The more I see of #BlackLivesMatter and its co-founder Patrisse Cullors, the more impressed and hopeful I am that they're going to set off change for the better.
On Tuesday, Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly accused #BlackLivesMatter of being anarchists in favor of genocide (yeah, I know, WTF?), funded by George Soros (that never gets old for the righties).
What really seemed to set him off was the prospect of #BLM saying they were planning to stage protests at next year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (Video at link.)
“Do you think they know that [Jay-Z and Beyoncé are] giving money to an anarchistic group like this that wants to tear down the country and is talking about genocide, and really really extreme things,” O’Reilly told Washington Times reporter Kelly Riddell. “You think they have any idea what they’re doing?”...
“I don’t know whether this crew, Black Lives Matter, have any constituency other than the radical left, the real fringe nuts that run around the country saying crazy things,” O’Reilly said.
Hehe, he should come to DK to see how that works out. But no matter.
Today, Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, had a beautiful response to O'Reilly, throwing his careless characterization of the movement back in his teeth (video at link):
“What’s unfortunate about Bill O’Reilly is that it’s pundits like him that fuel anti-black racism,” Patrisse Cullors told HuffPost Live host Marc Lamont Hill. “It’s pundits like him that allow for folks like Dylann Roof to have more ammunition. So I think we need to hold him accountable.”...
“We are challenging our government,” she argued. “We want true democracy in this country, and that doesn’t exist right now. We see that with Sam DuBose case, where an officer killed him within a matter of minutes. That sounds like a police state. That sounds like police terrorism to me. I challenge Bill O’Reilly: does he want to live in a country where black folks die on a daily basis at the hands of law enforcement and not challenge it?” ...
“This is vibrant. This is new,” she said. “People are developing a new political analysis as they join this movement. We aren’t a front group for another organization. This is a grassroots effort.”
For anyone who still thinks #BlackLivesMatter protestors were just some plot about picking on Bernie Sanders, knock it off.
Inform yourself, and become an ally. This is the real thing.