It has been two months since the country awakened and erupted over the death of George Floyd, 60 days marked with protests meant to shine the light on Black Lives Matter, crises with policing and an undercurrent of systemic racism. Without being trained or oriented toward it, young folks picked up the mantle of those who marched in the late 60’s and early 70’s, for civil rights, to end the war in Vietnam and for reproductive and women’s rights.
Many of us harken back to those days as we join you, assist you, support you. Cheer you on.
It is with a heavy heart, I tell you this: it’s time to go home. Not forever. Not for long. But for now.
The movement has temporarily lost its focus: it’s not about getting your voice heard and raising consciousness of citizens and leaders any more. Now it’s about surviving a dangerous and violent melee and doing so in the company of a killer virus as it spreads unrelentingly across the country.
It is marching and shouting with the fear that doing so may increase your chances of contracting the illness and dying or become permanently disabled.
I know you have a conscience and good heart: those are requisites for giving up your life and time to better the lives of others. I know you couldn’t live with yourself if you passed COVID-19 onto a partner, friend or relative and caused their illness or demise.
Each week researchers provide new evidence of the volatility and virility of the virus. Just about everything we thought we knew in March is wrong. I worry that in your zeal to right the wrongs of this country, you are losing sight of taking necessary precautions for yourself.
As bone-chilling, protestors are being used as guinea pigs for Trump’s jack-booted thug army of misfits, whomever they may be. This is, in my view, a concerted effort to normalize the scene of disguised men in riot gear leaping from unmarked rental vehicles in the city center and arresting protesting citizens without due cause or Miranda rights. It is likely a rehearsal for Election Day.
Watch what is going on on the courts. Trump requested and obtained a green light from the federal court in Seattle to use gas and pellets and weapons against you. The federal court in Portland agreed to protect journalists from beatings and gassing, but did not extend that protection to the State of Oregon, which sought it on your behalf. Until the rule of law is clarified and restored, the streets are not safe for protests. Where there is a vacuum, Trump will fill it with aggression and violence. It is his nature.
The focus has transformed from racism to a battle of state’s rights versus federal authority over who is entitled to control our streets. It is no longer about police tactics or the sanctity of lives lost to them.
News coverage has shifted: the issue isn't deadly police violence used on minorities any longer. The reporting objective is to ponder about who burned down the building and wrote the graffiti. You are blamed.
Unlike Vietnam and other protests from 50 years ago, this one is played out with an undercurrent about the insecurity of upcoming elections and a history of Russian interference in them. It stars a demented, disordered and drug-addicted leader who will stop at nothing to remain in power. Consider that you are dealing with a sociopath, one who lacks a conscience and will justifying his means solely by what ends he can achieve for himself.
Think about the fact that he’s ruling with the Sword of Damocles over his head: if he loses the White House in November he faces immediate indictments, some he cannot be pardoned from.
And worst of all for him, he faces public ridicule and disgrace, a death knell to ones with his personality disorder.
He will stop at nothing to achieve his end. No Lives Matter.
In early June Trump initiated a sociopathic dance with protestors in DC, forcing them backwards in stilettos with the use of horses, gas, rubber bullets and explosions in a public meeting space in order to afford himself a 10 minute photo op. You were in the way of him posing with an upside down backwards Bible in front of a church that has historically represented freedom and speech, the very values he offended when his minions ordered you out. He installed additional barriers between that public park and our White House to further insulate and protect himself.
On the streets of DC he staked out his territory and dared you to cross the line. Those same moves are now used in Portland and Seattle. Chicago, Albuquerque, Louisville, and New York are on notice. The BLM symbols in the streets of DC and Manhattan fed his puerile rage.
Trump is empowered by your engagement and mine. It is time to disenage. Take your power back and make the federal goon squad irrelevant. Remove them as a factor by abandoning your posts at federal properties they are authorized to defend. Let them deal with the squalor they created and clean up the mess.
These events have pulled back the curtain on Trump’s singular march toward authoritarian rule. Let the courts debate the intricacies of policing jurisdiction and return control to the proper authorities. You’ve done your part. You took the stage and made your case, completely and eloquently. The world heard. Joe Biden is listening, and hundreds of Democrats running for office across the country are too. Help them get elected and carry the mantle even further.
Spend some time and reflect on what you’ve done. Public opinion has turned in support of the BLM movement: most people understand what it stands for and why it’s necessary. Those who don’t agree are at least thinking about the issues. Many are home and available for an education. They are tuning into cable news, watching Congressional hearings, listening to stories of those killed or maimed by police.
Even the sports world caught your drift. Teams are changing odious names, players are kneeling for the national anthem and fans are joining in. You have achieved what Colin Kaepernick tried to do alone four years ago. It may take your fellow citizens awhile to find a knee, but the fact they are considering it speaks volumes.
The battle is not over, but It’s halftime now. Take a break. Regroup. Savor the progress. Return home and decide how you and your family will survive the pandemic. Engage with the experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci who will, like you, put his own needs aside to assure the survival of others. Focus on your health, your education, your commitment to justice. Make good plans. Continue to enlist allies: the marches recommence on Inauguration Day.
Be prepared. We may all need to return to the streets if our elections are threatened. The chance of this is lessened if we take it down a notch in the streets and consider the big picture: surviving a two-pronged attack; an international pandemic and a threat to our democracy.
Secure your ballot by absentee or mail-in. Show up on November 3 if you have to crawl through broken glass to get there. Like every sociopath, Trump thrives on attention and a show of force. He craves conflict and any reason to display his authority. Don’t give him the opportunity. Use your own playbook, not his.
We need you alive and healthy. The second half is still ahead.