Black Lives Matter 2020. Photo by Redrecords, pexel.com,
Free To Use license
We were in Brooklyn visiting family when the Ferguson protests broke out after the police shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown. We watched the protests via live stream and felt then that surely something must come of this.
Black Lives Matter was born out of that historical moment, but despite lots of lawn signs, the killings continued. A year later in Baltimore with the killing of Freddie Gray, the protests were again sudden and youth-driven. Again we watched, and again we thought, this time, there would be a change. But no, the black mayor of Baltimore called them thugs (and lost her job) but the police involved were all exonerated.
Since then, the killing of unarmed black people across the country has continued unabated, each time attended by outcry and protest. But the police are rarely if ever found guilty of anything and until recently, nothing changed.
Which is why the protests this year over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police felt momentous, mammoth by comparison to the localized protests of recent years — nationwide and even worldwide. Finally, it seemed, the reality of black lives in America had come home to white people who realized, some for the first time, what it means to be “driving while black” or “walking while black” in many of our towns and cities. A culture of racism, that permeates not just policing but our society as a whole, has been revealed for all to see. To their credit, many Americans, eyes wide open, didn’t like what they saw.
With the murder of George Floyd, the country hit a breaking point, one of those rare occasions in human history when people collectively put their foot down and refuse to take it anymore. The video of George Floyd’s death made it viscerally clear to people that the police officers involved — four of them — thought nothing of this man’s life. Their behavior was simply too cold-blooded for people to excuse away.
The same was true of the men who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, chasing him down the street in a pickup truck so they could kill him with their shotguns. They put their racist brutality on display. The same was true also of the cop who shot and then viciously kicked the bleeding body of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, a signal of contempt that one would not expect out of a supposed “officer of the law.”
This is the face of policing in America today.
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What makes the current round of Black Lives Matter protests feel so different is that the media as well as many politicians are actively supporting them, which is rare for a protest movement. This makes us feel as though the movement could win. Being a crusty oldster, I would caution however against unguarded optimism. There are a lot of ways for the government to make it look like they’re granting big concessions without in fact giving you anything at all. Democrats, alas, are pros at this game.
Which is why it matters greatly that protestors aren’t going for easy-to-fake cosmetic change or meaningless requests for toothless entities such as citizen review boards. Today’s protestors are going for much higher stakes and have made it clear that they want nothing short of a complete overhaul of American policing. By today’s standards, these are radical demands, but with enough momentum, we might actually see some of them happen.
Which brings us to another important facet of the George Floyd protests. They wouldn’t be happening if way back in 2014, when Michael Brown was shot in Ferguson, something had been done to root out unfit officers and clean up policing, not just in Missouri but across the country. Instead. there was much handwringing but little real action from political and governmental leaders. And so, the list of names got longer.
Massive street protest is what happens when politics fails us, which is what has been happening since 2008. For over a decade, Democratic voters have wanted change, and each time, they’ve been thwarted. There was Obama, who ran on change but delivered hope instead. Hope is a passive emotion and needless to say, it didn’t stop the killings of unarmed black people.
In 2016 we wanted change again but the Party preferred Clinton. She lost to the other change candidate (the one who wasn’t Bernie Sanders), and now we have Donald Trump in the White House. Here in 2020, voters wanted change again but this time, the party gave us Joe Biden, the very antithesis of a change candidate. And in the other corner, defender Donald Trump….
With the failure of politics to solve the urgent problems of our time, the Black Lives Matter street protests of 2020 are not only right and necessary, they are massively important. They provide a blueprint to all people on this earth who are being treated unjustly and inequitably by a system designed to enrich and empower the few at the expense of the many. Bernie Sanders’ railing against the 1% wasn’t in vain. When he shouted “Enough is enough,” people heard him.
We can’t vote for Sanders in November, or anyone like him, but to their credit, people are finding a way to fight for these issues outside the electoral sphere. In the last few weeks, we’ve learned that the only place that really matters is the street. With Black Lives Matter, the movement is playing out in the open, with supporters standing up to be counted, and able to be heard unfiltered. Only by taking to the streets has the national conversation that’s been needed for so long finally been able happen.
Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter drew white people to the cause, who supported and attended the protests for George Floyd in great numbers. With support from across society, black and white, things become possible that probably wouldn’t not have been achievable by one group alone.
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The Black Lives Matter movement has opened the eyes of many to injustices perpetrated by police against black people, and the ongoing prejudice that has allowed police brutality to continue unchecked. More than that, BLM has opened the door to new, active movements a host of other issues that are literally burning for attention.
Not only do we need social and economic equality, we also need jobs, infrastructure repairs, schools and teachers, medical care, arts, food, shelter, water, air… We need a clean environment that supports not just human beings but animals, plants, birds, fish, bugs, amphibians. We need to address climate change in a big way. We need a slower, less crazed lifestyle where money and the need for it are not the primary concerns of everyone’s lives.
All this and more are on people’s minds right now, but neither the government nor their corporate overlords are going to give us any of it without sustained pressure. This, BLM has proved.
Massive protest requires massive frustration, and people have to hit the breaking point to be adequately motivated to act. But with the pandemic and economic distress hitting the bottom half of society hard, that elusive breaking point could come sooner than we think.
This is a time like no other. It would be encouraging to all and especially to the many who have given up in despair, if we could harness some of the current energy and take it forward. Now is not the time for hope. Now is the time for action.
