Black Mothers Matter: Moms of Victims of Police Shootings Take Center Stage at DNC
BARRETT HOLMES PITNER
The GOP convention was the most pro-cop in ages. Controversially, the Democrats are going in the other direction. Will it work? Yes—as long as people go vote.
Tuesday night will bring a pivotal moment of the presidential race when the mothers of black men and women who have been killed by gun violence or in police custody will take center stage at the Democratic National Convention. This night may not only further humanize an essential civil rights struggle, but it may also turn a distinctly anti-political movement led by Black Lives Matter into a force that engages more directly with electoral politics.
Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner; Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother; Maria Hamilton, Dontré Hamilton’s mother; Lucia McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis; Lezley McSpadden, Michael Brown’s mother; Cleopatra Pendlton-Cowley, Hadiya Pendleton’s mother; and Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland are all scheduled to speak on Tuesday. The founders of BLM, who have chosen not to support a candidate, have not been invited to speak.
In the weeks leading up to both conventions the tension surrounding the BLM movement has dramatically increased following the tragic deaths of law abiding African Americans and police officers from across the nation.
The Republican National Convention spent a week demonizing, slandering, and undermining the movement by painting it as a terroristic entity that champions anarchy and harm to police officers. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke celebrated the fact that no police officers were convicted for the death of Freddie Gray, and led the audience in cheering “Blue Lives Matter.” And regular renditions of “All Lives Matter” were cheered to the rafters at the RNC. They projected a message of BLM vs. the police and demanded an absolute, unquestionable fealty to the police in the name of law and order.
more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/26/black-mothers-matter-moms-of-victims-of-police-shootings-take-center-stage-at-dnc.html
