We shouldn't judge an important movement like Black Lives Matter by the the excesses of a radical faction within the BLM movement. The instigators of a strident protest who drove Bernie Sanders from a stage yesterday were from a group named Outside Agitators 206. They created a Black Lives Matter Seattle facebook page just 2 days ago. Outside Agitators 206 seems to be a group that regards electoral politics as a inconsequential. They focuses on BLM and driving a wedge between BLM Movement and the Democratic Party. Their facebook page links to a site named Black Agenda Report run by a man named Glen Ford that included this reveling passage:
To succeed, the Black Lives Matter Movement must transform the politics of Black America. By definition, that means declaring war on the Democratic Party, and forcing Black politicians and activists to choose between the Party and the people’s struggle.
As usual, the Democrats will try to make Black people more angry at the terminally racist Republican Party than at the police and local administration of their (typically) Democrat-run city. Hillary Clinton is already making noises of empathy with Blacks suffering under the urban police state. However, the Black Lives Matter movement has no institutional stake in the victory of either party, but is, in fact, locked in mortal political struggle with other Black people in the Democratic Party. These Black Democrats will insist on a truce, a cessation of agitation against national or local Democrats, until after the election.
Hat tip to
kbman for his diary.
When I heard of the group's first disruptive protest against a Christmas Tree Lighting event in front of a downtown shopping mall my reaction was BOOYAH! What a great target for a BLM protest to select.
Now they've broadened their targets for protest to include the Democratic Party (Hillary not so much?). At this point anyone suggesting Bernie Sanders is neglecting the BLM issue is either not paying attention or lying. Apparently the Republican Party isn't in their sights because of its limited appeal to people of color.
I think this strategy is a recipe for disaster.
Electoral politics does have consequences.
Hat tip to KnotIookin for finding this powerful video:
Update: I revived an email from who signed up for the Outside Agitators 206 email list who wrote me this:
There is no Outside Agitators 206. The website and FB page are still there but they were a short lived local organizing platform that gave folks that met at spontaneous events a way to contact each other, share information, etc. Part of the reason it only lasted from last November to about March.
It was pretty boring. But looking back through the emails . . . oh, look here . . . Mara and Marissa were both doing media for them. So they're probably the ones that still have the passwords and stuff and are using them to make it look like they have another group's support. Except there is no group anymore. No. Group. Only. Zuul.
So apparently Mara and Marissa are what remains of "Outside Agitators 206".