HEY ALL here is the press release from this mornings protest! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WORCESTER PROTESTERS TAKE KELLY SQ IN BLACK LIVES MATTER NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION WORCESTER, MA - Monday January 19th, 2015 -Members of the Worcester community have conducted a singing demonstration in Kelley Square, blocking traffic for 4 ½ minutes as part of todays national Black Lives Matter actions, and in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s non-violent civil disobedience. We make a statement with our bodies and our voices to call for a massive, widespread change of hearts and attitudes towards Black Lives, insisting that they matter to us all. Moreover, we bring a Love Revolution that changes our current system of ‘power over’ one another to ‘power in cooperation’ with each other, for the greater good. To that end, we stand and sing together the “I Can’t Breathe” song, in the heart of Worcester. By impacting the flow of traffic with song and protest, we will impress upon our fellow Worcester residents, and the nation, the need for our public to give pause, attention, and compassion to our cause, Black Lives Matter. The 4 ½ minutes in the street today is in parallel to the 4 ½ hours that Mike Browns body laid in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. Our goal during these 4 ½ minutes, and beyond, is to create moments of public reflection on the fact that Black people are treated with a disregard for their life. The mistreatment, murder, and violence must cease at once. We as a nation are only as strong as the most vulnerable in our society, and today, we are weak because Black Lives are publically taken by state sanctioned, legally protected police violence. The publicity of the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and Akai Gurley, all at the hands of police officers, is cause for alarm. Eric Garner having been choked and killed is a crime, and the subsequent lack of indictment is disturbing given the video evidence. That Akai Gurley was shot in the hallway of his home and left suffering for over 6 minutes while the police officers texted with their union representative is a travesty. Michael Brown was left in the street for 4 ½ hours in the summer sun, so long that his organs could not be donated afterwards. All of these facts are examples of racism in policing. Racist policing is indicative of a mentality that pervades police culture; an illegal power over black bodies. It is a problem and we are the solution. We bring these facts to the public conversation when we say Black Lives Matter. Our public discourse is currently dominated by backlash. Public reactions to the recent protests on Interstate 93 are intense, harsh, and pointing to a larger problem. As Dianne Williamson noted in her column in the Sunday Telegram & Gazette, some called for the reinstatement of the death penalty around protesting. That the public reaction towards this protest is greater than reactions to the killing of Black men, women, and children is a moral absurdity that we do not suffer. We stand with Love in our hearts for the Black lives lost, compassion for their survivors, in solidarity with those demanding justice, and with an undying vigor to change our city’s stance to the right side of history. Even still, at our protest, every care was taken to ensure that emergency vehicles, should they need to, would get through the demonstration. Today we embody the idea that if your neighbor is crying “I can’t breathe,” you should listen, answer that call to action, and work until we are all free. If your neighbor is imprisoned, chances are that you share the same fate, or soon will. We answer the call, and ask Worcester to join us in saying ‘Black Lives Matter.’ We protest as a community comprised of people from all walks of life, all manner of political stances, and ethnic backgrounds. We come together, beyond our differences, to stand in solidarity, holding a new vision of the United States, and the world. The commonality amongst all our diverse activism, ranging from environmental to economic justice, is a desired end to the mindset that pits the individual against the many, humans against the Earth, men over all other gender identities, and White lives over Black lives. This mindset kills people, and it threatens our very existence, literally. One cannot truly be free until all of us are. We sing because our message is Love and there is a better way forward. We don’t have to heed an oppressive mindset only to sacrifice parts of ourselves for acceptance. We work towards a world where people are free to define our own identity, without judgment, prejudice, guilt or shame. Worcester community members come together to create such a world for ourselves, and create safe spaces to explore our deepening Love for each other. As a community, we stand together to sing these words: “I can hear my neighbor crying ‘I can’t breathe’ Now I’m in the struggle, saying ‘I can’t leave’ Calling out the violence of the racist police We ain’t gonna stop, til people are free” We sing because silence is violence. When concerned people do not voice their opinion, and do not act when there is violence and injustice, we all suffer for their silence. When our people are being killed, harassed, humiliated, and attacked every day, and when government and wider society cannot take urgent action to end this violence, it is our duty to stand up and bring the issue into the street, and to ask you to stand with us. As opposed to silence, Former Mayor Konstantina B. Lukes, in a move that proved to be divisive and insensitive, offered a resolution that was specifically aimed at protesters, in feigned support of police. Lukes used the police for her own gain, and stained the Augustus/Petty Administration just to spite the Black Lives Matter movement. This worldview is dangerous and unacceptable. We stand together in community to declare that Black Lives Matter, and the City Council does not speak for us. We hold a new vision. The Love Revolution is upon us. We must respond to bigotry with Love In Action. The 4 ½ minutes, die-ins, highway blockings and other demonstrations today and in the past are rooted in Love for our neighbor. We don’t stand here to ruin your day. We offer an opportunity to join us in making this right. We offer healing in the process. For all who have suffered at the hands of a hatred filled worldview, the chance to change is now. We need you to say ‘Yes, Black Lives Matter!’
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 22:15:53 +0000
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