Black Lives on Transit Matter Too ... I was originally thinking of getting off of the Green Line train I was on this afternoon when I got to the Snelling Avenue Station. The Black Lives Matter Martin Luther King Day march was scheduled to start at 1:00pm. I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some pictures of people acting in solidarity with people of color in the Twin Cities. But, when the Green Line light rail train I was on approached the Raymond Avenue Station the train operator announce that Green Line service was being interrupted by protesters taking control of the Green Line tracks. After waiting for a long time at the Raymond Avenue Station, the passengers, mostly Black Lives trying to get through their day on non-car public transit, were getting frustrated. One African-American woman yelled out in frustration, to whomever would listen, Why is this train stopped? ... An African-American man answered succinctly and clearly, because of that Black Lives Matters crap! I couldnt help but wince at hearing this. What could the marchers possibly think that staging a die-in or walking on light rail tracks could accomplish, especially since they are making Black Lives harder by such irresponsible actions. Ironically, some of the people on the train were on their way to the marche, but many just got off of the train in disgust, moving over to the westbound platform to return to wherever they came from. After significant delays, the train moved on past the Raymond Avenue Station, eventually arriving at the Snelling Avenue Station. I was still thinking of getting out of the train and joining the march, but there was no sight of the marchers at that point. Apparently, this was about the time the marchers decided to veer off of University Avenue and try to create chaos by staging a die-in on I94, another of those counter productive, questionable tactics. Fortunately, the State Patrol had learned their lesson with previous Black Lives Matter Protests and had squad cars and officers blocking the freeway ramps, so the protestors had to settle for a brief die-in on the Snelling Avenue bridge over I94, before moving along Concordia Avenue to Hamline Avenue and back up to the original route along University Avenue, where they created more disruption of the Green Line full of Black Lives that didnt seem to matter, in light rail cars. I didnt get off of my Green Line train. It was quite clear that the marchers had gone off script and I wasnt going to waste my time trying to find them. On my way back from the Union Depot around 4:00pm, there were more disruptions from the Black Lives Matters marchers, this time at the capital, around the Capital/Rice Street Station. As the St Paul police and Metro Transit Police Department regained control of the Green Line tracks my train made it to the Capital/Rice Street Station. This time I did get off, but now I was curious to see if the marchers would at least respect the transit that Black Lives depend on. There were many white people with Black Lives Matter signs that were now streaming to the platforms of the trains they had been blocking all afternoon. Apparently, light rail meant something at that point. They were tired. It seemed that many (if not most) had never used non-car public transit before, so I managed to help some of them find out where the kiosks were and how to use the system. Most of them were needing to get back to the strip mall parking lots where they left their cars at the Snelling Aveuue Station. I was delighted to see so many white people find an opportunity to see the transit options that Black Lives depend on and actually share the space with the people of color who call the neighborhoods along the Central Corridor home. I couldnt help but think about how these people really needed to understand how important these light rail trains are to Black Lives, many of whom depend on these trains to get them to jobs in Minneapolis, St Paul, Bloomington and soon in Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Hopkins, St Louis Park (via the Southwest Corridor) and in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center (vis the Bottineau Corridor). from Frog Town in St Paul and the North Side in Minneapolis, in addition to many other neighborhoods. As the Capita/Rice Street light rail platforms filled up with marchers holding signs and wound up banners I heard one white marcher scream belligerently, do protestors need to pay for these trains? Im not paying. I really wanted to be a part of this event, but I was stuck on that piece of dialog I heard on the Green Line earlier in the afternoon, when an African American woman said, How come these trains are stopped? and an African American man said, Its because of that Black Lives Matters crap! Obviously, there is a disconnect here. I couldnt help but think that there would be no need for Black Lives Matter marches if these people, white and people of color, would all work together to ensure that good transit was available across the metro, that affordable housing was kept available along transit corridors, that grocery stores were kept in core city neighborhoods, that good public schools were maintained for all metro children, that law enforcement would reflect the people in the neighborhoods they work in and live in the neighborhoods, that all neighborhoods would become diverse, sustainable, walkable, accessible and economically viable. ... The Bard of Franklin Avenue ...
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 07:01:55 +0000
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