Badass Civil Rights Hero Rep. John Lewis Will Lead Us Out Of This Awful Week
Hero
Well here we are on a Friday, closing out another awful week of inexcusable violence and death. Should we just get in bed for the next three or fifteen days, pull the covers over our heads and snuggle with a bottle of whiskey? Eh, maybe, but civil rights hero John Lewis, the Democratic congressman from Georgia, would rather you kick it into gear, get your hands dirty and start making some #GoodTrouble, so we can make a change in this country.
[wonkbar]<a href="https: //wonkette.substack.com/p/badass-democrats-will-sit-on-house-floor-until-gop-does-something-anything-about-guns"></a>[/wonkbar]Lewis has been kicking ass his whole life, from his work in the Civil Rights movement, when he was beaten and attacked by police during the Selma to Montgomery march, up to just a few weeks ago, as he led the House Democrats' sit-in demanding action on gun control.
And as the events of this week have unfolded -- Alton Sterling and Philando Castile killed by police, five police officers slaughtered by a sniper in Dallas -- Lewis has been inspiring and holding court on Twitter, sharing the wisdom he's gleaned from his years.
These are just from today, Friday, June 8, 2016, in their order of being tweetered:
AW NUTS HE SAID "GUNS"! TOO SOON, TOO SOON! Just kidding, guns are a fucking problem and that's just how it is. #FuckinDealWithIt
Speaking of dealing with it:
Wow. That's quite a prescription for America, we think. We've gotta learn to love each other, live with each other, do a goddamned thing or two about the fact that any murderous psycho can get a gun in our society, confront racism head-on, care enough about cops to approach them as partners in dealing with these problems and get off our fucking asses and march, nonviolently and with purpose.
You'll want to check his Twitter to see if he's still teaching, as those are just the things he's said so far on Friday.
But as we said, he's been sharing wisdom all week. Here are a few more insights from the good congressman:
[wonkbar]<a href="https: //wonkette.substack.com/p/breaking-beyonce-does-not-want-to-murder-all-cops"></a>[/wonkbar]A good question, and a solid #truth. Remember what we've been saying about how one can both believe that Black Lives Matter, and also respect and honor the many good cops who put their lives on the line for us every day? They're not mutually exclusive, despite what racist wingnuts and also too Beyoncé might have us believe. (WE ARE KIDDING, Beyoncé is actually not a cop-hater! By the way, she posted a pretty powerful letter of her own, after the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. You should read it.)
More John Lewis wisdom:
Oh screw it, not even John Lewis can top that John Lewis tweet, so thus endeth the lesson.
As you go out into your weekend, after this awful week, do what John Lewis and Dr. King said, and love the living hell out of people, OK?
I just missed it. The derp was strong with that one.
tl:dr summary: 53 years after the Rev. Dr. King spoke of the 'fierce urgency of now', the reality of racial oppression persists. BLM has successfully channelled anger that might have led to violent uprisings into constructive, nonviolent protests, and probably saved lives by doing so. But how long can even a supremely patient and good people like Black Americans be asked to 'stay cool, don't react' ?? So, weird and strange as it is to say, maybe the killings of police in Dallas, because they are so horrifying, can have a positive outcome, 1) by serving as a kind of inoculation against the shift from justified anger to violence among the too-long oppressed; 2) by eliciting things like (!holysh*t!) Newt Gingrich's saying, in effect, 'Yo, white folks, you are racist and you don't know it!' http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/...
tl version: Reading someone (yet another) saying BLM and anti-racist protesting caused the Dallas shootings, I asked myself, what if there were no BLM and no carefully organized protests? The justifiable Black anger would still be there, the demand for justice would still be there, but would likely come out in less constructive ways. Anyone who understands the problem at all (OMG Newt! f'ing! Gingrich! http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/... ) anyone who understands at all knows there is real cause for anger, and that the anger is gonna lead to some kind of action. And people do tend to respond to violence with violence, if not today, then eventually.So, to the great credit of all its leaders and participants, BLM has taken what is, yes, the SAME anger over the same issues that has led to violent uprisings in the past, and put it to productive and constructive use. BLM is saving lives, including cops' lives, by its actions, and by its messages of nonviolence.But for how long? I remember the Watts uprising in '65 (I was almost 10); I remember the long hot summer of '67, then '68, '92 -- justifiable anger, but expressed through destruction. Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act, school desegregation -- it was all good, BUT it was not relieving the oppression and injustice directly suffered by millions of Blacks. So the anger went somewhere.Thinking: nearly fifty years after 1967's widespread rioting, nearly 25 years after the King verdict, in too many cities, essentially NOTHING has changed. Thinking, wondering, how patient can people be? Then a sad and a strange thought (oh, very sad and strange). Blacks (to swing a positive ethnic stereotype) are good people, loving and forgiving. Given what they have endured, and continue to endure, they are perhaps the most patient, decent, peaceful group of people on the planet today. I'm a Southern white man, living in the South, and I have NEVER felt disrespected by a Black person just because of my skin color or ethnicity. Never. How many African Americans can say the same? (Hint: not many).As a people, American Blacks are tremendously good, patient, loving. But. The oppression is real, the racist indignities are real, the danger is real, the impatience is real, the frustration is real, and the resistance to justice is too damn real -- so it's fair to ask, how long can the anger be constructively channelled? How long can the pleas (from the angry oppressed, to the angry oppressed) for nonviolence be effective?How long -- it is 53 years since the Rev. Dr. King spoke of 'the fierce urgency of now'. How much patience, how much self-restraint, how much inner transformation of pain and anger is it fair to expect of an oppressed people?Sooo -- and this is the sad, the strange thought -- it sickens me to say it, but maybe the killings of innocent police in Dallas, a city with one of the least violent police forces in the country, maybe this shedding of blood can have a net constructive result. Maybe, precisely because they ARE so horrifying and sickening, so manifestly NOT what is needed now, maybe these shootings will actually serve as a kind of innoculation against the likelihood of angry frustration turning to violence, and then to disorganized, destructive uprisings.Despite all the vile anti-BLM propaganda that's followed Dallas, it's strangely encouraging to hear when an Old White Reptilicon F***bag like Newt says -- and in response to a black man shooting white cops !! -- not 'law and order' or 'anti-white racism' but this: 'Yes, racism is real. Yes, Black lives are endangered, and white people just don't get that yet.'#sorryfortoolong #sorryforznytupos #ahimsa