#not a riot

[palmtreepalmtree]

I’m just saying, if our forefathers had taken the tea home with them instead of dumping it in Boston harbor, we would still be calling them revolutionaries.  

[justkingwolf]

Can we stop calling what is happening in Ferguson "riots"?

That is not rioting. The people in Ferguson are not inciting any of the violence happening. Riots are what happened in London in 2011, which spread to other cities very quickly and became a week-long violent battle.

It started much the same way, the fatal shooting of a young black man named Mark Duggan by a cop, but the people in Ferguson are NOT rioting, they are protesting. They're rightfully upset at the wrongful murder of Mike Brown and they want some justice for what has happened - and they're doing it properly.

Calling it a riot makes it sound like it's the people of the town starting all the clashes with police which is both false and detracting attention from the REAL problem - the police using heavy-handed violent tactics to cover up what's happening and what happened to Mike Brown.

The police in London were also rather heavy-handed and faced very similar criticism, but the difference here is that the people in London were violent back. A lot of the time they WERE the ones to start the fighting.

Watch some of these videos from 2011 and compare it to those from Ferguson. I guarantee you will see the difference in how the crowds are acting.

[should-be-sleeping]

Looters

Saying that people who loot during a protest are part of the protest is like saying that people who loot during a hurricane are part of the hurricane.

[ashwinoncoop]

metallica

Recently I was lucky enough to witness history by going to a Metallica concert. This was their second show in India ever, their first being the night before in Delhi. Woo!

After reading that Metallica had been a no-show for a show in Delhi, I was reluctant that they would actually perform in Bangalore. A few of the promoters got arrested in Delhi for “cheating” (I don’t know what that means), and I wondered how easy it would be to book a concert without actually booking an artist. Then after reading more I realized why people didn’t do this more: the crowd, after hearing that Metallica would not be playing, tore apart the stage and created a ruckus that caused approximately a bazillion dollars in damage.

 When standing there and the PA guy was saying things like “We’ve been waiting 20 years for this” and “Please do your part”, I was pretty sure I would witness a riot. When trying to move the crowd somewhere in the distance, some cops were pushing people and  winding up their billy clubs- but I didn’t see any follow through. Since no riot ensued, I’m assuming the cops did not partake in any police brutality.

 After playing a recorded version of their “Ecstasy of Gold” track, Metallica opened with Creeping Death, a classic off their Ride the Lightning album, which sounded absolutely incredible with live instrumentation. Then, they played 17 more songs. Those were really good too. In between songs, the lead singer James Hetfield addressed the crowd, “Are you alive? How does it feel to be alive?” And I thought to myself, pretty darn good. Especially since these 50,000 people (according to the Times of India website)  probably would have broken a lot of stuff and lit things on fire if these guys didn’t show up.

Metallica ended the concert by throwing stuff into the crowd and saying how India is a life-changing place. I already knew that, but it was still a great concert.