This Is A Revolution

This Is A Revolution

photos and words by C.A. Matthews

Happy Fifth Anniversary to The Revolution Continues!

We've been posting a weekly blog for half a decade now. It seems like only yesterday when a bunch of isolated Ohio progressives got together and decided to post a blog to promote Bernie Sanders to a larger audience. Well, times change and candidates drop out (or was he pushed?) and both ours and our audience's political outlooks have developed and expanded. Five years on, we're still privileged to publish opinion and news pieces from a variety of writers. Truly, it's been a learning experience. 

Not that it hasn't come with its share of pain. Censorship by the mainstream social media platforms is a given nowadays. For instance, Facebook this past week blocked our posting about the Toledo protest that resulted in the use of teargas and rubber bullets and wooden plugs being shot at peaceful protesters. Obviously, Mark Zuckerberg doesn't feel the public has the right to know about police brutality in America. (Like what is shown in this very illuminating video of protesters in Portland.) There is no way to make Facebook share the blog link on their platform once they decide to block it. 

Still, it's not quite as bad as the repression reporters have suffered in Minneapolis recently.
Teargassed, Beaten Up, Arrested: What Freedom of the Press Looks Like in the US Right Now https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/63328-teargassed-beaten-up-arrested-what-freedom-of-the-press-looks-like-in-the-us-right-now

Or what's at risk for protesters' health on the streets.
Tear Gassing Protesters During An Infectious Outbreak Called a Recipe For Disaster https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/63345-tear-gassing-protesters-during-an-infectious-outbreak-called-a-recipe-for-disaster 

The photos featured here this week were taken at two peaceful protests in two suburban areas, Bedford Township, Michigan, and Maumee, Ohio. Police/sheriff deputies in both municipalities cooperated with the protest organizers and made sure marchers could march down the roads unmolested, unlike the week previous when they used teargas and projectiles to stop a peaceful march in downtown Toledo. (This is explained further in the TRC story blocked by Facebook. Please click here and share the story with others if you can. If you can't, I hope it demonstrates to you how much censorship is happening on popular social platforms.)

What I found the most interesting about these smaller protests (that happened in the shopping areas of suburbia) compared to the downtown Toledo protest was the tone struck by the police on those days. Suburbia in these parts is mainly Caucasian and upper-middle-class/middle class--no real surprises there. This demographic was reflected in the majority of the participants, and it apparently help set the tone police used with the protesters. The cops kept to the background and made sure marchers weren't hit by cars speeding by on the other side of the road, for example. There were several police vehicles at both suburban protests, but there weren't a large number of officers present overall. The people felt free to express their opinions in signage, chants and testimonies at the end of the march. The tone was one of unity, community and neighborliness.

Now contrast that with the city protest a few days earlier where police officers stood on the roofs of nearby buildings (some possibly holding sniper guns I was told), drones circled overhead spying on the crowd, and as the people began to march around the corner, riot police were at the ready to meet them. The riot squad seemed aching to use the teargas and projectiles on the city marchers, a gathering that contained a good mix of Caucasians, African-Americans, Latinx and others. I dare say the Toledo city crowd contained more poor/working poor persons than either of the suburban crowds. The tone set in the city by the police was one of distrust and outright hostility toward the people

Why such a contrast in tone between these protest settings? Suburbanites can expect cooperative and helpful policing, but city folks...? Well, you just have to use a firm hand with them, don't you? Poor city people and people of color just won't behave themselves unless you use force is the message police send.

Is it the message they want to send, or is it the message their paymasters are telling them to send to less advantaged people? "Stay in line or we will crush you, violently if we have to. You are ours to use as we please. You are expendable."

I don't want to put anyone down for protesting--suburbanite or city folk, rich or poor, black, brown, red, yellow or white--but I do want to call to everyone's attention that the tone set by those in authority in their interactions with us, with all of We the People, is blatantly a pro-white/pro-wealthy tone. If you can't see it, or refuse to acknowledge it, then you are part of the problem and not the solution. You are why protesters chant, "Black Lives Matter!" because "All Lives" won't matter until "Black Lives Matter." They just won't.

This is why America needs a revolution. White privilege is far too ingrained in our society, and it's not going to go away without us taking it to the streets in outright rebellion against the corrupt system. Those in power aren't going to go quietly, so we should expect more injuries and death from teargas and projectiles--up to and including regular bullets--being shot at protesters.

Protesters are not "terrorists" as some pundits in the mainstream media say we are. We are the true patriots, the true dreamers who dream of a better world where everyone is treated fairly and justly. We envision a country where George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African-Americans killed at the hands of police would still be alive and well today and with their families. 

This is a Revolution of Love and Justice. Learn more on June 20 from the Poor People's Campaign--A National Call for Moral Revival. It's a lesson we all need. It's a lesson we cannot afford to miss.

Join us on June 20 for the biggest digital event of the century! The Poor Peoples' Campaign--A National Call for Moral Revival will gather folks from all over to proclaim this is the year we will not forget those who are oppressed, those who are imprisoned unjustly, those who are struggling to simply survive in America 2020. Be there!  june2020.org

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Tell Congress you support making lynching a federal hate crime 158,550 have signed stop lynching coalition’s petition. Let’s get to 200,000!
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Click the box above to sign the petition. From 1882 to 1986, Congress has tried to pass anti-lynching laws 200 times. They failed every time. During the Civil War and Reconstruction and up to the Civil Rights era, 4,745 lynchings took place across America from 1882 to 1968. Almost all lynchings have been racially driven, targeting and terrorizing African Americans and other minorities. Ninety-nine percent of lynch mob perpetrators have escaped any punishment at a state or local level. With no laws on the books that would make lynching a federally punishable offense, lynching victims and their families are left with no justice. Right now, a bipartisan anti-lynching bill could have a fighting chance at passing. It’s sponsored by Senators Kamala Harris (CA-D), Cory Booker (NJ-D), and Tim Scott (SC-R). There’s a small window to tell your Senators and Representatives that you support ending over a century of racial hate crimes: criminalize lynching in America. White supremacy terrorism and lynching is still a deadly threat to minorities in 2018. Over the last two years, the number of new Neo-Nazis groups have increased nationwide by 22%. Just last year, there was a 17% increase in overall racially driven hate crimes in America. Of all extremist group-led murders in the U.S., 53% were committed by white supremacist groups in 2017. White supremacy violence is on the rise. Tell Congress to protect Americans: white supremacy violence cannot go unchecked. Make lynching a federal crime. With white supremacist hate crimes and groups increasing, it’s vital that the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act passes both the House and Senate. It’s 2018, tell Senators and Representatives to make lynching a federal crime. Click the box below to sign.
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*** Join us in demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, an innocent Black woman killed in her own home! Sign Now Across the United States, and around the entire world, people have taken to the streets to protest the racism-fueled police brutality that has led to the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and too many others. Today, on what would have been Breonna Taylor's 27th birthday, we ask that you add your name to the list of people demanding justice for her murder. In the middle of the night on March 13th, 2020, three officers executed a "no-knock warrant" at the home of Breonna Taylor, barging in through her front door with a battering ram without identifying themselves as police. Before she knew what was happening, Breonna Taylor was shot eight times and died on the scene. Over two months later, no charges have been brought against her murderers. The names of the officers who entered her home that night are Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Brett Hankison, and Detective Myles Cosgrove. So far, the only repercussion these officers have faced was being placed on administrative duty. They are still working, still being paid, and still walking free. At the time of her murder, Breonna Taylor was working as an emergency room technician. Her mother said she had dreams of becoming a nurse. Dreams of buying a home. Dreams of starting a family. These dreams were stolen from Breonna Taylor, and the men who stole them from her dare to justify her murder through vague claims that she was involved in a case they were working on. Breonna Taylor was completely innocent. Had she not been, her brutal murder would still have been an inexcusable act of racist violence by police. This is not an isolated incident. If the police are not held accountable for these crimes, the terrorizing of Black people in the United States will not end. Sign the petition today to call for Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Brett Hankison, and Detective Myles Cosgrove to be charged with the murder of Breonna Taylor. Thank you, Lauren W. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Breonna Taylor's murderers have faced no consequences. That needs to change. Please sign the petition today. ***  This is a revolution--and you can help! Five years on, and we're still fighting. But it's tough. This blog is pretty much a full-time venture for your faithful editor, and it's about time for her to retire.  But you as a fellow revolutionary can make it easier for her to stay on the job by simply sharing some of your pocket change now and then. Use the Paypal link below to donate to keep her lights and Internet on.   http://paypal.me/camatthews Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!