A Protest More Disruptive Than Violence

Recently, at a rally in New York City, the city workers all joined the United Federation of Teachers in an open protest for contracts for Teachers—and indeed all City Workers, none of whom have new contracts. Of course, with Mayor Bloomberg effectively a lame duck this was more of a show for whomever the next mayor of the city will be after November’s election. Towards the end of the rally, with the speeches and audience dwindling, the crowd started chanting “No Justice, No Peace”.

No Justice, No Peace”

I took pause to consider the power of those words—the spirit of what many are calling for following the verdict passed in Florida—and wondered how many of these teachers, carpenters, firefighters, police officers, and nurses (and more) would actually take to the streets in anger and/or violence, or if “no peace” was just harsh talk for “illegal strike”.

My parent’s youth was full of moments where young, angry people took to the streets and fought against the system with words, bodies, and fists. They fought with thoughts, ideas, music, and by mob. Whether they were fighting for Civil Rights, to End the War, or against other injustices, the Baby Boomer Generation was ready and willing to put their money where their mouth was and hit the streets hard. Of course, that was before many of them really had a lot of money, and now that they do and they’ve gone from being the New Guard to the Old Heads in this country it seems as if they’ve spun so far around it could only be described as a 1260. We’re facing a government that seems to not only be restricting people’s rights, but also doing it subversively and framing it like it’s a favor. They are trying to shove shit in our mouths and tell us it’s chocolate.

3 comments

  1. Brandon, as I read this I found myslef nodding and talking out loud to you through the computer. This is brilliant – simple, yet profound and effective and I am passing it along.

    I am one of those baby boomers that was out in the street letting my voice be heard with the thousands that felt as I did. Over the years my voice became silent, not for any other reason than I felt it was useless … very few people were outraged and nothing was getting done. I kept voting and yet, the people that do the most harm kept getting elected. I’m afraid I became apathetic.

    With Facebook I have a small outlet to speak my mind … and if people don’t agree with me, we have a few options – we can have a meaningful discussion, and hopefully arrive at some mutually beneficial conclusion – or one or the other of us can use the ‘Block’ option.

    I have noticed recently that current events are drawing people together. They are organizing and speaking out. Thanks for your voice. This old rabble rouser needed it!

  2. I had a similar thought after all the “Zimmerman’s days are numbered” insistence. He won’t be touched, and mostly because nowadays, people rely too much on social media to make societal changes. Petitions and default photo changes are considered enough. I saw a post about boycotting Florida tourism, aiming to “hit them where it hurts” as if anyone would deny their children the pleasure of seeing Micky and Minnie this summer. But at least they posted their disbelief in the verdict.

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