The Protests Need To Change

The often spontaneous outpouring of grief and rage that has characterized the last week needs to find a new method of expressing itself. A few things are becoming clearer.

White men are hijacking the narrative by pushing extremist positions.  For every righteously enraged African American screaming at the police, there's some 20 year old anarchist or 30 year old white supremacist smashing windows and causing trouble unrelated to the agenda of BLM. 

Meanwhile, Trump - a fearful narcissist who spent a night huddled in the White House bunker - seems intent on using this moment as his own Reichstag fire. Given a chance, he will try and use the gathering chaos in some places as a pretext to militarize the response even further. Trump is obsessed with the appearance of strength, as his ridiculous photo op yesterday shows us. It also seems apparent that there is another segment of white men - whether in police or military uniforms - who would love the opportunity to "light'em up."

The challenge for the protest movement is first that it has no central leadership. There are also few African Americans in leadership positions to exert positive pressure to change the nature of these protests.  John Lewis is one of the few who comes to mind. While it is not my position to speak for BLM, tactically it seems wise to do the following:

• Work with local authorities to understand when curfews go into effect and help plan marches and protests around curfews so that clashes with police are minimized.
• Change the tone of the marches. Become funeral processions for those who have died. Reduce the temperature, while maintaining the protests.
• Identify the white provocateurs early and keep an eye (and bodies on them). 

These protests don't belong to me. This anger isn't mine to define.  The reality is that right now, police reform at the national level is simply impossible. Even if you could get reform through the Senate - which you can't - Trump would veto it. Possibly, you can get reform through local governments.  None of that can happen while white supremacists and anarchists divert attention from the message of reform.

The protests must continue, but they must change.  I've seen the footage from Tiananmen, the Maidan, Tahrir Square.  The slaughter of civilians by military personnel is closer now than I can ever imagine. It should not be incumbent on the protesters to avoid this...but it is.  The Squatter in Chief wants to kill you. He wants to hurt you. 

Because I believe that Black Lives Matter, I don't want to see protesters bleeding on American streets. I fear we are close to that moment.