Seeing white folks being like "see this is why you shouldn't post pictures of protests" because a white person got arrested for arson at the Philly BLM rally and uh

White folks saying that Black liberation movements should be made invisible to protect white people is... a look

Should folks be thoughtful about what photos you post and take?

Yes.

Should you not be a nimrod and not share photos of liberation acts that are highly prosecutable and might be used to ID folks?

Yes.

Should you do your best to get consent when you share photos where protesters' faces are visible?

Yes (though realistically that's often impossible).

If you witness police brutality against a person and catch behavior by the victim that might be used in court to "prove" that they resisted arrest or provoked police violence, should you go find your friendly local legal collective & try to get it to the victim's lawyer?

Yes.

Protests are usually efforts not only to exorcise pain, but to make that pain visible in order to affect change.

It's a choice of visibility.

Be thoughtful and listen to those impacted and their specific asks.

But don't go around demanding their invisibility on their behalf.

Don't assume that just because folks in one setting don't want photos taken, it's an Official Black Edict you as a white person are now generally charged with spreading to the masses.

That is not our lane.

ALSO, I don't know what the deal is with the Philly arson suspect, but just generally: it is not white people's place to go make Black people's movements our vandalism playgrounds.

Our job is to join in solidarity when asked & use our bodies as buffers against police brutality.

I saw WAY too much of white people provoking cops and making personal choices to escalate conflict violently even when Black folks begged them to stop.

It is not our place to make those decisions, esp since the people likely to be targeted as a result are Black people, not us.

Listen to the people closest to the pain, don't generalize and assume that hearing one thing from one Black person means it's what all Black people uniformly think, don't take it upon yourself to demand that the liberation struggles of others be made invisible.

Be thoughtful about when pictures should and shouldn't be shared, listen to specific asks made by people closest to the pain in specific moments of protest, but also don't ever over-generalize and assume liberation movements want to be invisible.

The end!