Today I went to a “March For Our Lives” It was well attended, there had to be close to 5,000 people. There were young people at the podium giving speeches about the importance of taking action to protect each other from gun violence. There were children, adults and the elderly. The march was orderly and well behaved. It was Vanilla.
I have been a lifelong activist. I have marched for farm worker rights.I marched to end nuclear power. I have marched against wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. I have been a part of sit-ins, and die-ins. I have collected signatures. I have been a part of the letter writing campaigns. I was with Occupy, Black Lives Matter, and the Water Protectors.
As someone who has been in many movements, meetings, marches, protests, boycotts, and occupations I like to think that I have an informed perspective. I like to think that my eyes are wide open where activism is involved. Since I have been around the block once or twice before, I feel like I know a thing or two.
This march was different. There were no ranks of officers with grope gloves. There were no rubber bullets being fired. There were no zip-tie handcuffs. There were no water cannons. There were no sound cannons. There were no tear gas canisters or pepper ball guns. The whole thing had a feeling of being manufactured. It was a staged event without any civil disobedience. It was a facade.
Now don’t get me wrong. I know there were organizers working countless hours to make certain there were pavilions and podiums, microphones and loudspeakers. I know organizers worked with city officials and police to guarantee safety. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were even permits pulled and official license fees paid. In fact that is my point. It was not activism, it was an act, a performance.
I may be wrong, and I hope I am, because the way I see things, the people involved in today’s “March For Our Lives” will not be engaged going forward. The people who marched today will be returning to their comfort and privilege. The people who marched today are the ones who were silent when people were being shot in L.A. and Chicago, they were silent when people were being shot in Detroit and Baltimore, they were silent while people were being exploded in Yemen and Iraq, they stood by while people were shot for having a bag of Skittles and an Arizona Iced Tea, they stood by while a child was shot for playing in the park with his toy gun, and while police raped women in their city of Eugene Oregon.
I may be jaded, I may be totally wrong. My guess is they will go back to sleep after this. More accurately go back to sheep.
Thanks to Steemit Creators' Guild for their proofreading.