Black Lives Matter

As we enter another weekend under curfew here in the Twin Cities, soon to be lifted, I can't help but wonder where this is all leading. I know things are happening outside of my city but it also feels a little bit like the situation here has gotten lost in the shuffle.

It's difficult not to be suspicious of all of the people trying to say and do whatever they perceive is the right thing. I appreciate that the police, the people not wanting to choose sides, and the people brainwashed by good ol' American propaganda are continuing to be exposed for what they are. I'm seeing some positive ideas being put forth but I also see people dividing themselves into factions, as they tend to do, and a lot of people continuing to be extremely disinterested or hostile to those ideas. If anything real is going to come out of any of this, people are going to need to be a lot more resilient, a lot more persistent, a lot more willing, and a lot more creative.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
Mayor Muriel Bowser had Black Lives Matter painted on the road leading toward the White House. As my colleague @abbydphillip put it, @MayorBowser is not playing games.

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I’ve just been skimming this thread so apologies if it’s already been pointed out, but as a DC resident I’m a little heated and need to vent. This is a performance stunt for a number of reasons:

1) DC continues to follow stop and frisk policy. The city has dragged their feet with releasing data, but the numbers the public has seen reveals that 70% of those stopped are black.

2) The overall budget being hashed out right now is reduced as a whole (due to COVID so understandable) but every agency is being reduced except for the police (which is actually getting an increase). This includes affordable housing and violence prevention programs. In the past, the chief of police has said “the biggest contributor to excessive force is underfunding.” Which is totally totally cool given the excessive force we’ve seen during the protests.

3) DC is absolutely not transparent about police shootings. I don’t feel like getting myself more worked up so if you get a chance read up on D’Quan Young.

4) And finally, the holy grail of government endorsed solutions for change: elections. Let me tell you how the recent curfew royally fucked the local election.

Curfew was 7pm but the polls (already reduced from over a 140 to 20 due to COVID) closed at 8pm. But the Mayor ensured us that voting was an essential activity and exempt. So there was no need to worry about the police incorrectly enforcing an order. Cause that’s never happened, right?

On top of all this, the election board had been overwhelmed with mail in ballot requests and straight up didn’t send a ton. So between the reduced poll stations, lack of mail in ballots, and increased interest in voting, the lines lasted past midnight.

Unsurprisingly, the police tried to announce to some polling stations that the curfew was in effect and people needed to leave. Poll station workers quickly corrected but who knows how many people left after lines closed and couldn’t vote afterwards.

And the most insane part? Because of the curfew, the metro and buses were closed. So throughout the night we had residents walking home hoping they wouldn’t get stopped by police/random federal agents and potentially arrested just for practicing their civil duty.

So yeah, until Mayor Bowser actually enacts some change this is just a performance stunt.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
I think your budget post is valid where is the money going and what are they using it for is important.

Did you see where the entire Buffalo City Riot police squad of 57 officers resigned in protest after a couple cops were suspend while they investigate a horrific video of them shoving a 75 year-old protestor causing him to hit his head so hard on the cement that the guy had blood coming out of his ears and then instead of checking on him the just stepped over him and continued to “protect” the city? On one hand that is crazy they would all decide THIS is the issue they feel they need to protest but on the other hand, that is probably a good way to clear out a lot of the problem officers without much issue. Like, don’t let the door hit ya on the way out, shitheads!
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To be clear, they didn't resign from the police force, just from the "emergency response team" or whatever. Would be a lot better if they had!
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
I think your budget post is valid where is the money going and what are they using it for is important.

Did you see where the entire Buffalo City Riot police squad of 57 officers resigned in protest after a couple cops were suspend while they investigate a horrific video of them shoving a 75 year-old protestor causing him to hit his head so hard on the cement that the guy had blood coming out of his ears and then instead of checking on him the just stepped over him and continued to “protect” the city? On one hand that is crazy they would all decide THIS is the issue they feel they need to protest but on the other hand, that is probably a good way to clear out a lot of the problem officers without much issue. Like, don’t let the door hit ya on the way out, shitheads!
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I must have missed the 57 resigning, but they resigned because the other officers were disciplined? and not because the shoved an elderly man to the ground??!!

Bruh. What kind of backwards ass world are we living in...
 
I had off yesterday so was able to march on day 8 of protest marches through the city. It's so powerful getting involved in these things, and so great to see people of all ages and races getting involved in one of the most segregated cities in the country. Luckily I didn't get into any of the tear gas/rubber bullet confrontations yet that are still happening nightly in all this here.
Also...Flannery the protest pig made it out.
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Teeeee said:
Thank you for the reminder.

Also - Just Mercy was made available to stream for free. I think via several outlets. I found it on Amazon Prime.
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We watched Just Mercy the other night as well. It's also free on the Apple TV app if anybody has that. Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer that Just Mercy is about, is interviewed in The 13th as well. I recommend both. I might recommend watching the 13th first since it helps to provide a lot of context about the prison system.
 
I just almost got into a fight w this dude at the grocery store. A young black dude got caught stealing food and they were trying to call the cops on him. Me and a couple other people told the grocery store security to let him go and we’ll pay for whatever he took and this middle aged white dude tried to stop the guy when the security agreed to let him go. So I stepped in and told him to step back. I kid you not, this dude kept asking me why I was okay with letting him go, he asked multiple times “Are you ANTIFA?!”. Thats where we’re at people, that’s what we’re dealing with. People who can not see the pain in others and they can not see the hate in their hearts so they vilify the good in others. Everybody threw their hands up and stormed away when this guy accused me of being ANTIFA. I was fucking DUMBSTRUCK but I also wanted to scream and/or strangle him. When I got back in the car I couldn’t help but cry man, this guy saw this young (most likely homeless) black man as the enemy. So much so that he was ready to assault him to ensure he could not put food in his stomach.
 
gouis said:
Protest in Rochester was larger, louder, and more organized than last week. There were no cops anywhere to be seen, and lo and behold it was completely peaceful.
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Damn, I bet they pissed that “operation plant bricks on corners” isn’t going over so well.
 
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