@1266931827773751296

 

Me during a protest if the local police were institutionally violent to queer people.

also would like to note that we don't see hand-wringing over rioting when it's in hong kong or chile or anywhere that the west can unanimously agree is under some form of authoritarian rule. yet when it happens in a "developed" nation, suddenly it's people being uncivilized, "why is this happening here??" i think most of us can accept that western nations aren't immune to the same sort of structural flaws we see elsewhere, but there's so much dissonance in being able to recognize those flaws and then saying we can't adopt the same methods that we laud those in other countries for using.

I understand what you're saying — and of course, I am sorry to read those horrible experiences — but this isn't about us.

 

I know people disagreeing with me have good intentions — I'm not attacking anyone — but being an ally isn't about applying our personal experiences and trying to relate to something we will never truly understand or encounter. Being an ally isn't condemning black people for how they protest (which has been largely peaceful until police escalate the situation) without listening to why and how things have ended up here. Being an ally isn't disregarding the years of desperation, anger and fear coming to the surface because we don't like how that looks.

 

 

I totally agree this is not about me, and actually I cannot stand the 'all lives matter' movement :puke2: I'm the first person to say "black lives matter" isn't saying that your life doesn't matter just at this moment your 'white' life is not being impacted the same way and you have a better life in that respect so it's time to focus on them not us.

 

This thread has really made me think, and actually upset me a little bit, I still find it really hard to have that ends or reasons justify the means attitude but I can see the reasoning behind it too from what people are saying. I hate the fact but acknowledge that my own white privileged probably play a role in my mindset, I guess this is something I need to try and develop to make myself a better person and be more of an ally.

@1266920326182641670

 

I think this thread is important to post to show that, regardless of what you think of its effectiveness, there is so much peaceful protest going on during this and it's not just rioting. While many of the horrendous incidents are the police provoking the situation in various ways and on the aggregate, the behaviour of the institution is massively harmful, there are also individual members of law enforcement who have joined the protests.

 

 

I just cried my eyes out looking at this.

I do not agree with violence in general and I don’t believe anyone posting in this thread does either but the most correct point in here is that it is not our place to tell non white people how to react and behave. What we should be doing, however, is telling the authorities how they should be behaving and reacting as they are the root cause of the issue. The fact that they haven’t even left the peaceful protests alone is sickening.

 

They should all be taking notes from this man:

 

@1267001404914192385

Complete solidarity.

 

The actions of the police officers at the arrest and subsequent death of George Floyd last week are utterly shocking, and have understandly made many people deeply angry, yet are sadly also grimly predictable at the same time. Such despicable injustices have been going on for many years, as Popchartfreak says, however it is only recently that documenting/filming of these events has shone a much needed light on it. There has always been a deeply ingrained culture of systemic racism within the police force of the United States, which is reinforced (in part) by the wider one played out in western society through the deep inequalities that continue to widen every year, and have also been aggrivated by a deeply divisive and ignorant President. This isn't just restricted to the United States either, the problem is here in the UK too, and we even had riots in August 2011 following the death of Mark Duggan.

 

The anger is very real and justified, but we musn't be distracted by the ‘clickbait’ violent clashes that are undoubtably an action carried out by a minority, provoked and amplified by those who seek to delegitimise, discredit and shut down this movement. We should instead focus on the very real strength of feeling there is, unite against racism in all its forms, work together and do whatever we can to make sure the issues that have led to this become intolerable. We need real change, and if we channel this anger we can achieve it.

Seeing loads of videos from protests overnight, the police just keep getting worse and worse. Beating people for walking across the street and attacking people in their cars! It’s not just “a couple bad cops” anymore (and it never was, they’re just proving themselves to be pieces of shit now)

Complete solidarity.

 

The actions of the police officers at the arrest and subsequent death of George Floyd last week are utterly shocking, and have understandly made many people deeply angry, yet are sadly also grimly predictable at the same time. Such despicable injustices have been going on for many years, as Popchartfreak says, however it is only recently that documenting/filming of these events has shone a much needed light on it. There has always been a deeply ingrained culture of systemic racism within the police force of the United States, which is reinforced (in part) by the wider one played out in western society through the deep inequalities that continue to widen every year, and have also been aggrivated by a deeply divisive and ignorant President. This isn't just restricted to the United States either, the problem is here in the UK too, and we even had riots in August 2011 following the death of Mark Duggan.

 

The anger is very real and justified, but we musn't be distracted by the ‘clickbait’ violent clashes that are undoubtably an action carried out by a minority, provoked and amplified by those who seek to delegitimise, discredit and shut down this movement. We should instead focus on the very real strength of feeling there is, unite against racism in all its forms, work together and do whatever we can to make sure the issues that have led to this become intolerable. We need real change, and if we channel this anger we can achieve it.

 

Totally agree. While the violence makes the headlines, the real story is people protesting peacefully in mass numbers while the President shit-stirring on twitter sits hiding in a bunker beneath the White House. He is totally out of control of the situation and has no idea how to handle a mass uprising of people who aren't of one single colour and are without guns.

 

To be fair, Trump and Bannon wanted an uprising of the people. Just not the side they were expecting to rise up, as it turns out.

 

I hope the young people gathering stay away from the vulnerable for at least 3 weeks afterwards, cos killing your granny from Covid-19 as a sideline won't help anything.

Complete solidarity.

 

The actions of the police officers at the arrest and subsequent death of George Floyd last week are utterly shocking, and have understandly made many people deeply angry, yet are sadly also grimly predictable at the same time. Such despicable injustices have been going on for many years, as Popchartfreak says, however it is only recently that documenting/filming of these events has shone a much needed light on it. There has always been a deeply ingrained culture of systemic racism within the police force of the United States, which is reinforced (in part) by the wider one played out in western society through the deep inequalities that continue to widen every year, and have also been aggrivated by a deeply divisive and ignorant President. This isn't just restricted to the United States either, the problem is here in the UK too, and we even had riots in August 2011 following the death of Mark Duggan.

 

The anger is very real and justified, but we musn't be distracted by the ‘clickbait’ violent clashes that are undoubtably an action carried out by a minority, provoked and amplified by those who seek to delegitimise, discredit and shut down this movement. We should instead focus on the very real strength of feeling there is, unite against racism in all its forms, work together and do whatever we can to make sure the issues that have led to this become intolerable. We need real change, and if we channel this anger we can achieve it.

 

Yes, completely agree with everything you said.

 

The recent events are nothing new, I can't even say I am shocked about what happened to George. Which is utterly bizarre, as we should be SHOCKED that this happens, but it just doesn't because it has been happening for years and years and years, and certainly not only in the US. I am completely behind all the protesters as they are doing what we all should be doing right now. Especially white people, which includes myself, should do more, we should educate ourselves, speak out more and don't stay silent.

 

BREAKING NEWS FROM SKY.

 

The private PM conducted on behalf of the family shows that he died from asphyxiation caused by the officer's knee on his neck and back. No doubt about it.

Trump has gone full Trump here. He’s playing right up to his supporters.. Bible, guns, 2nd Amendment. It’s like something you’d see in a movie.

so trump came on the news and basically declared martial law on the protesters

 

even though DC was fine until cops showed up

"i'll fight for your 2nd amendment rights" WHAT ABOUT OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE F*CKING CONSTITUTION IS

"i'll fight for your 2nd amendment rights" WHAT ABOUT OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE F*CKING CONSTITUTION IS

 

It's so sad, but it's like I've said before, he will just use this whole situation to his advantage to encourage people to vote for him. And obviously an increase in Covid-19 will be linked to leftist-protestors. You can see it a mile off, his whole act and choice of words in that stunt are symbolic. He's playing up to the 2nd Amendment nuts.

ngl girls feeling numb watching our descent into outright authoritarianism lolll

My worry is less that people will vote for him, because martial law is generally not how you win moderates, and more that the election will not be fairly conducted - he's already laying the groundwork for that with his positions against more people signing up for mail-in ballots.

I woke up and the things on my Twitter feed sent a shiver down my spine. I'm not quite sure how widely they're being seen given everything else going on:

 

@1267588006426357761

 

@1267599264257015816

 

I know 0 American swing voters will actually read this but are we really gonna carry on claiming that the two leading presidential candidates are as bad as each other when the status quo is using the army + vigilante mobs to threaten crimes against humanity against its own citizens. Voting out Trump in November will stop the bleeding. It's irresponsible not to.

 

If there's a fair election, as Iz rightly points out.

Biden sure as hell won't fix all of the problems and he is an entirely problematic candidate, I think there is a great danger that some liberals will take the event of his victory as a signal that things are fixed, when they really won't be. Voting is far from the only method of praxis and far from all of the issues in America are caused by Trump being in the White House.

 

However I have a much greater confidence that he and his future team will be watching this uprising and knowing that they need to actively implement changes to the system should they be elected. Though I do worry that their idea of a fix will be something like 'police training' which is just papering over a very huge issue and does nothing to change the racist system.

 

Also, yes, I will concede that having him against Trump is likely to make the choice easier for swing voters who would get drawn in by say, 'commie Bernie' narratives, as ridiculous as that is.

BarackObama

As millions of people across the country take to the streets and raise their voices in response to the killing of George Floyd and the ongoing problem of unequal justice, I’ve heard many ask how we can sustain momentum to bring about real change.

 

Ultimately, it’s going to be up to a new generation of activists to shape strategies that best fit the times. But I want to highlight some basic lessons from past efforts that are worth remembering:

 

1. The protests represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system. We should condemn the few who resort to violence––not the overwhelming majority who deserve our respect and support.

 

2. The point of protest is to raise public awareness, to put a spotlight on injustice, and to make the powers that be uncomfortable. But eventually, we have to translate those aspirations into specific laws and institutional practices.

 

3. To do that, we have to know which levels of government have the biggest impact. Changing the federal government is important. But the elected officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system work at the state and local levels.

 

4. So if we want to bring about real change, the choice isn’t between protest and politics––we have to do both. We have to mobilize to raise awareness, and we have to organize and cast our ballots to make sure that we elect candidates who will act on reform.

 

5. The more specific we can make demands for criminal justice and police reform, the harder it will be for elected officials to just offer lip service to the cause and then fall back into business as usual once protests have gone away.

 

If you want to take concrete action, but you’re not sure how, we’ve created a site to connect you with useful resources and organizations who’ve been fighting the good fight at the local and national levels for years.

 

I know the past few months have been hard and dispiriting. But watching the heightened activism of young people makes me hopeful. And if we can keep channeling our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action, this can be the moment when real change starts.

 

Let’s get to work.

 

-----------------------------

 

Greg Brewer

As a bishop in the Episcopal Church, and an American citizen, I am shaken watching protestors in Lafayette Park gassed and cleared so that the President of the United States can do a photo op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church holding a Bible.This is blasphemy in real time.

 

------------------------------

 

me:

 

Biden is out in the streets talking to people about change. Trump is in his bunker trying to create a police state so he can halt the elections that he will lose. He's spent 3 years putting his cronies in as many high positions as possible. Racism was at the heart of Trump's campaign in 2016, along with other isms, and he will try and twist the violence to suit his agenda, just as it was blindingly obvious that would be the result.

 

There is more at stake here than Civil Rights. Democracy is at stake and everyone who believes in it MUST be encouraged to vote for Biden, because any other vote is a vote to end Democracy in the USA.

What are people's thoughts on this social media blackout thing? I get that it's done with the best intentions but it's interfering with the sharing of important information and preventing the conversation to continue.