by Danielle “Dani” Young
special to The Dreher Report
I realize this is radical but I have to speak up.
It can be a knee jerk reaction to demonize protestors who react with violence. We, as a nation, criminalize violence and romanticize non-violence. Let us remember the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Law enforcement sent dogs after men, women, and children who peacefully marched. Bloody Sunday, specifically, happened in Selma, Alabama in March 1965. During the sit-in movement of that time, white patrons poured hot coffee, and threw food and condiments on peaceful protesters who asked to be served. And they assassinated Dr. King.
Do not allow a romanticized version of the Civil Rights Movement influence your opinions of the protestors of this day.
Violence does have its place in our society. … and, whether you support it or not, you must have empathy and, more important, some understanding of what has caused violence to erupt in the first place. It must be understood that slavery never ended; it has only changed faces. It must be understood that we, as Black people were never meant to be free. For over 200 years and counting, enslavement, lynching, Jim Crow, segregation, and other forms of mental and emotional terrorism have been practiced here in the United States. Do not allow a romanticized version of the Civil Rights Movement influence your opinions of the protestors of this day. To quote the poet Nikki Giovanni:
“perhaps these are not poetic
times
at all”
Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, “A Riot is the language of the unheard”. Uprisings are Black people’s birthright. We have the right to demand justice in unpoetic times. Make no mistake, however, the institution of policing is working just fine. If this is confusing for you please research the origins of policing. There is plenty of information. Read “The Police were created to Control Working Class and Poor People, not ‘Serve and Protect'” by Sam Mitrani.
Protestors are loud. Hear them.
To ask a people to march quietly after watching repeatedly an unjust system’s treatment of its Black citizens is to ask someone to not cry out after you’ve hurt them. People on the ground across lines of race and nationalities, including the police, are doing the work to keep these protests peaceful in spite of the infiltration of those whose only purpose is to compromise that peace. There are people on the ground filming this movement, and the images captured on every phone’s camera are markers of these moments in history. In the words of the actor Will Smith, “Racism is not getting worse. It’s getting filmed.”
Protestors are loud. Hear them. They are bold in every gesture and speech. Watch them. Their cry, however, is for the simplest of things: The right to live. The right to exist. The right to just be. Listen to them. Protect Black Lives.
Be safe out there. Donate to bail out funds. Take care of your mental health.
Danielle “Dani” Young is a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is passionate about social justice issues and social justice reform. A freelance photographer, she also writes in her free time.
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The Dreher Report 
Uprising: A Black Birthright
by Danielle “Dani” Young
special to The Dreher Report
It can be a knee jerk reaction to demonize protestors who react with violence. We, as a nation, criminalize violence and romanticize non-violence. Let us remember the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Law enforcement sent dogs after men, women, and children who peacefully marched. Bloody Sunday, specifically, happened in Selma, Alabama in March 1965. During the sit-in movement of that time, white patrons poured hot coffee, and threw food and condiments on peaceful protesters who asked to be served. And they assassinated Dr. King.
Violence does have its place in our society. … and, whether you support it or not, you must have empathy and, more important, some understanding of what has caused violence to erupt in the first place. It must be understood that slavery never ended; it has only changed faces. It must be understood that we, as Black people were never meant to be free. For over 200 years and counting, enslavement, lynching, Jim Crow, segregation, and other forms of mental and emotional terrorism have been practiced here in the United States. Do not allow a romanticized version of the Civil Rights Movement influence your opinions of the protestors of this day. To quote the poet Nikki Giovanni:
“perhaps these are not poetic
times
at all”
Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, “A Riot is the language of the unheard”. Uprisings are Black people’s birthright. We have the right to demand justice in unpoetic times. Make no mistake, however, the institution of policing is working just fine. If this is confusing for you please research the origins of policing. There is plenty of information. Read “The Police were created to Control Working Class and Poor People, not ‘Serve and Protect'” by Sam Mitrani.
To ask a people to march quietly after watching repeatedly an unjust system’s treatment of its Black citizens is to ask someone to not cry out after you’ve hurt them. People on the ground across lines of race and nationalities, including the police, are doing the work to keep these protests peaceful in spite of the infiltration of those whose only purpose is to compromise that peace. There are people on the ground filming this movement, and the images captured on every phone’s camera are markers of these moments in history. In the words of the actor Will Smith, “Racism is not getting worse. It’s getting filmed.”
Protestors are loud. Hear them. They are bold in every gesture and speech. Watch them. Their cry, however, is for the simplest of things: The right to live. The right to exist. The right to just be. Listen to them. Protect Black Lives.
Be safe out there. Donate to bail out funds. Take care of your mental health.
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Posted by drdreher01 on June 2, 2020
https://thedreherreport.com/2020/06/02/uprising-a-black-birthright/