Yeah, I’ve inherited quite a few books. Even my kindle library is chock full of books I’ll probably never get around to reading.
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I was referencing our non-reader-in-chief, but I feel your pain. There are too many books to ever get to the bottom of the pile.
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Every city on the Louisiana 1-10 corridor between Baton Rouge and Mississippi had black lives matter protests. Most on the other side of Baton Rouge, too. These are some of the Trumpiest areas of the country. A local small town mayor in a town notorious for its brutal prison led a march. This feels different.
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So based on the article, he was calling on people who were willing to risk violence to “[call] out the shooters.”
Protest organizers sometimes divide events into “red” and “green” so that protesters who can risk gassing or arrest can go to the “red” events, such as die-ins, blocking streets, etc., while those who can’t can stay in “green” events. In context “level red” and “calling out the shooters” both suggest risking gassing and arrest to speak out. Police might misrepresent this like police have been known to misrepresent puppet-making equipment as molotov cocktails and gazpacho soup as homemade pepper spray.
That sounds like he was condemning violence, not encouraging it. This isn’t Tom Cotton or Donald Trump or the like.
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This weekend I will be able to attend a BLM rally of some variety. I’m sure I’ll find one. This will be the first protest I am motivated to join.
So I’m looking for advice. What to take or leave behind. What to do and do not do.
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I think it depends to some degree on where you’ll be. Weather-appropriate clothes. Water and snacks. If you have extra money to spend, many protests have stations set up where you can bring extra prepared food and water to donate. Some cash, wallet, ID, credit cards. Phones are tricky - if you have a digital camera and a burner, that’s my preferred. But for getting the word out, your smartphone is still the best. Map out a couple locations with wifi so you can turn off geolocation, wifi and network at the actual protest. Charged back up battery + cable. I have a portable solar panel for that, too. Sunblock. Mask and hand sanitizer - if you can bring some to donate, awesome. Shatterproof glasses are cheap at the hardware store and dead useful if rubber bullets are flying. Collapsible umbrella. Collapsible “Caution wet surface” cones can help contain smoke and tear gas grenades. Make sure they open on top so you can pour water in. I keep a grill glove to move hot debris. A cloth to smother fires. Numbers to local legal aid. Small first aid kit, including something for allergens (benadryl + benadryl topical pen are handy. edit: diaper rash cream is good for not only your own thigh chub rub, but covering other chemical irritants after flushing them with water). A piece of chalk if you need to mark spots on the ground for testimony. All this fits in my medium timbuk2 with the solar bungeed to the outside.
Not to bring: arms, unless you’re doing some sort of open carry protest, some municipalities have banned sticks to hold up signs, so use cardboard instead to get it to stand. I wouldn’t wear sandals. People have been saying to rinse your eyes with water and baking soda if you get gassed but that’s just going to scratch your eye. Make-up and contacts can trap tear gas and pepper spray, so better to be in glasses if you need them.
Let the organizers lead. Center Black feelings. If I’m not the direct community, I usually only do the organizer-led chants.
Edit: Also, there are reports of officers using larger moveable items against the people holding them. Like, grabbing your bike and using it to knock you over. The more you can keep things internal - jacket, zipped in a bag - the better
Edit 2: If you haven’t done it in a while, being on your feet all day is rough. IConsider doing some yoga or stretches beforehand and after. I wear my plantar fasciitis sock the day before and after marching. I wear my running shoes, best fitting running socks, and best running leggings (pockets!) day of.
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And now it finally hits the national media how much of a bag of shit the MPD union boss is.
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Are there any decent police union bosses?
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Definitely an open question.
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Don’t let the door… etc.
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Thank you.
I actually found a local protest where 4th and 5th Avenues converge. I just stumbled upon it. It was one retired hippy with a tie-dyed peace banner and some candles. So I stood with her for a while with my groceries.
She told me she was stationed on the steps of St Patrick’s Church the evening before. After the curfew started cops came by to hustle her off. They almost damaged her banner. She told them “the Pope and Jesus are on my side.” She confided to me she’s actually a pagan.
As we stood there, maintaining social distance, occasionally people honked or waved to show support. Sometimes other people joined us. A couple of teenagers from a bodega across the street brought some water bottles. From a nice young woman I learned that there are regular, larger protests going on every evening on 85th Street. That’s about ten blocks to the north, so I should be able to get there pretty regularly.
I like this — keeping it low-key and local. I don’t want to travel a long distance to a trendy area then stand in a crowd of people who are all too close to each other. And it’s to good have a protest in Bay Ridge. It’s such a fat, dumb and happy neighborhood that it needs to be shaken up a little.
So I will stand with her again tomorrow evening and Sunday. Then I’ll take a look at the larger protest on Monday.
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Joined in on a vigil for Breonna Taylor tonight I’m Chattanooga. I could not believe how many people there were there. It felt really powerful.
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