Black Lives Matter March - Seattle, March 5, 2017

Many great signs

All ages participated

On March the 5th, 2017, a good-sized Black Lives Matter march took place in Seattle, protesting the building of a new juvenile "justice" center.

It was an energetic march, and well-attended. 

Flyer and book table.

A good live report can be found here. It does a better job reporting the march itself, and getting live video interviews. 

This is so much different from the WTO marches, when media concentrated on a few marchers who attended for the purpose of making trouble, instead of on the thousands of marchers there to be seriously involved and to make a statement. 

You'd think the larger story would have been better Pulitzer bait. The media did a better job this time. Then again, when everybody there has camera phones, traditional media has to get its act together.

Me and Barbara

The pink sign around my neck says "Jews for Black Lives Matter." The woman passing them out said that, before, when they'd made signs for different groups, they ran out, and then everybody wore the Jewish signs. So she just made the Jewish signs this time. So I wore one. 

Pink is the color of Resist, of course. We all know why.

Barbara is a woman I met at the march. She didn't have a hat, it was drizzling, and I had an extra Nasty Woman Pussy Hat (my amateur crocheted hats). So I gave her one that fit her. I soon lost her in the march; I hope she's enjoying her wicked Resist hat! It's darned cute on her.

More signs

There were a lot of signs, and a lot of people. 

Of course, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were there, as they always represent for good causes. You can't become a full-fledged Nun in the Sisters until you've run your own charity event.

The march stopped at certain intersections, so individuals could give speeches and point out how many people in government and even the college had money in the detention center. The mayor and the college were outed for having monetary connections with the center.

The Sisters

One wonders how anyone can think anything's secret any more. I guess the same people who think emails are "secure?" The old Right-wing line "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" is coming back to bite them in the butt.

The police were well-behaved. The vehicles were there to guarantee our safety in traffic, and the bicycle police accompanied us on one sidewalk. I told one of them I'd been in the WTO marches, and I liked seeing the police not wearing riot gear. 

Pause for speeches

After WTO, the best of the police knew they'd been had by the city and their commanders, and decided to do things differently. But we still have too much police action against POC and immigrants. Which was pointed out by the marchers. 

The march went down to Yesler and turned up the hill. After a few blocks, we were asking whose idea it was to trudge up a Seattle hill. But the march only slowed down for a couple more blocks before regaining its energy. It was up for any challenges.

BLM hoodie

A few masked folks showed up at this point and tried to escalate, but we pretty much ignored them. You'd think they'd know they've been outed by now. Masks and yelling, "Fuck the Cops!" - really? Like you don't think we know who you are, or what you're trying to do? 

The cops are a uniformed fan club, and if they're poked, they panic, especially when they're been cool. We know that now, and we're not letting anybody steal the thunder, no matter who they are. They know they're going to look bad, attacking nice protestors when there are so many cameras.

Resist

That doesn't mean the message was weak. The people speaking demanded better treatment of all Seattle's people, and pointed fingers at business interests in the prison industry, which concentrates people of color. 

As one woman said, we white people KNOW we have privilege, and standing up for these historically attacked groups - who were a major force in building this country, or victims of its expansion - is our duty. We need to not bite the hand that fed us.

Speeches - lots of folks

At about half-way through the march, I hit my second wind, and got pretty drunk on adrenaline, marching up the hill too fast, especially for the hard driving I would have to do the next day. Me and the stronger kids, leaving the parade behind. 

As we were near where I was staying, I left the march and took some final photos. 

The march continued on, energy unabated.

Up Yesler