… Umas
notas bem pensadas escritas por pessoal
que vive a situação em directo.
Texto publicado no blog "anti-capitalist news & analyses in metro St. Louis".
What began as a protest
movement after 10 days of sustained defiance, has taken a couple shaky steps
towards revolt. The situation here is still fluid and ripe with potential.
Locally, people are surprised that similar unrest hasn’t sparked off in other
cities. If it were to spread, the scope here would likely widen. It’s difficult
to get a sense of how people outside the metro area interpret what’s happening
here. What follows are some observations from St Louis residents and
participants in the struggle who might give a clearer picture of this strange
new reality.
Cars, Guns, and Revolt in America
West Florissant is a major
street that cuts across North St. Louis County and North City. A quarter mile
stretch of the road has been the primary gathering place for protesters. Just
outside that stretch, in a strip mall parking lot, is the joint staging area
for the Police (City, County, as well as dozens of smaller municipalities), the
Highway Patrol, and the National Guard. The small stretch is home to many
looted and burned (to various degrees) businesses including the QT – which has
become a landmark, tourist destination, and gathering place for protesters.
Canfield Drive intersects with this stretch of West Florissant, a road that
leads to subdivisions and the apartment complex where Mike Brown was killed.
Police fear to venture too far down Canfield.
On the days when the police
allow traffic to flow, West Florissant becomes congested with vehicles, many of
which are loaded down with passengers, both inside and out. Routine activities
include blasting music, squealing tires, and taunting the police by way of
insults (“fuck the police”, “fuck 12”), doing doughnuts, and taking runs at
them, just to break at the last minute. People jump from car to car in
celebratory fashion, chanting, flirting, singing, drinking, and smoking. When
police lines shut down the street on either end of the stretch, cars pour in
from side streets to do more of the same. And when the protesters get rowdy
enough, people openly ride their cars up to stores, fill them with looted
goods, and escape back into the neighborhoods.
A significant number of
protesters are armed. In the first few days, a common tactic was to fire shots
in the air to scare the cops off when they got too close. Some openly talk of
going to war with the police and don’t hide the fact that they are carrying.
The last few days people have begun shooting at the police. Tragically, the
only people hit so far have been a handful of protesters- some of them with
life-threatening injuries. People are beginning to advocate for more restraint
with the gun fire and better aim.
The rebels (and the police)
have no experience with such a situation. Revolt like this hasn’t been seen in
America since the 70’s. People are learning how to make and utilize Molotov
cocktails, barricades, projectiles, and fire, as well as when and where it
makes sense to attack. Coordination and communication are difficult outside
moments of rioting. Perhaps it’s because there’s no safe and comfortable place
to gather and share ideas. The QT could potentially serve this purpose, however
just today it has been entirely fenced off. The second night of unrest must
have involved some exceptional coordination as crews smashed up stores all over
the metro area, filling their cars with all sorts of goodies.
Repression, Respectability, Race, Gender, and
the Generation Gap
The police are caught in a
bind and are seeing the limits of using force. If they keep their distance
protesters riot, but when they come with force they inspire more people to come
into the streets, which lead to more riots. At this point, if they want to
crush this thing they have to convict Darren Wilson (the cop who shot Brown) of
murder. But the wheels of justice are slow. In the meantime, they’re going to
have to work to divide the protesters. In their desperation, all of the
time-tested dichotomies are being deployed- protester vs criminal, honest vs
opportunist, resident vs outsider. Unfortunately the police have a long list of
accomplices willing to do the work for them, most of whom are fully aware of
what they’re doing. From the New Black Panther Party to the Nation of Islam.
From HOT 104.1 to FOX News. From MORE to OBS. From Jesse Jackson to Al
Sharpton. From Nelly to Tef Poe (Po). From current St Louis Mayor Slay to
future St Louis Mayor French. And the list goes on.
While they may be succeeding on
TV, radio, and social media these loudmouths aren’t having as much success on
West Florissant (despite their own reports to the contrary), and that must
scare the shit out of them. It’s worth mentioning that social media is where
they have had the most success. They’ve become pros at getting twits who will
never go down to Ferguson to retweet their fewer than 140 character
self-serving reports ad nauseam. In return the twits get to feel as if they’re
a part of something. Maybe these rumors, half-truths and lies will prove to be
damaging to people, (and that would be terrible) but most of it is
transparently conspiracy theory bullshit to anyone with critical thinking
skills.
There are still far more black
protesters than white on West Florissant, but there seems to be more diversity
as the struggle continues. Early on comments directed at white protesters such
as “why’re you here” were answered with “man, she/he hates the police too!” Now
if the presence of white protesters is even noted it sounds more like “thank
you for being here.” A sinister few liberal and leftist groups try to spread
absurd stories that small groups of white agitators (or even KKK infiltrators!)
are tricking black protesters into going on the attack. The racist underlying
assumptions about the exploitable nature of black protesters makes sense when
you realize that’s exactly how groups like the Nation of Islam and the New
Black Panther Party view them. Back in the real world, white protesters are
just now starting to catch up with some of the ferocity of their black
comrades, who’re grown enough to make decisions for themselves.
The authorities engaged in
some good cop/bad cop by putting Ron Johnson (a black officer who grew up in
North County) in command of police operations. During the light of day, he and
his officers take off their riot gear and walk alongside protesters. This trick
has worked on the self-imposed protest leaders who openly work with Johnson to
control the crowds.
There are countless calls from
the Nation of Islam, the New Black Panther Party, and their socially
conservative ilk for women to go home, for strong black men to step up, and
other such patriarchal attempts divide the protesters. The first couple days
these calls were met with tremendous resistance from mostly black women. “Fuck
you, go back to church”. “I’ve been here from day one”. “It’s our babies who’re
dying”. The constant harassment seems to have taken its toll as fewer women are
out, especially after dark. But women are still out front taunting the police
and rushing into stores to get theirs.
Nearly all who attempt to
restrain the actions of the most confrontational and declare themselves leaders
of the community are over 40. Aside from physically stopping young people from
acting, they try to ostracize them from the protest. These wise elders may walk
around with a paternalistic aura of authority, but the youth aren’t fooled: “I
can’t listen to these old heads, been sayin’ the same thing for years.” “This
peaceful marching ain’t workin’, without the looting nobody would’ve gave a
shit about Mike Mike.” Still they continuously call for the boys to grow up and
be men and for the young women to go home, because the streets aren’t safe for
them.
Peace and Quiet
There are some indications
that the liberal groups are distancing themselves from the city of Ferguson.
They are beginning to organize rallies and civil disobedience in Clayton and
Downtown St Louis. Maybe they’re giving up their campaign to control the angry
elements. Maybe they’re trying to put a more peaceful media-friendly face on
the movement. Maybe they’re trying out new strategies for getting justice. Only
time will tell.
The situation in Ferguson is
scary. It’s easy to understand why some, especially those who live near the
activity, want a return to normal: bullets, tear gas, sound cannons, check
points, fire. But despite all this, there are a sizable number of us who don’t
want a return to normal. We descend on West Florissant day and night to figure
out how to avoid it. To us, the struggle is not limited to justice for Mike
Brown and the conviction of a single cop of murder in a court of law. We are
doing this for ourselves, our friends and family, as well as Mike Brown. We’ve
already found this system guilty- the racism, the class structure, the
government, the police. When the “peace” you are continuously urged to return
to looks like powerlessness, humiliation, poverty, boredom, and violence, it
shouldn’t be a surprise many choose to fight. And to witness the ferocity with
which some of us fight, it’s almost as if we’ve been waiting for this moment
our entire lives. Two nights ago people took a run at the police command post
forcing the authorities to call in the National Guard. Previously this would
have been unthinkable, but then again just two weeks ago this whole thing would
have been unthinkable.
And so we raise a shot of
looted gin – A TOAST! May we continue to surprise each other.
St. Louis
8/19/2014
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