Black Lives Matter

May 31, The Child and I marched in Eugene's Black Lives Matter protest, from the Federal Courthouse to Alton Baker Park, to protest the murder of George Floyd.  The three speakers we heard were succinct and tired and angry and rising up.  I was surprised and glad The Child decided to come along, because it provided different perspectives on racial inequality and police brutality from some of his Intellectual Dark Web sources (Thank you, Goddess, for keeping Ayn Rand off of The Child's syllabus).  

There were some counter-protesters; the only ones I was aware of where the folks who revved their motorcycles to try to drown out the speakers.  The speakers told the protesters not to engage with counter-protesters.   (They also said, "Thanks for your support, but I'm afraid you're going to fall and hurt yourself." to some protesters who had shimmied up a rainspout and onto a roof.)

The march was peaceful (other events in Eugene have not been), and while we wore masks the whole time, it was difficult to maintain social distancing.   Folks really wanted to chant and shout, which was great, but in the back of my mind I was thinking about entire church choruses who had infected each other with COVID19 during practices.  

I guess I've read too many protest accounts by Starhawk (witch and political activist) and Gilbert Baker (gay rights activist and designer of the rainbow LGBTQ pride flag), because my crowd awareness observations about narrow choke points in the march's route becoming potential protester-arrest points, who-is-behind-us? moments,  and questions like, "Would you turn back or hop into those briars if a flash-bang started a stampede?" were received with I'll-humor-him tedium.

But we weren't tear-gassed, no-one fired rubber bullets at us, squads of armored police did not beat us, and no outsider provocateurs appeared with fire accelerants or bricks; for which I am thankful.

Say his name:  George Floyd.

Now I have to choose something from https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234  to do as follow-up.