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Forum Post: EDITED: To the Organization - Black Lives Matter

Posted 8 years ago on Aug. 9, 2015, 2:33 p.m. EST by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Is BLM necessary?

I think so.

Is BLM making a difference?

Uummmm IMO not so much - well not a positive difference - yet.

BLM has disrupted two of Bernie Sanders appearances so far.

Good stratagem?

Depends - I suppose as to what BLM is going for - I suppose.

Take for example this latest disruption.

It was a rally for Social Security and Medicare.

So what did BLM accomplish there?

Was the accomplishment to alienate themselves from the crowd?

If so - it worked - they (representatives of BLM) received a chant of let Bernie Speak amidst loud booing for their on stage crap.

I suggest - however - that if BLM is trying to provoke an angry and perhaps physical confrontation? That BLM would be better served barnstorming GOP events. I would pay money to see BLM on stage harassing The Donald and Rubio and Cruz and Sanitarium and Perry and and ...... lets just keep it simple = any rethuglican and all rethuglicans.

I mean who is BLM's outspoken adversary?

Rethuglicans!

But does BLM go after them?

Not so as one could notice.

BLM should be looking to be part of the community - BLM should not be looking to alienate the community.

BLM should be looking to get good people into office in Local State and Federal government. People who represent their issues and give them a say in who their police force represents and how they represent and who makes up the body of their police force.

But no - instead BLM seems to want to make enemies and not allies.

WTF is up with THAT ???

All I can say - is - to the organization Black Lives Matter - you really need to rethink WTF you are doing as to what you are trying to accomplish!

UPDATE:

"THIS" is EXACTLY why BLM should be working "WITH" Bernie Sanders and not be tossing self defeating tantrums: Bernie address's 12,000 in the stadium and 3,000 who were left outside - the biggest gathering yet - Seattle

51 Comments

51 Comments


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[-] 4 points by elf3 (4203) 8 years ago

Is it possible this was astroturf? Larger forces are pushing a race divide in this nation ...they are covering up the TPP ...lord knows what will be coming out of that..it is dark matter. A lot of what is driving these protests I heard was local gov policy driving up revenues with outrageous tickets...pull someone over and rack it up as much as possible...kicking broke people when down ...very bad form...police enforcing some shit while for instance letting corrupt banks to a separate system of justice...add to that some very sad situations some bad over enthusiastic cops taking too much authority knowing broke people can't afford lawyers to fight back ...or " who will believe you over me" and some actual cases of brutality ...and yeah can you feel it building? Two sides to every coin...bad peope in all walks of life but this is an economic issue and as I like to say the sands of evil are always shifting...we must be careful where we stand. Violence is never right...and might doesn't make it either. The issue here isn't as complex as we all think it is...it comes down to bad politicians waging class warfare. As usual...and what doesn't help is when the criminals who fuck up these neighborhoods so bad jump onto a movement because they hate cops for different reasons. They also have cops so disillusioned and fed up they gave up on all y'all ad lumped the good people in there with gang hoods too. I place as much blame on these idiots ...you really want to take care of your people...stop wrecking their neighborhoods for your own gain...no better than ws...phht

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 8 years ago

What I think . . . is that BLM has a real good opportunity to unite minority populations in areas where they are actually the majority and take over the local government and go on to reform the judicial system in their communities to prosecute criminal police as well as restructure their police force to reflect the community.

I see them giving Bernie grief instead of working with him as a mistake.

People of color have the numbers in many places across the nation that would enable them to vote out adversarial government. That is why the rethuglicans if office/power are working so hard to remove the vote from them as well as from the plainly poor and the elderly and the disabled.

[-] 1 points by turbocharger (1756) 8 years ago

It would be nice if people had that level of control, but they dont.

Its all been consolidated at the state and federal levels.

More power to the people!

[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

many livelihoods are determines by those that have money to pay them

if there is a centralization of our lives / our days / our hours

it lies with those that have that extra money

[-] 0 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 8 years ago

You are such a consistent and very determined crier of defeatism.

[-] 1 points by turbocharger (1756) 8 years ago

Power to the people is the answer to everything. It always has been and it always will be.

[-] 3 points by elf3 (4203) 8 years ago

I agree with TC here...Right Harvey Milk let's just get on down to city hall and give em hell...yeah fighting city hall just isn't that easy that is why there are movies about the people who helped break the "Citadel"...too bad it isn't as easy as a two hour film. Anyway when something doesn't make sense usually there is a reason ...I mean were those protesters certified organic...or is it possible they were hired to astroturf? Someone successfully pissed off members of occupy and divided us with a stunt? Could it be Hillary's corporate backed camp? Would not doubt it. Occupy doesn't like her but black people do...creating a wedge would be to her benefit or perhaps to the gop.

[-] 2 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

I mean were those protesters certified organic...or is it possible they were hired to astroturf? Someone successfully pissed off members of occupy and divided us with a stunt?

gotta question the shooting in #ferguson last night

seemed produced to me

[-] 2 points by elf3 (4203) 8 years ago

I don't know do black peope have a lower percentage of idiots amidst their population than any other race? Bernie is a little sheltered on this too because gang thugs do exist unlike santa clause ...pretty sure of that...though not all white people were responsible for the death of John Lennon either but I can't deny the existence of crazy fuckers among us.

[-] 2 points by elf3 (4203) 8 years ago

Fyi thug is a polite way of stating black crazy violent asshole I think white crazy violent assholes are just called that....but we had to pc it up in case that seemed a bit too harsh for "certain members of the opposite race"...?!

[-] 1 points by turbocharger (1756) 8 years ago

Its very simple but its the core of everything: If you just put the power in the hands of the people in a decentralized manner, we will figure things out. Its empowering.

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 8 years ago

The two protestors who took the stage were the organizers of the Seattle BLM chapter.

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 8 years ago

According to whom may I ask?

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 8 years ago

It's been in the coverage. Search Bernie Sanders Seattle social security rally BLM protest.

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 8 years ago

Awww you still believe in a free press...you are so cute does the tooth fairy read you bedtime stories too...sorry couldnt help it. We still have our internets though right? At least for now...

[-] 0 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 8 years ago

They announced themselves and BLM has not said that they don't know them - so....................

[-] 2 points by elf3 (4203) 8 years ago

Funny so who is in charge at Occupy...cause I wouldn't know if I fell over them...? Someone who says they are could theoretically take on that persona.

[-] 2 points by turbocharger (1756) 8 years ago

I wouldnt put anything past anyone in this rotten system... pay to play, from the top to the bottom.

[-] 2 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 8 years ago

BLM is not OWS and has set up their own organization - want to learn more about them? search the internet. All I can tell you is what I saw what I heard and relate what others are saying on the internet.

Like I said - so far no one from BLM has made a comment saying that those were not members of theirs.

[-] 1 points by turbocharger (1756) 8 years ago

They have set it up the same way as Occupy, leaderless with no spokespeople.

I know you dont agree with any of it, but its done that way for a reason.

[-] 3 points by elf3 (4203) 8 years ago

So they were free range protesters? Trump is calling Bernie weak now so these two former Palin supporters appear to have been under the employ of the Trump camp...dirty dirty politics in this country...deception, astroturfing, distorting truth...all on board?

[-] 2 points by BradB (2693) from Washington, DC 8 years ago

Black Lives Matter activists shut down a Jeb! event

Black Lives Matter activists cut a Jeb! event short on Wednesday evening in Nevada. Jeb! was getting some tough policy questions and decided to pull the plug early, reports Seema Mehta. Bush, responding to a woman's query about the disproportionate number of minorities killed by police and their treatment in the criminal justice system, said there was no question that racism still existed in the United States and that leaders needed to engage in communities that felt disenfranchised. He then turned to his education record as Florida's governor, saying that achievement scores among minority youths rose during his tenure. “I have a record of empowering people in communities that” were told “they had no chance,” Bush said, ending the town hall. He did not deliver a closing statement, as he typically does, and quickly made his way to an exit, greeting supporters along the way.

Behind him, a few dozen protesters raised their fists and began chanting, “Black Lives Matter!” A few Bush supporters turned toward them and chanted, “All Lives Matter!” and “White Lives Matter!” Two women -- a protester and a Bush supporter -- stood a few feet from the candidate with their middle fingers extended in each other's faces.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/13/1411720/-Black-Lives-Matter-activists-shut-down-a-Jeb-event#

[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

people seek conflict ?

[-] 2 points by BradB (2693) from Washington, DC 8 years ago

??? not sure there Matt ... maybe they are just getting tired of being shot and harassed by crazy cops for doing nothing wrong !!

[-] 1 points by grapes (5232) 8 years ago

People are seeking to be heard. Black lives do matter because the blacks and even the not-so-blacks (such as the mulatto President) bear the brunt of the iniquities. It is an important issue to address but only long-term reputational upgrade of the discriminated people can solve the problem.

To begin with, keep the businesses already in black neighborhoods safe and profitable, not burning or looting them. Generally speaking, businesses there are serving some needs of the community. Dressing or behaving in certain ways can trigger fight-or-flight responses in other people so etiquette and manners may sound arcane but they do matter if people have to be mushed together. It does not matter much if one lives in the Big Sky wilderness where there is not a soul for miles around but in New York or other cities general neutrality to mild positivity do help.

[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

the problem is people are waving guns in other peoples faces

[-] 0 points by grapes (5232) 8 years ago

Guns speak both peace and violence. People back up their guns with expressions.

[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

a gun has no function in peace

[-] 1 points by grapes (5232) 8 years ago

MX the Peacekeeper. It was never used but it showed intentions. If there were no heavily armed white militiamen in Fergusion, things might have gotten much worse the other night. Guns are never the solution but they can hold an uneasy peace to give negotiations a chance.

[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

guns differentiate the power levels of who controls by increasing the potential of death

[-] 0 points by grapes (5232) 8 years ago

It was much of the efforts of the whites of the North that had liberated the black slaves in the South. If heavily armed black militiamen went in between the shooting police and the dispersing crowd in Ferguson, the police would have shot them creating a major bloodbath. White intervention was needed to keep the peace. Yes, the heavily armed white militiamen increased the potential of death but it struck fear into the police and the crowd, too, keeping an uneasy peace.

The problem with black lives not mattering takes mind change on the part of the police and the blacks and not-so-blacks to fix which will probably take generations. If the black communities can provide sufficient security and profitability, not to mention avoiding heartbreaks of store owners, over time, more businesses will arrive and people, too. That is the way to heal the racial wounds.

I was in sleepy Queens many decades ago. The Queens of today is bustling with activities. I also saw the burnt-down lots in Harlem. East Harlem of today is thriving, too. It takes efforts by the police to "take back the city" with solid community support. After all, the police much prefer to live up to their vows to serve and to protect than to be despised as a foreign occupation force. Time heals wounds but only if a healing process is going on. It can be done. Give it forty years perhaps to "wander through the wilderness" before reaching "the promised land." It takes that long for the recalcitrant bigoted folks to pass away.

[-] 2 points by BradB (2693) from Washington, DC 8 years ago

BLM Activist Who Shut Down Sanders is Radical Christian, Sarah Palin Supporter -

and it's questionable if she has ever had any involvement w/ BLM

See more at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2015/08/blm-activist-who-shut-down-sanders-is-radical-christian-sarah-palin-supporter/#sthash.IOzPvDiG.dpuf

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 8 years ago

Kinda confusing when from the article there is also this link: https://www.facebook.com/BLMSeattle

See the BLM press release when you scroll down in that link.

I say they are messed up. And they ignore Bernie's history and apparently have no understanding of his platform running for potus.

[-] 3 points by BradB (2693) from Washington, DC 8 years ago
[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

first they ignore you

[-] 0 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 8 years ago

Well any which way it finally plays out - those two really hurt BLM.

Hopefully the real BLM organization can put the lie to the misrepresentation of them by those two co-opters (?)

[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

air strikes won't shut down

too bad

[-] 2 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

Rise Up October 24 to STOP Police Terror , Come to New York City!

http://org.salsalabs.com/o/1170/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=18140

[-] 2 points by lugano (1221) 8 years ago

''Bernie Sanders Unveils Sweeping Policy Platform To Combat Racial Inequality'' by Marina Fang:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-racial-inequality_55c81153e4b0f1cbf1e56b77

From which I excerpt...

''A day after being interrupted by Black Lives Matters protesters at a campaign event in Seattle, Washington, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released a detailed platform on combating racial inequality.

''Sanders' campaign posted the platform on his website on Sunday, and he addressed the issue of racial justice that evening in front of more than 28,000 supporters in Portland, drawing his largest crowd yet along the campaign trail.

''Sanders proposes a series of police reforms, including the demilitarization of police forces, a federal program giving police body cameras, and increasing police transparency and accountability. He also calls for an end to mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent offenses and bemoans the disproportionate rate at which blacks are targeted by police.

''The platform delineates policy proposals pertaining to what Sanders calls “the four central types of violence waged against black and brown Americans: physical, political, legal and economic.”

“It is an obscenity that we stigmatize so many young Americans with a criminal record for smoking marijuana, but not one major Wall Street executive has been prosecuted for causing the near collapse of our entire economy. This must change,” he said. “We must address the lingering unjust stereotypes that lead to the labeling of black youths as ‘thugs.’ We know the truth that, like every community in this country, the vast majority of people of color are trying to work hard, play by the rules and raise their children. It’s time to stop demonizing minority communities.”

''To combat what he calls political violence, Sanders stresses the expansion of the Voting Rights Act and restoring the Act’s “preclearance” provision, which was gutted by the Supreme Court last year. He also proposes ending laws that ban convicted felons from voting.

''Sanders has pledged to dedicate more outreach to the black community and merge his platform of fighting economic inequality with issues of racial inequality. He was quick to condemn the death of Sandra Bland, a black woman found hanged in a Texas jail in July, and called for “a real hard look at the way police departments function in America.” Later in July, he gave a speech before the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, laying out portions of the platform that was officially posted on Sunday.''


Seems to me that Sen. Sanders (I-Vt) has a lot more understanding, sympathy and empathy re.''B L M'' than many of his new 'Democratic Party' supporters. Also fyi on this important matter, try to consider ...

http://blacklivesmatter.com/ and then http://www.fatalencounters.org/

https://twitter.com/thecounted and https://www.facebook.com/TheCounted

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/about-the-counted

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/10/the-counted-500-people-killed-by-police-2015 &

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/01/july-deadliest-month-2015-police-related-killings

[-] 1 points by BradB (2693) from Washington, DC 8 years ago
[-] 1 points by BradB (2693) from Washington, DC 8 years ago

Seattle BLM Protest Was Not BLM (Sorta)

That's all well and good, except the protesters aren't actually part of the BLM movement. The protesters are actually members of a group called Outside Agitators 206. You can see the connection here; this is the same "Press Release" as posted on the "Official" Seattle BLM Facebook Page. I am using quotes, because this is absolutely not an "official" page; it was created extremely recently and it seems to me and many others that these two women have co-opted the BLM movement and name to further their own, more extreme message. This is from their About page:

more>>> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/09/1410195/-Seattle-BLM-Protest-Was-Not-BLM-Sorta#

[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

While the BLM movement is, so far, primarily about reforming our far-too-racist and milatarized police forces across the nation,

hope we don't start air striking the racist police like in Iraq

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 8 years ago

BLM and everyone else - learn more about Bernie:

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Bernie%20Sanders%20on%20thom%20hartman&qs=n&form=QBVR&pq=bernie%20sanders%20on%20thom%20hartman&sc=0-23&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&mid=7C367844D80A6A8FDCC47C367844D80A6A8FDCC4

While you learn more - keep in mind that Bernie can not do it all by himself (he truthfully tells you that FACT himself) - you (WE) need to put people in office that are gonna support our issues along with Bernie - that means LOCAL - STATE - FEDERAL.

This is gonna take our involvement - OUR = being THE PEOPLE.

[Removed]

[-] -1 points by grapes (5232) 8 years ago

Wealth whitens. All who are not wealthy are black in America. It is not just the color of your skin. It is also all of that peacock's tails and cyberwebs of the zombie spiders.

Racial divide is a perennial favorite of the eelites for diverting attention of the populace from important matters. That was how the most "powerful" and "richest" country called the U.S.A. had become both "impotent and obsolete." The racial problem will take care of itself through the rivers of blood, a baptism by human blood. (I hope that I am wrong but it had "worked" before.)

What is the highest speed train running in the Washington-Philadelphia-New-York-Boston corridor? After decades of huffing and puffing about catching up to the developing world (yes, to our horror, China, no less, believe it or not!), the U.S.A. has caught up with none but in fact, time has reduced its infrastructure much closer to a decayed country's.

U.S. bridges are falling down, falling down, falling down. U.S. bridges are falling down, my Fair Lady!

Who is black in the U.S., in the U.S., in the U.S.? Who is black in the U.S.? Zombie spiders!

[-] 2 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

we should NOT think of the world as competition

[-] 1 points by grapes (5232) 8 years ago

I welcome competition in serving my people. China has trains that "fly" overheads while the U.S. trains could not even beat the speed of the automobiles in the most heavily travelled Northeast corridor. That speed was achieved in the U.S. in the 1960s, some 50 years ago! Where was China 50 years ago? The U.S. stood still for 50 years while China flew past in 36 years after its opening up in 1979.

The domination of freight train traffic in the U.S. and the corporate Masters of Business Administration "managing" for the lowest cost doomed the high-speed trains achieving high speeds. I am not surprised. After the Saturn V rocket engines had been used up, the U.S. never got to the moon again. Where is our moon base? Now, we even have to pay Russia to catch a ride with its cosmonauts to the International Space Station because Russia still has the heavy-lift rockets. Our Masters of Business Administration had "managed" away our launch capabilities. God help us if we have to deliver our top-secret spy satellites to Russia for launching while it is annexing Estonia.

[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

what does train speeds have to do with competition serving the people ?

is this a word problem I can figure out ?

sounds like competition for the lowest cost hurt our train ptogress

[-] 0 points by grapes (5232) 8 years ago

If I want to treat our honorables (I hope you are pragmatic about this) in Washington D.C. to fresh Maine lobsters, high-speed trains can help with the freshness. To paraphrase Napoleon, an honorable one marches on a full stomach with my people's agenda - Food Vergnügen.

Optimizing for lowest cost often backfires horribly because quality is much harder to define than quantity. Very few business school masters of the universe have the artistic, scientific, or engineering sense of beauty, quality, and functions. Take Apple Inc. as an example. An MBA ran it to near death squeezing profits from it.

[-] 1 points by MattHolck0 (3867) 8 years ago

apples contribution started in the schools

I don't know why that didn't stick

maybe because IBM was already an industry standard

[-] 0 points by grapes (5232) 8 years ago

Apple rested on its laurels squeezing maximal profits from the Macintosh's GUI. It did not even provide a good-quality keyboard with the Macintosh. The hardware was always lagging behind. There was no competition in its proprietary space but there was intense competition in the PC-clone space. Once Windows came out, it was all over.

In the dynamic high-tech world, not pushing ahead means being left behind. Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy when the brought-back Steve Jobs did the utterly abhorrent thing - getting cash infusion from its nemesis Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates. Microsoft was at the time under pressure due to its monopolistic ways. It was a hookup of convenience. It turned out that Apple's worst enemy had respect for what Apple could do. A helping hand from one's worst enemy can nevertheless still be a helping hand.