Starting tonight and until all four police officers (three whom kneeled on George Floyd) are arrested and charged, until the bad seed cops beating and targeting protesters are held accountable, until Trump is removed from office, we peacefully hold candlelight vigils.
These vigils come with the following demands. We do not stop until these demands are met. This tactic is what South Koreans used to end the autocratic role of their former President.
ONE
Police accountability and reform for the overt racism being exhibited by cops all over the country.
Arrest and charge all four police officers responsible for George Floyd’s death immediately.
Fire all racist police officers. How many times must we hear the words excessive use of force? NO MORE. Friday night and yesterday in cities throughout America, cops are seen using excessive force. There is video. You can google each of these incidents -
A cop on a horse trampling a young woman
NYPD running down protesters with SUVS and throwing men and women to the ground
There is a cop who pulled a man’s face mask down, while his hands were up, and pepper sprayed him in the face.
Images of cops seeing a young woman walking away from the protest and spraying her just because.
Cops flashing the white power sign, a signal we’ve seen repeatedly flashed in the white house, by Stephen Miller, by members of Navy at the Army Navy game.
Defund the mass weaponization of military use of force by the police that our tax dollars pay for. We purchase their protective gear, weapons, armored cars and pay their salaries. The Army trains soldiers to deescalate, there are many first hand accounts of this from Iraq, cops go into people’s home guns blazing and kill innocent people. Just ask Breonna Taylor’s family about that.
Reparations. A black man was murdered by a neighboring SWAT team on our block. 24 shots fired, 16 piercing his body. He was staying at his brother’s house. The police ransacked the house. Breaking doors, windows, destroying his possessions, ultimately killing his brother and then leaving. They left an expensive and life crushing mess. No apologies. No sweeping up glass. No admitting that they did wrong. Enough. It’s time for public apologies and funds to repair the damage done including grief counseling for families.
Empathy and Compassion Training. They are so many ways to do this including using Virtual Reality to stimulate high stress scenarios. I’m not going to detail this here and it will be in the formal plan sent to elected officials.
TWO
Trump must be removed from office now.
Can you imagine if three more Senators would have voted to impeach him how different our world would look like today? We pressure all our legislators and demand his removal from office immediately.
104,000 Americans have died from a virus he uses as a fake news rally.
30 million+ Americans on unemployment.
Armed militia freely walked into Statehouses over the past month demanding liberation from quarantine. Trump encouraged this.
Reporters targeted by cops. Trump calls reporters enemy of the people. It was no accident that reporters were shot out in cities throughout the country.
The list is too long and too senseless for me to continue. The fact that he is still in the White House with calling for MAGA night is not only absurd, it is absolutely dangerous and getting more so. We stay vocal about this.
THE NIGHTLY VIGIL
Just like the making noise for the healthcare workers, at 7:30 PM nightly, we go outside with candles lit (I know it’s still light out and I think it needs to be early, yes?) We stand in our neighborhoods, in our small towns, 6 feet apart, masks on and in silence. One person per neighborhood reads the demands out loud.
The demands are sent to Mayors, Governors, Police Chiefs, State and Federal Legislatures, all major news outlets.
We do this every night going forward until our demands are met.
There are 155 days until we can vote them out. Too many Americans are at risk and may not see that day. This is going to get uglier before it gets better.
WE MUST BE ORGANIZED. WE MUST SHOW UP.
We can’t gather in mass in city streets. It’s too dangerous. COVID19 was running free yesterday as protesters were tear-gassed, coughing and jammed together. We are going to see more cases and more deaths. We need to keep our black and brown brothers and sisters alive and safe. We can do this. Spread the word. Show up. Stand in solidarity on street corners with your neighbors.
Here’s a Facebook Event to share with your community. Please let me know how we can tweak this approach to be most effective.
I love you.
:: Genessa