oppression — Susan Corso's Blog

Day 83 Listen is An Anagram; and, A Purposeful Silence

“On #BlackoutTuesday, artists go quiet to focus attention on protesters’ message” read the headline. Millions of people worldwide are heeding a call for a day of silence on social media to amplify black people’s voices under the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday. Maybe every Tuesday should be #BlackoutTuesday for a while? Leave it to the artists to do something simple, clear, and immediate. Always. Always it’s the artists who lead us. If only we could remember that, and look to them instead of the political arena for leadership.

Day 83 #BlackOutTuesday #BlackLivesMatter #BlackOutTuesday #BlackLivesMatter

#BlackTuesday #BlackLivesMatter #BlackTuesday #BlackLivesMatter

Day 82 It Only Takes One; and, Could That One Be You?

“In Louisville, Ky., a confrontation on a crowded street was partly defused when a woman stepped forward and offered a police officer in riot gear a hug. They embraced for nearly a minute. There were reports of clashes later in the night, however, and a local news outlet reported that at least one person had been fatally shot.” A hug. After demonstrating peacefully for three hours in Seattle, police officers opened the downtown area to protesters. “Rashyla Levitt addressed the crowd through a megaphone, telling them the group had made history. “We marched for justice. We marched for peace,” she said. “We marched for each other. We marched for our streets.” For justice. For peace. For each other. For our streets. Also in Seattle, “Others weren’t ready to end the night. They approached a line of officers in riot gear, shouting and cursing. Some protesters—including Elijah Alter, 24—rushed to intervene, pushing them away from the line of officers. ‘Because of our solidarity, we made them change their mind,’ he said. ‘Do not ruin it on a violent end.’” Intervention. Solidarity. Change their mind. From Atlanta, “The demonstrators stopped—hundreds of them, black and white—and sat. A self-appointed leader among them, an entrepreneur named John Wade, praised them for their nonviolence.” Sat.

Day 81 Why Silence Equals Violence; and, Complacency is Complicity

“As protests spread from coast to coast, mayors in more than two dozen cities declared curfews—the first time so many local leaders have simultaneously issued such orders in the face of civic unrest since 1968, after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” 1968 was 52 years ago, and while there have been incremental changes in some parts of the country for some persons of color, the predominant narrative is no different now than it was then. As one protestor said, “I’m not here to fight someone,” said Eldon Gillet, 40, who was on the streets in Brooklyn. “I’m here to fight a system.” Another said, “I’m out here so that my two kids never have to be.” In “a country already ragged with anger and anxiety,” as one story had it, “With a nation on edge—ravaged by a pandemic, hammered by economic collapse, divided over lockdowns and even face masks, and continuing to be convulsed by racial discord—President Trump’s instinct has been to look for someone to fight.”