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[A Link to the Past]

Your false equivalences get old quick. Do you really need the explanation of why a predetermined event that closes the entire street and prevents dangers well before the event occurs is different?

I can imagine that it gets old having to be told over and over why it's silly to be concerned about theoretical deaths.

Are these precautions 100%? Has a person ever died because a parade route blocked the ambulance? Has a person ever died because a protest blocked the ambulance?

 

[Gotdatmoney]

I mean honestly, real people have been dying due to police brutality for what, the last 100 years and the police and institutions of power have not done shit to change it despite effort by the community in so many different ways and cries for change. I frankly do not give a shit if hypothetical person in hypothetical ambulance hypothetically does not find a route to the hospital. That's not on the protesters, that's on the institution for ignoring a decades old problem because they don't care. Miss me with that concern bullshit.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

I am a bit amazed, but not surprised at how many folks in here don't understand what civil disobedience is and the importance of why you be arrested for pulling a stunt like this in the first place.

civil disobedience and things such as obstructing traffic are common misdemeanors and can even be considered a felony in certain states.

now don't get me wrong, I absolutely support BLM, and in fact think deray knows what he's doing if he was intentionally wanted to take an arrest. but the reactions and misinformed nature of some posters here is quite frankly worrying.

Err, what don't you think people understand? Maybe quote who you're talking about so as to not paint with a wide brush

People know it's disruptive, and that's part of the purpose of this protest. All the potential harm of blocking traffic is being weighed against the actual harm of police shooting unarmed, innocent people.

And I'm seeing tweets about protesters being beset upon even without blocking streets.

 

[7DollarHagane]

I'm unable to understand the logic behind the concern for traffic over the concern of what they are protesting.

So are you saying all those years of civil rights movements didn't disrupt stuff and they stayed somewhere they legally were able to be? Because they didn't.

Are you saying the reason for the disruption isn't as important as what they did it for? Because it is.

Are you saying be quieter and do it elsewhere as if this was the first choice of action? Because it isn't.

This attitude of "go protest elsewhere" is worse than apathy. Fix the issue and it goes away, not the other way around.

I hope the protesting works before more people get shot because nobody should be dying in order to acknowledge and solve this.

They can do whatever they like wherever they like but protesting doesn't mean that law enforcement can't enforce the law.

It's their right to obstruct traffic or public services but its the local government's right to take action if they refuse to move to a less obtrusive spot.

 

[Claude Augario]

Sure. We can go that route if that's your intent.

Theoretically we couldn't if it's blocked. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[MogCakes]

Theoretically we couldn't if it's blocked. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

A helicopter might help that.

 

[Ether_Snake]

They can do whatever they like wherever they like but protesting doesn't mean that law enforcement can't enforce the law.

It's their right to obstruct traffic or public services but its the local government's right to take action if they refuse to move to a less obtrusive spot.

That's fine, they'll keep protesting anyway, that's the point, until the situation changes.

 

[Aiustis]

They can do whatever they like wherever they like but protesting doesn't mean that law enforcement can't enforce the law.

It's their right to obstruct traffic or public services but its the local government's right to take action if they refuse to move to a less obtrusive spot.

That's nothing new. They've just upgraded from hoses and dogs.

 

[GK86]

The Associated Press ‏@AP

BREAKING: Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson freed on bond after arrest during protest in Baton Rouge.

 

[egruntz]

I can imagine that it gets old having to be told over and over why it's silly to be concerned about theoretical deaths.

Oh brother.

Are these precautions 100%? Has a person ever died because a parade route blocked the ambulance? Has a person ever died because a protest blocked the ambulance?

You have an extremely fallacious way of thinking. By that logic we should throw out a good chunk of our safety laws and hazard prevention protocols. Yes, procedures, regulations, and laws are regularly made in prevention of the plausible. We don't want to wait until tragedy occurs to take action after the fact.

So happens that what you're arguing about is already illegal, and it's illegal for a reason. Obstruction of a major interstate highway causes and always has caused problems, with varying severity. Arrests for those who are disregarding the law and putting others at risk is completely justified.

What's sad is that I'm not speaking less of the message of the protest, although you seem to think I am. It's simply too bad that this is the route the protest took, since from the get go it causes many to not care or in fact feel negative toward the protest. There are other — legal — ways to gain attention and to get your message across. Others seem to want to ignore them and point to hyperbole examples instead.

 

[GK86]

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1dRJZVdZvlbJB

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1OdKrwXqwyXGX

Memphis BLM protest. They are shutting down the I40 bridge.

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

Oh brother.



You have an extremely fallacious way of thinking. By that logic we should throw out a good chunk of our safety laws and hazard prevention protocols. Yes, procedures, regulations, and laws are regularly made in prevention of the plausible. We don't want to wait until tragedy occurs to take action after the fact.

So happens that what you're arguing about is already illegal, and it's illegal for a reason. Obstruction of a major interstate highway causes and always has caused problems, with varying severity. Arrests for those who are disregarding the law and putting others at risk is completely justified.

What's sad is that I'm not speaking less of the message of the protest, although you seem to think I am. It's simply too bad that this is the route the protest took, since from the get go it causes many to not care or in fact feel negative toward the protest. There are other — legal — ways to gain attention and to get your message across. Others seem to want to ignore them and point to hyperbole examples instead.

I'm gonna make it clear to you something; the protesters don't care if it's illegal or not, it's to deliver a message. Here's another thing, why would they care if it's legal or not when they're being killed off because of the systemic racism that's ingrained into our legal system? I'm sorry if it's an inconvenience, but again, you're speaking hypothetical lives compare to the real lives that are dying everyday because cops can't keep their trigger fingers away from their guns when it comes to black people. To those protesters, that's the reality of the situation, to you, you only care about hypotheticals that rarely ever happen and if they do, it's minor compared to what they face.

 

[egruntz]

I'm gonna make it clear to you something; the protesters don't care if it's illegal or not, it's to deliver a message. Here's another thing, why would they care if it's legal or not when they're being killed off because of the systemic racism that's ingrained into our legal system? I'm sorry if it's an inconvenience, but again, you're speaking hypothetical lives compare to the real lives that are dying everyday because cops can't keep their trigger fingers away from their guns when it comes to black people. To those protesters, that's the reality of the situation, to you, you only care about hypotheticals that rarely ever happen and if they do, it's minor compared to what they face.

They should care. Who are they trying to get their message to resonate with? It's not going to reach most when they have a blatant disregard for the law. It just makes things worse for them. This just fuels the sentiment that these are "law breaking thugs" and hinders the objective.

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

They should care. Who are they trying to get their message to resonate with? It's not going to reach most when they have a blatant disregard for the law. It just makes things worse for them. This just fuels the sentiment that these are "law breaking thugs" and hinders the objective.

Once again, if you only care about fictional hypotheticals over their non-fictional reality that these people face everyday, you need to reevaluate things. This is the best and only way they're going to get people to hear their voices, because all other options as of now have been completely removed off the table for the past few decades.

The main point, however, is this; those who actually critically think about the situation, about what they're asking for, are capable of understand why they're disrupting the country's infrastructure. Those who keep calling them thugs, well, nothing was going to change their minds regardless of what the protesters do, it's was either ignore them or complain about how lazy they are.

 

[Mr. X]

They can do whatever they like wherever they like but protesting doesn't mean that law enforcement can't enforce the law.

It's their right to obstruct traffic or public services but its the local government's right to take action if they refuse to move to a less obtrusive spot.

Ya that's fine, my gripe isn't with the police, it's the people saying go elsewhere and don't be disruptive.

 

[commedieu]

Once again, if you only care about fictional hypotheticals over their non-fictional reality that these people face everyday, you need to reevaluate things. This is the best and only way they're going to get people to hear their voices, because all other options as of now have been completely removed off the table for the past few decades.

The main point, however, is this; those who actually critically think about the situation, about what they're asking for, are capable of understand why they're disrupting the country's infrastructure. Those who keep calling them thugs, well, nothing was going to change their minds regardless of what the protesters do, it's was either ignore them or complain about how lazy they are.

Yep.

 

[egruntz]

Once again, if you only care about fictional hypotheticals over their non-fictional reality that these people face everyday, you need to reevaluate things. This is the best and only way they're going to get people to hear their voices, because all other options as of now have been completely removed off the table for the past few decades.

Only, this isn't happening. The perception against them just continues to be worsened, now fueled by the message that they'll readily break the law and endanger others. And people in this thread wonder how people can make such comments such as, "Why does this have to be on an interstate? That's careless," etc. It's really obvious why people make that statement. Others, such as yourself, say "this is the only way." Saying that over and over again doesn't make it so. There have been plenty other effective protests throughout history that take a different approach.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

I like when someone says "blatant disregard for the law" and it's about standing on a highway, like this is just evil.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

There have been plenty other effective protests throughout history that take a different approach.

Go on.

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

Only, this isn't happening. The perception against them just continues to be worsened, now fueled by the message that they'll readily break the law and endanger others. And people in this thread wonder how people can make such comments such as, "Why does this have to be on an interstate? That's careless," etc. It's really obvious why people make that statement. Others, such as yourself, say "this is the only way." Saying that over and over again doesn't make it so. There have been plenty other effective protests throughout history that take a different approach.

As I said earlier, protests with the mindset you have doesn't work. In the wake of the shooting of Philando Castile, there were dozens of protests across the nation that follow your rules and the nation's law, but notice how no one talks about them, no one even bothers with them. The ones people are talking about are the ones like these, that's how the conversation is moving. It's working, you're even talking about. But if these kind of protests didn't happen, we wouldn't be here talking about it would we.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

Only, this isn't happening. The perception against them just continues to be worsened, now fueled by the message that they'll readily break the law and endanger others. And people in this thread wonder how people can make such comments such as, "Why does this have to be on an interstate? That's careless," etc. It's really obvious why people make that statement. Others, such as yourself, say "this is the only way." Saying that over and over again doesn't make it so. There have been plenty other effective protests throughout history that take a different approach.

Name them. Because history tells me that some of the most effective protests in America's history by black people are those whereby they completely throttled the countries or local area's infrastructure.

 

[Jimothy]

They should care. Who are they trying to get their message to resonate with? It's not going to reach most when they have a blatant disregard for the law. It just makes things worse for them. This just fuels the sentiment that these are "law breaking thugs" and hinders the objective.

this pic has become a cliche, but FUCK these sorts of threads always ask for it.

 

[zer0blivion]

More concerned with order than justice. Yup.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

They should care. Who are they trying to get their message to resonate with? It's not going to reach most when they have a blatant disregard for the law. It just makes things worse for them. This just fuels the sentiment that these are "law breaking thugs" and hinders the objective.

Hey guys, you know when you talk about black people like this with really specific terms you put in quotes? Like everyone thinks this really specific way? And you start talking this way in threads where you're telling black people how to behave? I get it.

 

[PopeReal]

I like when someone says "blatant disregard for the law" and it's about standing on a highway, like this is just evil.

What makes this funny to me is that the same guys here in eastern Oregon who lecture "follow the law" when talking about protests are the same guys who would have a fucking meltdown if they got a jaywalking ticket.

 

[M0nochromatic]

Once again, if you only care about fictional hypotheticals over their non-fictional reality that these people face everyday, you need to reevaluate things. This is the best and only way they're going to get people to hear their voices, because all other options as of now have been completely removed off the table for the past few decades.

The main point, however, is this; those who actually critically think about the situation, about what they're asking for, are capable of understand why they're disrupting the country's infrastructure. Those who keep calling them thugs, well, nothing was going to change their minds regardless of what the protesters do, it's was either ignore them or complain about how lazy they are.

"Don't make trouble for others. Protest quitely in a corner so I don't have to listen, or god forbid, be inconvenienced. Adhere to the law"

Why would they bring up what's "lawful" when innocent people are getting gunned down by the law itself? How are they supposed to fix corrupt institutions without fighting back?

It's nauseating.

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

Name them. Because history tells me that some of the most effective protests in America's history by black people are those whereby they completely throttled the countries or local area's infrastructure.

In fact, history has shown that's been the case for almost all minorities. The majority has the privilege to ignore us, because we're the other and they don't have to go through what we do, so often time we have to shake things up for them to listen.

 

[adamsappel]

"Why are these Negroes taking up all the counter space? What about my tuna fish sandwich?!"

 

[PopeReal]

"Don't make trouble for others. Protest quitely in a corner so I don't have to listen, or god forbid, be inconvenienced. Adhere to the law"

Why would they bring up what's "lawful" when innocent people are getting gunned down by the law itself? How are they supposed to fix corrupt institutions without fighting back?

It's nauseating.

Yep. There have been a few threads on on gaf in the past year that were particularly insane. The outright anger that some people spewed at protesters for blocking a street that was hundreds of miles away from them was both fascinating and depressing.

 

[Mad Season]

More concerned with order than justice. Yup.

Stop

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

"Don't make trouble for others. Protest quitely in a corner so I don't have to listen, or god forbid, be inconvenienced. Adhere to the law"

Why would they bring up what's "lawful" when innocent people are getting gunned down by the law itself? How are they supposed to fix corrupt institutions without fighting back?

It's nauseating.

I think people don't realize when they're comfortable with the oppressive government as long as they're looking out for them.

 

[Mr. X]

They should care. Who are they trying to get their message to resonate with? It's not going to reach most when they have a blatant disregard for the law. It just makes things worse for them. This just fuels the sentiment that these are "law breaking thugs" and hinders the objective.

Remember when the law allowed "Whites Only" spaces? Blacks were "law breaking thugs" who couldn't get their message across due to "blatant disregard for the law" when they were having sit ins.

 

[SomeOneInaHat]

There are protest here in Memphis,TN.

Hundreds maybe a thousand are blocking I-40 (Very busy Interstate entering Memphis). It's all over the news here.

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

There are protest here in Memphis,TN.

Hundreds maybe a thousand are blocking I-40 (Very busy Interstate entering Memphis). It's all over the news here.

See, this is what I mean, the conversation is moving, people are listening. If this was a protest on the sidewalk, no one would talk about it or even know there was one, that's just how this works.

 

[JP_]

http://usuncut.com/news/alton-sterling-videographer-arrested/

Guy who recorded Sterling's death was arrested at a checkpoint

 

[teiresias]

People that complain about protests being in streets annoy me to no end. I suppose the Sit-In movement during the 60s should have been concerned about the white people they were preventing from getting their meal, right? Heaven forbid they disrupt anything to protest inequitable treatment based on race.

 

[zer0blivion]

Stop

Stop what, exactly?

 

[Kid Kamikaze10]

An aside, about the hypotheticals.

I was in a BLM protest in NYC this week. Literally all over Union Square, Time Square, Bryant Park, and up to Central Park, then Harlem.

During the Time Square part, with a stand off with police, some fire trucks and ambulances needed to get by. We let them through.


Keep Nana Ruth'ing, but we the protesters aren't stupid. Neither is dispatch; unless they have to go through, alternative routes are usually found during protests.

 

[M0nochromatic]

Yep. There have been a few threads on on gaf in the past year that were particularly insane. The outright anger that some people spewed at protesters for blocking a street that was hundreds of miles away from them was both fascinating and depressing.

I can't imagine the mindset someone needs to think like that. To see people asking not to killed by their very own police, and then ho on to try and tear them down.

On the other hand, those protesters are extremely courageous and noble, fighting against what's really unjust.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

More http://siol.net/galleries/gallery-175248/?image=1

She wrote about this in her own blog https://feminewbie.wordpress.com/20...s-picture-and-im-so-disturbed-because-its-me/

It was from Germany

Edit: I stand corrected. The blog I posted is from a woman who experienced a moment of her own like the one in the picture while living in Germany.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Stop

Why stop? The MLK quote about is literally true about so many events in history. We've literally finished celebrating 2 events bloomed from acts of civil unrest/disobedience here in the states. June Pride is the commemoration of the LGBTQ demonstrating violently in opposition to brutal police raids on spaces they'd created for themselves and is a singular event in the gay liberation movement. Independence Day is the celebration of violently splinting from British rule to form our own nation. I don't know why people keep forgetting how many strides in terms of rights gained for multiple groups of people didn't come from simple mealy mouthed quiet discussions with people who hated them but from loud and unflinching opposition to the way things were stacked against them. People keep saying they know their history of some of these movements and that "this isn't the way MLK would have wanted it" but I rack my brain wondering if they really do know how far people were pushed and how rude they got for the sake of actual freedom and equality. People should be livid that journalists are taking pictures that are indistinguishable from shots of the hellscape scenes of the civil rights movement. People should be livid that there are more moving pictures of actual black men, women and children breathing their last at the hands of police than there are movies in the MCU. People should be livid at the apathy and blatant ignorance coming from legislators who should be excising the bad seeds from their PDs. And don't tell me that BLM's name brand or clogging the streets is the reason you and so many other people can't jive because if you were really down, you wouldn't have the time or patience for anyone you didn't see outright die on national TV and get denied justice. Period. If you don't want to roll with BLMs methods then don't or get out there and tug on the reigns yourself because I guarantee, people aren't going to stop. This isn't Occupy. It's long since lapped Occupy. This is about families losing family and never getting an apology for it. That shit'll give you motivation for a long damn time. This is about standing up against sick ideals that were around long before MLK and only persist because of the half-baked attentions of the majority to matters that minority groups have to deal with consistently.

 

[superNESjoe]

I'm seeing some pretty insane stuff on Twitter, and really colorful and passionate posts all over the place, and it all looks pretty terrible. I'm not finding much of an origin or where things escalated because the dialogue right now is all about what looks like a warzone.

Anybody want to catch me up to date with what happened today?

 

[hokahey]

this pic has become a cliche, but FUCK these sorts of threads always ask for it.

Just because MLK said it doesn't make it gospel. He wasn't infallible.

I completely disagree with shutting down roadways. As both a parent and sufferer of an anxiety disorder, I would have a very difficult time sitting idle in my car if I was attempting to reach my child. It's not just about medical emergencies.

We're not talking about forcing people to hear and see you. We're talking about restricting someone's movement. And I think that's wrong. And I think it's counter productive as it primarily angers people when you restrict their movement, and then you become the focus of their anger. It's antagonistic. Not smart. Not how you get people to hear you.

 

[TheOctodad]

This posted yet?

https://twitter.com/lizzkatherine_/status/752304872356057089

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Just because MLK said it doesn't make it gospel. He wasn't infallible.

I completely disagree with shutting down roadways. As both a parent and sufferer of an anxiety disorder, I would have a very difficult time sitting idle in my car if I was attempting to reach my child. It's not just about medical emergencies.

We're not talking about forcing people to hear and see you. We're talking about restricting someone's movement. And I think that's wrong. And I think it's counter productive as it primarily angers people when you restrict their movement, and then you become the focus of their anger. It's antagonistic. Not smart. Not how you get people to hear you.

People are dying everyday to police violence. They've waited decades. Frankly, yall just have to fucking suck it up. The time for people to worry about hypothetical situation of people that don't give a shit about them is over.

There is nothing counter productive about blockades given literally everything else goes ignored. Please, read history. And I don't buy into the "I have a kid". Guess what, all those young black males killed by the police have families too. And their dead because people refuse to take action.

 

[Pterion]

http://usuncut.com/news/alton-sterling-videographer-arrested/

Guy who recorded Sterling's death was arrested at a checkpoint

This country...

 

[GK86]

This posted yet?

https://twitter.com/lizzkatherine_/status/752304872356057089

Smh.

 

[HK-47]

Just because MLK said it doesn't make it gospel. He wasn't infallible.

I completely disagree with shutting down roadways. As both a parent and sufferer of an anxiety disorder, I would have a very difficult time sitting idle in my car if I was attempting to reach my child. It's not just about medical emergencies.

We're not talking about forcing people to hear and see you. We're talking about restricting someone's movement. And I think that's wrong. And I think it's counter productive as it primarily angers people when you restrict their movement, and then you become the focus of their anger. It's antagonistic. Not smart. Not how you get people to hear you.

He wasnt infallible. But he was correct in this instance.

 

[Bad_Boy]

This posted yet?

https://twitter.com/lizzkatherine_/status/752304872356057089

what happened to article 11? damn.

 

[Nipo]

People are dying everyday to police violence. They've waited decades. Frankly, yall just have to fucking suck it up. The time for people to worry about hypothetical situation of people that don't give a shit about them is over.

There is nothing counter productive about blockades given literally everything else goes ignored. Please, read history. And I don't buy into the "I have a kid". Guess what, all those young black males killed by the police have families too. And their dead because people refuse to take action.

People will just vote to make blocking roadways a more serious crime.