Another Side of The Protests

[Deleted]

Out of all the ugliness we’re seeing on social media and tv, I’d like to point out a few things that I think are positive. 

Number 1. Memphis TN has had peaceful protests that did not spin out of control. For those that don’t live in the area, that’s kind of a big deal. I’ve seen pictures of the protest last night, and it made me feel some type of way (in a good way) to see the diversity of the crowd. Not just diversity in skin color, but also people that appeared to be in various stages of their lives and on different paths. Diversity in the people that were speaking with the bullhorn. People that looked nothing like one another holding up signs saying that Black lives matter, Stop Killing Black People and the most memorable (for me) a white man holding up a sign saying he didn’t go fight for this country to come home and see his Black sisters and brothers killed, or something like that.

There was the picture of white women (the first one I saw was white women, the other one I saw may have also had some white men) lined up and standing between the black protestors and the police.  I think the caption said something about them using their White privilege, knowing the police wouldn’t attack them. The picture by itself, without the caption, was kind of powerful to me.

And the last one I’ll mention, a police officer had gotten separated from his squad. He wasn’t Black, but Black men surrounded him and linked arms to protect him by keeping people from getting to him to possibly harm him. Imagine that, Black men protecting a vulnerable police officer during a protest against police officers killing black people. That one should be powerful for people that think Black men are nothing but thugs and predators.  

If nothing else good comes out of these protests and riots, at least those few pictures and stories gave me a little hope. And honestly, I’ve been feeling kind of hopeless lately. The people in these pictures standing together and looking out for one another despite their differences and skin colors, was something I needed to see, and I’m sure I’m not the only one that needed to see it. Maybe I’m naive, but that’s the kind of America I want to live in. 

That is all.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Good post. It appears that small groups of organized outsiders are involved. White supremacists who have been feeling more bold in the last few years.

[Deleted]

May 30, 2020 18:24:04 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

Good post. It appears that small groups of organized outsiders are involved. White supremacists who have been feeling more bold in the last few years.

Yes, I’ve read about and seen videos supporting that too. 

But my nerves are upset and I’m a bit angry, so I’m trying to focus on whatever good I can find in all the latest fuckery.

[azucena]

Dd11 heard the story on the news, and it's made for some interesting conversations. We are in stl so we also had some detailed conversations with her when Ferguson happened and she was asking questions. That was her first introduction to racism. Two of her best friends are African American and it was clear she didn't really notice that.

Pink - there is hope for our future generation and I'm doing my part and looking for ways to do more as we can't continue to let this happen.

[cronewitch]

I hope the riots do some good. In the race riots in the 60s it made people notice and we made some leaps like schools taking all kids, busing, labor unions and other jobs opening to black workers. I hope this shakes up the police so they fire the out of control and charge them when they murder. Without the protest they just put them on leave then wait for the memories to fade. We need to have the police and the people who call 911 on people for doing nothing wrong be taught to treat everyone equal.


We with white privilege need to assure others are treated the same as us. Police don't have a right to kill unarmed or non dangerous people. George Floyd was wanted for a $20 non violent crime, 4 officers couldn't arrest him without killing him even after he was handcuffed. We are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore, even if it wasn't someone like me.


Seattle police shot and killed an old native American who was whittling, they yelled drop the knife and 6 seconds later he was dead. He didn't do anything illegal or threaten anyone. It may not have registered yet what they wanted when they killed him, he was an old drunk, could have been deaf or stupid or something and slow to react to demands, or didn't want to damage his knife dropping it. Do they have a right to make someone doing nothing illegal drop a tool?

[andi9899]

KC has had scheduled peaceful protests as well. They cleared out the plaza area we have and let people have their voices heard.

[Artemis Windsong]

No one is addressing that these mass gatherings are super spreaders of Coronavirus.

I talked to someone close to PD yesterday. He said a lot of the protesters are Posse Comitadis not just white supremacists.

In addition and having lived very close to the NODAPL uprising, they are probably paid.

It's a lot easier to arrest the family on the beach or the pastor having in-church services than it is a mob. I know they will eventually catch up to all of them that are photographed but it overwhelms the court system raising costs in already money strapped communities. They get off with a slap on the wrist as we found out with the fall out from the NODAPL criminals.

[Opti]

Here's a good story that involves both sides praying together.

cw34.com/news/local/police-take-a-knee-in-solidarity-prayer-with-protesters-in-coral-gables

[jerseygirl]

Heard somewhere arrested were mostly not from Minneapolis. The guy was charged with third degree murder already, why only third? Hoping the other 3 cops are also charged. So awful

[Opti]

Not the right thread for this, but I think they picked charges that were likely to stick. If they picked intentional murder it would be hard to prove and he probably would be acquitted. 

[justme]

On Facebook I saw the sheriff in Detroit talking to the crowd saying they were angry to and walking with the group.

In Miami it was similar, including a photo of several cops taking a knee.

Funny how if the cops don't come in with batons and tear gas and rubber bullets and let the people protest it doesn't turn into mayhem.

[Tennesseer]

May 31, 2020 12:56:04 GMT -5 justme said:

On Facebook I saw the sheriff in Detroit talking to the crowd saying they were angry to and walking with the group.

In Miami it was similar, including a photo of several cops taking a knee.

Funny how if the cops don't come in with batons and tear gas and rubber bullets and let the people protest it doesn't turn into mayhem.

[gambler]

I think the protest are the thing to do will call attention to a lot of issues with the way some races are treated by law emnforcement. Have a issue with burning and looting it distracts from why there are protest going on. It becomes vandalism and theft and should be dealt with harshly

[Deleted]

May 31, 2020 12:56:04 GMT -5 justme said:

On Facebook I saw the sheriff in Detroit talking to the crowd saying they were angry to and walking with the group.

In Miami it was similar, including a photo of several cops taking a knee.

Funny how if the cops don't come in with batons and tear gas and rubber bullets and let the people protest it doesn't turn into mayhem.

This morning I saw a video, I believe it was in Flint, Michigan. The police officer spoke to the crowd and said they wanted to be with them. He said “that” officer doesn’t represent him or the officers that were there with him. He said he’d taken off his helmet and his fellow officers had put down their batons. And he told them “tell us what you need from us”. The crowd started chanting “walk with us. Walk with us”. So that’s what they did.

My “little” cousin, who is in his early 30’s and much bigger than me lol, reposted the video on his FB page. He’s a young Black man with a Masters degree and a career, and he’s been posting this week, sharing his thoughts and his experiences with the police. Like the time he was a teenager playing basketball in front of his house and a neighbor called the police. The police officer basically threatened to make his black ass disappear. So when my “little” cousin posted the video this morning, his caption was “Who’s peeling onions”? Because it touched him to see the police in that light.

That’s really all we want, to be treated like human beings that have value, and for it to matter to our fellow Americans that things still are not what they should be, and our people are losing their lives just because of our brown skin. We don’t want special treatment, we just don’t want to be mistreated.

To quote the late Tupac Shakur, “I was given this world, I didn’t make it”.

Many of us are forgiving people, and some believe that’s to our detriment. Most of us, if you treat us with dignity and respect, we’ll respond in kind even if it’s always in the back of our minds that certain situations have the potential to go left with no provocation.

The cities whose police forces have treated the nonviolent protesters with respect, or even better, shown that they aren’t with the shit that people are protesting against, are the cities that might be able to quell some of the tension between the police and the minority communities.

[Tennesseer]

@pinkcshmere - I believe this is the video you mention above. A friend of mine posted it on his Facebook page this morning.

[justme]

That was the video I was talking about. Got my Michigan cities mixed up 🤐

[Deleted]

May 31, 2020 16:46:06 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

@pinkcshmere - I believe this is the video you mention above. A friend of mine posted it on his Facebook page this morning.

Yes, that’s the video I was talking about. Thank you for posting it for me.

[cyanne]

There are multiple protests with tens of thousands of people in Minneapolis. All are peaceful. One of the protesters was even offering the National Guard members some his bottles of water he brought to share with his fellow protesters. The protesters were all ages and races walking together.

[mollyanna58]

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10216750185296233&set=a.2972653564623&type=3&theater

Not a protest, but good people helping others.

[Gardening Grandma]

Glimmer of hope

In Some Cities, Police Officers Joined Protesters Marching Against Brutality

We want to be with y’all, for real. I took my helmet off, laid the batons down. I want to make this a parade, not a protest,” Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson was seen telling protesters in Flint, Michigan, before he joined the assembled crowd to march, eliciting cheers.


www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/05/31/in-some-cities-police-officers-joined-protesters-marching-against-brutality/

[laterbloomer]

Our local Chief of Police sent personal emails to the leadership of various visible minority groups expressing his disgust with Chauvon and reassuring them that is not the type of policing that happens here. He has an ongoing relationship with these people that started long before Covid and this latest mess. Things aren't perfect in my City but I do believe our Police Chief values diversity.

[laterbloomer]

This is the statement our Police Department put on their website in response to local protests.The protests were inspired by what is happening south of the border but focussed on our local issues with racism.

"In 2009, the House of Commons passed a motion to celebrate National Indigenous History Month. Despite the COVID pandemic; we are still committed to learning and sharing history and celebrating Indigenous culture and language this month and throughout the year.

In 2007, Shannen Koostachin spoke on Parliament Hill demanding a better school for her community of Attawapiskat, as she had to learn in mould filled portables. On this day in 2010, Shannen passed away after a car collision. We celebrate Shannen’s courage to challenge what she knew was wrong.

Recent events have challenged the trust between the public and police. We respect the right to take action and to protest and we thank you for taking action and for standing up for what you believe in.

We are dedicated to protecting and serving this community while exemplifying our RICH values of Respect, Inclusivity, Courage and Honesty and we want to continue having respectful dialogues with all communities to build public trust through community engagement and transparency.

We know that there is much work to be done and we will continue to work with you and listen to you.

We want you to know, we welcome the opportunity to work together and we hear your call for justice and transparency.

The LOCAL Police Service strives to build positive and respectful relationships with the original inhabitants of this land including First Nations people, Inuit people and Métis. Today and every day we would like to express our solidarity with the Indigenous community. Since the onset of colonization and through decades of intergenerational trauma, we acknowledge the role that Police played in systemic racism and we know that there is much work to be done in order to repair and heal the relationship between Police and the Indigenous community.

As a Police Service, we are committed to working together with community partners and community members to ensure that Indigenous People and people of all cultures, races and diversity are treated with respect and dignity.

#IndigenousHistoryMonth

This makes me cry. I live in a good place. Not a perfect place, but a good place.

[Gardening Grandma]

Seattle Mayor, Jenny Durkin

Seattle's mayor says white men are responsible for 'much of the violence and destruction' across the US following George Floyd's death

“I want to acknowledge that much of the violence and destruction, both here in Seattle and across the country, has been instigated and perpetuated by white men," Durkan tweeted.