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In reply to the discussion: Frankly, I'm glad that BLM is confronting Bernie's campaign, and Bernie should be glad as well... [View all]MrScorpio
(73,630 posts)80. You know something… You're absolutely correct.
That's my error. I actually realized that just a moment ago and I was in the midst of checking out the context of the hashtag when I came across this: https://outsideagitators206.org/blog/seattle-says-bowdownbernie/
PRESS RELEASE: Black Lives Matter Seattle #?BowDownBernie Action
MEDIA CONTACTS: Marissa Johnson blacklivesmatterseattle@gmail.com
Black Lives Matter Seattle organizers and supporters take over Bernie Sanders rally at Westlake on Saturday, August 8, 2015.
Today BLM Seattle, with the support of other Black organizers and non-Black allies and accomplices, held Bernie Sanders publicly accountable for his lack of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and his blatantly silencing response to the #?SayHerName #?IfIDieInPoliceCustody action that took place at Netroots this year.
Bernies arrival in Seattle is largely significant in the context of the state of emergency Black lives are in locally as well as across America. The Seattle Police Department has been under federal consent decree for the last three years and has been continually plagued by use-of-force violations and racist scandals amongst their rank and file. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has refused to push any reform measures for police accountability, not even the numerous recommendations of his self-appointed Community Police Commission. The Seattle School District suspends Black students at a rate six times higher than their white counterparts, feeding Black children into the school-to-prison pipeline. King County has fought hard to push through a plan to build a $210 million new youth jail to imprison these children, amid intense community criticism and dissent. The Central District, a historically Black neighborhood in Seattle, has undergone rapid gentrification over the past few decades, with Black people being displaced from the only neighborhood that we could legally live in until just years ago. While white men profit off of the legalization of marijuana, our prisons are still filled with Black people who are over-incarcerated for drug offenses.
This city is filled with white progressives, which is why Bernie Sanders camp was obviously expecting a friendly and consenting audience for todays campaign visit. The problem with Sanders, and with white Seattle progressives in general, is that they are utterly and totally useless (when not outright harmful) in terms of the fight for Black lives. While we are drowning in their liberal rhetoric, we have yet to see them support Black grassroots movements or take on any measure of risk and responsibility for ending the tyranny of white supremacy in our country and in our city. This willful passivity while claiming solidarity with the #?BlackLivesMatter movement in an effort to be relevant is over. White progressive Seattle and Bernie Sanders cannot call themselves liberals while they participate in the racist system that claims Black lives. Bernie Sanders will not continue to call himself a man of the people, while ignoring the plight of Black people. Presidential candidates will not win Black votes without putting out an explicit criminal justice reform package. As was said at the Netroots action, presidential candidates should expect to be shut down and confronted every step along the way of this presidential campaign. Black people are in a state of emergency. Lines have been drawn in the sand. You are either fighting continuously and measurably to protect Black life in America, or you are a part of the white supremacist system that we will tear down in the liberation of our people.
On this, nearly the one year anniversary of the ruthless murder of Mike Brown, we honor Black lives lost by doing the unthinkable, the unapologetic, and the unrespectable. Out of radical love for our Black brothers and sisters, we put our lives and our bodies on the line to testify to their persecution and resilience. We join together in Black love to #SayHerName and declare that #BlackLivesMatter, understanding that our love will disrupt the complicity and corruption of our anti-Black society; GOP, Democrat, and otherwise.
There is no business as usual while Black lives are lost. We will ensure this by any means necessary.
With the strength of our ancestors and for the future of our children,
Black Lives Matter Seattle Co-Founders,
Marissa Johnson and Mara Willaford.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Marissa Johnson blacklivesmatterseattle@gmail.com
Black Lives Matter Seattle organizers and supporters take over Bernie Sanders rally at Westlake on Saturday, August 8, 2015.
Today BLM Seattle, with the support of other Black organizers and non-Black allies and accomplices, held Bernie Sanders publicly accountable for his lack of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and his blatantly silencing response to the #?SayHerName #?IfIDieInPoliceCustody action that took place at Netroots this year.
Bernies arrival in Seattle is largely significant in the context of the state of emergency Black lives are in locally as well as across America. The Seattle Police Department has been under federal consent decree for the last three years and has been continually plagued by use-of-force violations and racist scandals amongst their rank and file. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has refused to push any reform measures for police accountability, not even the numerous recommendations of his self-appointed Community Police Commission. The Seattle School District suspends Black students at a rate six times higher than their white counterparts, feeding Black children into the school-to-prison pipeline. King County has fought hard to push through a plan to build a $210 million new youth jail to imprison these children, amid intense community criticism and dissent. The Central District, a historically Black neighborhood in Seattle, has undergone rapid gentrification over the past few decades, with Black people being displaced from the only neighborhood that we could legally live in until just years ago. While white men profit off of the legalization of marijuana, our prisons are still filled with Black people who are over-incarcerated for drug offenses.
This city is filled with white progressives, which is why Bernie Sanders camp was obviously expecting a friendly and consenting audience for todays campaign visit. The problem with Sanders, and with white Seattle progressives in general, is that they are utterly and totally useless (when not outright harmful) in terms of the fight for Black lives. While we are drowning in their liberal rhetoric, we have yet to see them support Black grassroots movements or take on any measure of risk and responsibility for ending the tyranny of white supremacy in our country and in our city. This willful passivity while claiming solidarity with the #?BlackLivesMatter movement in an effort to be relevant is over. White progressive Seattle and Bernie Sanders cannot call themselves liberals while they participate in the racist system that claims Black lives. Bernie Sanders will not continue to call himself a man of the people, while ignoring the plight of Black people. Presidential candidates will not win Black votes without putting out an explicit criminal justice reform package. As was said at the Netroots action, presidential candidates should expect to be shut down and confronted every step along the way of this presidential campaign. Black people are in a state of emergency. Lines have been drawn in the sand. You are either fighting continuously and measurably to protect Black life in America, or you are a part of the white supremacist system that we will tear down in the liberation of our people.
On this, nearly the one year anniversary of the ruthless murder of Mike Brown, we honor Black lives lost by doing the unthinkable, the unapologetic, and the unrespectable. Out of radical love for our Black brothers and sisters, we put our lives and our bodies on the line to testify to their persecution and resilience. We join together in Black love to #SayHerName and declare that #BlackLivesMatter, understanding that our love will disrupt the complicity and corruption of our anti-Black society; GOP, Democrat, and otherwise.
There is no business as usual while Black lives are lost. We will ensure this by any means necessary.
With the strength of our ancestors and for the future of our children,
Black Lives Matter Seattle Co-Founders,
Marissa Johnson and Mara Willaford.
Apparently, this is both a culmination of both local issues and a continuation of concern over that incident with Bernie at Netroots.
Again, I apologize for misreading that hashtag.
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Frankly, I'm glad that BLM is confronting Bernie's campaign, and Bernie should be glad as well... [View all]
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
OP
if they would protest everyone but him I might not be pissed aboiut this. Also
roguevalley
Aug 2015
#20
Exactly, why do they only target HIS events? This type partisan crap hurts their cause
peacebird
Aug 2015
#76
Those who are predisposed to dismissing the movement will have their reasons to do so...
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#8
I don't care, because I don't think that BLM is a tool planted by Hillary to get Bernie
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#124
So smearing Sanders as a white supremacist and hurting his campaign helps them, how?
peacebird
Aug 2015
#78
It is starting to look like BLM wants Bernie to make his entire campaign solely about BLM.
djean111
Aug 2015
#5
They won't get within a city block of Hillary's $2700 per ticket events and EVERYONE HERE KNOWS IT.
cherokeeprogressive
Aug 2015
#69
So am I ..and anywhere else.. "Poll Shows Why Black Lives Matter Activists Should Be Proud"
Cha
Aug 2015
#10
I don't think people are having an issue with them disrupting 'Democratic rallies'.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
Aug 2015
#11
May I offer a quote from you, Mr Scorpio, commenting upon LGBT disruptive activism tactics? Thanks.
Bluenorthwest
Aug 2015
#12
Did you read what I posted to you? You used to be against such tactics, now you understand them
Bluenorthwest
Aug 2015
#23
So you are saying then that Bernie had it coming, was a proper target and Social Security/Medicare
Bluenorthwest
Aug 2015
#134
The protestors today certainly did not approach Sanders as a potential ally whom they expect
stranger81
Aug 2015
#131
Why don't they disrupt HILLARY's rallies? And NO I don't want them to continue this.
Triana
Aug 2015
#22
Actually just came across a statement in WillyT's OP that might be relevant.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
Aug 2015
#39
That's the nature of anarchy. BLM activity is crowd-sourced and very loosely structured
HereSince1628
Aug 2015
#34
anarchists...as in loosely organized, basically self-proclaimed and crowd sourced
HereSince1628
Aug 2015
#61
I defended it before but not this time. Sanders has been speaking daily on the issues important to
Cheese Sandwich
Aug 2015
#36
How can he "live up to his own potential" if they help to shitcan his chances to do anything?
Armstead
Aug 2015
#40
Unlike you, the BLM are simply not going to give Bernie the benefit of the doubt...
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#53
If Bernie's momentum is truly strong enough to take the nomination and win the General...
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#94
To me, that says a lot more about his supporters than it does about the man himself nt
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#55
Or if you actually read the context, it was part of a demand for Sanders to submit
jeff47
Aug 2015
#62
I hope you stretched before twisting into a pretzel like that. I'd hate for you to pull a muscle.
cherokeeprogressive
Aug 2015
#71
Then why is Bernie Sanders the Target and not the Rest of the Dem Field of Candidates?
KoKo
Aug 2015
#63
Well, it's quite clear that they're not interested in playing politics at this point...
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#83
Please don't pretend the disruptive event was in any way to help Bernie Sanders.
aikoaiko
Aug 2015
#67
Again, we're intersecting politics with activism, two completely separate narratives and objectives
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#72
I mentioned before that now would be a good time for Bernie to come face to face with BLM activists
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#89
Please tell me exactly, SPECIFICALLY, what it means to "reach out to BLM".
cherokeeprogressive
Aug 2015
#91
In the best scenario, ALL of the Democrats should be working to redress BLM's concerns directly...
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#96
Thank you very much for the reasoned response. I truly appreciate it.
cherokeeprogressive
Aug 2015
#101
There are people on Twitter saying Sanders' Civil Rights record doesn't mean anything
KeepItReal
Aug 2015
#127
They've REALLY blown it. Let's hope they don't pull other groups down with them. -- nt
Freelancer
Aug 2015
#77
Well, it not like the white capitalist structure isn't run by and from mostly white people...
MrScorpio
Aug 2015
#104