Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Criticizing Opportunist Protesters

Everyone should be skeptical of any person or group running to the front claiming to speak for, and have the demands of, a rising movement barely two weeks old. 
Included in a reposting from MORE (How One School and One Teacher Addressed the Garner/Brown Situation) was a comment from a friend regarding some groups using the rallies and protests to promote their own agendas.  
I find it distasteful that at a march for a murdered man, I couldn't go two feet or longer than 5 minutes without someone trying to give me a political newspaper or flyer."
This writer comes from a different angle at a different class but it has the same passion as above. I find myself in tune with the author.

Posted on Facebook (I haven't checked in with the author yet, so for now it's anon.)
Everyone should be skeptical of any person or group running to the front claiming to speak for, and have the demands of, a rising movement barely two weeks old.
A lot of these people are simply the non-profits rebranding themselves and creating believers by dominating Twitter and social media.
I've always been creeped out by control freaks and there are no bigger control freaks than these types. They shame radical activists. They pretend no other voice exists. They hated on us for our aiming at Bratton from day 1 because it put them in a weird position with Mayor de Blasio--with whom they had close links. They shared the same goddamn PR firm as him, for christs sake.
You'll now see them claiming to speak for all of us, just like Sharpton (who they've supported numerous times). But they won't attack the Mayor or the city council--at all--and that'll be your first clue. They're the gatekeepers who protect the political institutions right in front of our faces.
There is no one solution or one set of demands to this problem with police and the system it protects. Everyone should take a piece and dismantle it. We'll work on Bratton & Broken Windows for now. But whatever you do, don't let these nonprofits run the show.

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