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I'm up later than I should be, following news from the #chicagoprotest and around the country.
And I want to say, as a sociologist and as a long-time organizer & activist, that I don't know how any of this is going to play out.
Anyone who claims to know is full of themselves.
And I want to say, as a sociologist and as a long-time organizer & activist, that I don't know how any of this is going to play out.
Anyone who claims to know is full of themselves.
Some of this isn't surprising.
There's been massive job loss a plague has killed over 100,000 people in months, and government has offered empty words and cutesy memes. Lives are disrupted, and people are angry.
And the direct spark, as it so often is, was a police killing.
There's been massive job loss a plague has killed over 100,000 people in months, and government has offered empty words and cutesy memes. Lives are disrupted, and people are angry.
And the direct spark, as it so often is, was a police killing.
And of course, there's also precedent for some of the response, like the anarchist-outside-agitator trope.
Some of the mayor's claims tonight about the #ChicagoProtests also echoed baseless past efforts to discredit protesters in other cities.
Some of the mayor's claims tonight about the #ChicagoProtests also echoed baseless past efforts to discredit protesters in other cities.
But for some of this, parallels are harder to find.
When's the last time we saw this level of protest intensity, in this many cities, with this level of police violence and escalation?
I'm thinking that it was about 50 years ago, in a very different context. Without a plague.
When's the last time we saw this level of protest intensity, in this many cities, with this level of police violence and escalation?
I'm thinking that it was about 50 years ago, in a very different context. Without a plague.
And that plague context raises so many scary questions.
What will to happen to people arrested today--reportedly 1000+ at the #chicagoprotest alone--if they're locked in close-quartered cells? Are people being punished with the risk of illness or death? https://twitter.com/ChiBondFund/status/1266957210560729093
What will to happen to people arrested today--reportedly 1000+ at the #chicagoprotest alone--if they're locked in close-quartered cells? Are people being punished with the risk of illness or death? https://twitter.com/ChiBondFund/status/1266957210560729093
We don't know what will happen if, in 2-4 weeks, a lot more people are sick.
We don't know what will happen in cities like LA, where authorities appear to be closing covid-19 testing sites as a form of collective punishment.
But none of that bodes well. https://twitter.com/safrazie/status/1266874958757523456
We don't know what will happen in cities like LA, where authorities appear to be closing covid-19 testing sites as a form of collective punishment.
But none of that bodes well. https://twitter.com/safrazie/status/1266874958757523456
We also don't know what kinds of state and right-wing violence may be coming.
Police are on video beating people and driving into crowds, yet mayors somehow praise their "restraint."
The far-right shows up armed to the teeth, but the President and AG blame leftists and antifa.
Police are on video beating people and driving into crowds, yet mayors somehow praise their "restraint."
The far-right shows up armed to the teeth, but the President and AG blame leftists and antifa.
As I said at the top of this thread, we simply don't know how this is all going to play out.
The best analysis seems to be intellectual humility: Resist the urge to simplify. To romanticize. To sloganeer.
Build relationships. Look out for each other. Organize. #protests2020
The best analysis seems to be intellectual humility: Resist the urge to simplify. To romanticize. To sloganeer.
Build relationships. Look out for each other. Organize. #protests2020
