#protest tw

[skaterfc]

Just a reminder that if you were ever told that poverty is an "endless hole that cant be filled up", thats capitalist propaganda

[wwxnka]

Wonka preparing to attend any anti-government protest: “Let’s keep the signs professional. Just simple, clear indications of how I feel.”

The front of Wonka’s sign:

The BACK of Wonka’s sign:

[galaeus]

a quick psa not to attack rp blogs that aren’t reblogging everything re: pandemic or protest-related. you assume that people do not care if they do not reblog PSAs, or viral tumblr posts. many of us are doing just that on our personal outlets & social media accounts but choose to continue using our blogs as an escapism when there are so few places that provide that. keep your passive aggressive call outs in your drafts and donate instead.

[gottalottarocks]

So I haven’t felt a need to share that I’ve been attending protests in Washington DC, but that Trump survey actually enraged me. I was in Lafayette park on Monday, June 1 in a crowd of peaceful protesters when police maced us, fired tear gas at us, and shot at us with rubber bullets. It had been completely peaceful up to that point and the police onslaught came with no warning. Less than an hour before this the police took a knee with us. There were some reports that they asked us to move back and we didn’t comply, but I saw no evidence of this. Police continually fired tear gas at us, even as we were fleeing, and pursued us for multiple blocks. At 17th and H St there was a massive line of cops across the west and north side of the intersection so that they could funnel us south and prevent us from dispersing. The level of brutality was unreal and the tear gas was so thick you could barely see through it. I have never been so grateful for my bulky chem goggles. I heard people shouting that there were mounted police, but I couldn’t see them because there was so much tear gas. I ran for it and managed to get home safely, and when I did get home I turn on the news and see Trump standing outside the church that I had been standing in front of less than twenty minutes ago. I have pretty much been disgusted by the reporting of the DC protests since the majority of them perpetuate the narrative that force was used as a means to control unruly crowds who were rioting and looting, especially during the earlier protests. Not a single protest I’ve attended became “violent” until after police started shooting at us, and even then less than 1% of protesters engaged in rioting or looting. Trump is asserting that rioting in DC stopped due to the show of force by the police and national guard. That is not true, rioting and looting stopped after the police stopped teargassing us and it was only after the international outrage from June 1 that police brutality towards protesters was curbed in DC. Do not let them change the narrative and obscure what really happened. Do not let the Black Lives Matter movement get undermined. I hope that by sharing my experience anyone who has felt that the police were justified in their violent response towards protesters recognizes that there is media that is actively misportraying these events. We need to keep protesting and supporting the BLM movement because we are nowhere near done with this. 

This is the survey post I was referencing 

[soughtgreen]

     to anyone protesting: i love you so, so much, please remember to be safe. I know you don’t want to think about “what if this turns ugly” but you need to prepare just in case. turn your phones on airplane mode, bring a portable charger, bring a cooler with water and milk (water in case you get thirsty, need to wash out a wound, etc and milk because it’ll help wash out tear gas), bring snacks like granola bars and other healthy snacks (limit junk food because that sugar can only go so far), wear some form of eye protection, bring some first aid supplies like bandages and neosporin, don’t wear contact lenses, cover any and all identifying features such as tattoos. 

     Stay safe.

[fleetwood-mac-andcheese]

Are you going to any protests?

[lovesickallovermybed]

i went to a protest today, we walked over three miles and we screamed the whole time. our protest was peaceful, the cops walked with us and escorted us back and forth, but in philadelphia just an hour away, people are being shot and tear gassed. it makes me sick, it makes me angry. stop sitting there and do something whether that’s virtual protesting or organizing one in the darkest parts of the country. the more people who rise up the more that justice had to matter. all lives don’t matter until black ones do. no justice, no peace. say his name. say all of their names. they did not die in vain.

[dork-empress]

So. I don’t know if it’s good to post this. But I am still shaking and angry and need to put it down. 

I will say right off the bat, no one is hurt in this story, and this isn’t nearly as bad as things you’ll hear and see on the news, but there is a difference when its you in person. 

I’ve been going to protests semi-regularly for a couple of weeks now. There’s one thats near me that is pretty small, but meets there every day. While we were all there for serious matters, it became easy to think of it more as a party than a protest. We had music, we danced, we ended up in the background of a dance video (that was weird). What mattered to me is we were keeping the protest in the minds of people (predominantly white neighborhood) so they couldn’t forget and slide this matter under the carpet as they have been doing it for years. 

I’ll admit to some selfish reasons. It got me out of the house. It let me see my friends that I haven’t seen in quarantine. and more than anything the white guilt would have killed me if I just stayed inside. We’ve gotten our fair share of critiques, middle fingers, people yelling, yadda yadda, but those were easy to brush off.

Come to today. We walk up, and see another group of people across the street. One holds an American Flag. The other holds a ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ Flag. 

You can see where this is going. 

They say they are here because one of the protesters is carrying an upside down american flag. Quick history, the upside down american flag is a sign of a country in crisis. If you don’t think the country is in crisis, I will direct you to any news outlet (preferably not Fox, but whatever). They say it is disrespectful. Even if they’re right, it doesn’t matter more than black people’s lives.

They say all sorts of things. One of which was “If you care about black lives, what about black aborted babies?” Which ???????? Shut up. 

The leader of our protest is a goddamn saint, a black woman who is out there every goddamn day, and has the patience of an angel. She drowned them out with chants. Our voices were calling for justice, and we were louder, So what did they do? 

They got a fucking megaphone. 

The things they yelled at her....well to be honest I didn’t hear many of them myself because I was trying to keep the chants up and get cars to honk, anything to drown them out. but she was angry. I’ve never seen her angry, and so personally hurt. they were being racist, straight up, no question. 

The leader did what you’re supposed to do when you’re harrassed. She called the cops. Specifically ones she had interacted with and had positive experiences with. 

We waited 3 hours, and DIFFERENT cops showed up. I’m not sure if the counter protesters called them. They said there were two sides to the story so they couldn’t do anything. They said the counter protesters had the right to be there (no, we had the space, they could go as close as across the street if they wanted) 

The cops said to her “Aren’t you Black Lives Matter? Don’t you want to defund the police?” 

THERE. ARENT. OTHER. SYSTEMS. IN. PLACE. and we wouldn’t HAVE to defund you if you actually Protected and Served like you always goddamn say!

And to be honest, she wasn’t that big on defund the police before. Like I said, she’d had some positive experiences, so while she wanted to solve the systemic issues, she saw the positive (Again. Sainthood. Give it to this woman, please). They did nothing. They protected the Counter Protesters from US! the WORST protesters were doing was yelling and filming their racist speeches. 

I have seen hate. I know hate. I have listened to the stories of Black Americans, and I believe them. I don’t want this to be a “I’ve seen it myself and now I KNOW its real!” 

The thing that kills me here, that really grinds my gears on all of it: One of them bumped into me as they left, and said sorry. Because I’m white. Because I’m seen as more worthy than the protest leader who is out there every goddamn day fighting for her people. Who doesn’t GET to put down her signs when she gets home to be separate from all of this. /I/ do. And I didn’t ask for it, but I do anyway. If those men saw me on the street anywhere else they’d treat me with respect. I dont want it. I don’t want respect from racists.

I believe in progress and learning. Those men weren’t there to learn, they were there to spread hate. And it had nothing to do with the flag, or aborted babies they would have hated to, or their ‘freedom of speech’ or anything the fuck else. 

I saw evil today, with my own two eyes, not 10 minutes from where I live in a progressive liberal town. I want to believe there’s more good than there is that, and that if we all speak up we can drown out that hate. But first we all have to speak. 

So I ask every one of you who’s been silent, please, please speak. Take care of yourselves, of course, but take care of your peers too. Even if it’s just one more voice in a storm, your voice is the loudest one in your ears. So what are you saying with it?