"While you're on your shopping spree, black people cannot breathe!"
Many folks here will recall the Black Lives Matter
protest at the Mall of America back on December 20 of last year. Several thousand people gathered at the mall to chant, sing, and bring the message of Black Lives Matter to the public.
Demanding an end to racist police violence and speaking out for the right of African Americans to live in peace with justice and dignity, protestors successfully staged a peaceful, inclusive event that managed to get the attention of people around the world.
The mall, however, claimed the space was corporate-owned, private property and used a massive police presence to shut down the rally, and a number of courageous BLM activists were arrested, eventually being charged with a series of offenses by the City of Bloomington, MN, the municipality where the mall is located.
.
Image credit: Glasgow Anarchist Federation
The court case is ongoing and recent developments are discussed below.
The activists went to court on May 1, 2015:
The date was chosen by the defendants in solidarity with May Day, or International Workers’ Day, which celebrates left-wing movements and working people all over the world.
You can read profiles of several of the inspiring Black Lives Matter activists here.
Here are some brief excerpts:
Kandace Montgomery. Photo by Patience Zalanga
Kandace Montgomery: I’m originally from Maine, and I work for TakeAction Minnesota as an organizer focusing mainly on economic issues impacting women of color....
It’s obvious that our politicians and people who work in our government are inside the pockets and at the hands of major corporations, and protecting their interests, not ours. So if anything, what we showed from the protests is that our cities and governments are still willing to protect the interests of corporations even if it means persecuting young people of color for gathering at a peaceful protest.
Nekima Levy-Pounds
Nekima Levy-Pounds: [....] People are more concerned about convenience than what’s in the interest of justice. A lot of people are indifferent to the plight of people of color, particularly African-Americans and the plight of the poor, and they are comfortable with the status quo. I just find that to be extremely troubling, but it also helps me understand how we could have Jim Crow laws in this country, and how so many people watched this happen and didn’t do anything about it. Too many people are sitting back, comfortable, while lives are being lost and constitutional rights are being violated on a regular basis, and I just find that unconscionable.
Months ago, among many others, the Minnesota AFL-CIO
condemned the charges against the protesters:
Minnesota AFL-CIO Organizing/Growth Director Todd Dahlstrom and 10 others pleaded not guilty in Hennepin County Court to misdemeanor criminal charges in connection with the Dec. 20 demonstration, ....
“Having recently observed the 50th anniversary of the Selma march, it’s apt that we remember how much the labor movement and the civil rights movement historically have in common,” Dahlstrom said Tuesday.
“It’s often overlooked that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Memphis, in solidarity with striking sanitation workers, when he was murdered.
“The #BlackLivesMatter movement is pointing out the structural racial inequalities that persist in our society. I’m proud to stand with my union brothers and sisters and everyone active in this peaceful effort for justice.”
The city recently decided to drop some of the
restitution charges it sought from the activists:
Mall of America officials said Wednesday they intend to drop $40,000 in restitution claims against 11 Black Lives Matter protesters charged in the December demonstration that took over the mall.
....
Bloomington city attorney Sandra Johnson said the mall and the city are still pursuing trespass and disorderly conduct charges against the protesters who pleaded not guilty in March.
The city is also keeping its restitution claims of $25,000 for extra security and mutual aid police that responded to the demonstration, Johnson added.
More recently, the BLM activists have received support from the sizeable Somali Muslim immigrant population in Minnesota. The community has in the past celebrated the major Islamic holiday of Eid at MOA. Earlier this month, however, the community boycotted the mall in
an act of solidarity with BLM:
“It is critical the Somali community stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the work they are doing for all black people,” said community organizer Ahmed Hirsi in a statement. “The Somali community is not safe from state-sanctioned violence against black people, such as police brutality, discrimination, or persecution based on faith, and we will work together to create an equitable future for all of us.”
And in another development, eleven of the BLM activists being charged have now filed legal briefs,
arguing that
The Mall of America and Bloomington have a “symbiotic” relationship that leaves the mall operating as an arm of city government, Black Lives Matter protesters say. And that means demonstrators should have the right to protest at the mall just as they would on the steps of City Hall.
The city is scheduled to reply on July 30.
Black Lives Matter is fighting for all of us, and they're putting it on the line in doing so. For that, I thank them.
Thu Jul 23, 2015 at 6:05 PM PT: Link to make a donation towards Black Lives Matter Minneapolis legal expenses here. h/t to joe pittsburgh!