courthouse in Xenia, OH, demanding release of the footage showing the killing.

She has an unwavering belief in the power of the individual to make a difference and the utter inability of hate, injustice and inequality to survive the tidal wave that can be created by the collaboration and united action of individuals and groups committed to creating a better world.

 Bree takes this message directly to the people through a wide range of speaking engagements, social media, and blog posts. Her message to all individuals is that they, too, can find their “flagpole moment.”