BLOG – MAY 8, 2016


BLM ON BLM

Commentary By Lucy Maness Warner
May 8, 2016


This is a section from my daily news blog which grew much too large to be presented there. It begins with the following news article, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/west-point-launches-inquiry-into-cadets-raised-fists-photo/, West Point launches inquiry into cadets' raised-fists photo, CBS/AP May 7, 2016, 9:35 PM. This is followed by a BLM comment. In addition, I highly recommend that you go directly to their website for a statement about who they are and what they stand for. Unless they have changed it since I read it several months ago, they are not a “radical” organization, though they do sound determined. That’s like a good old-fashioned labor union, and we need more of that today.

They absolutely do not recommend the killing of police officers and certainly not whites in general. They just want legal changes that really work to solve the police violence problem that we all too clearly do have in this country. I was on the Internet a number of months ago on the G+ website, where people have online conversations. The only hostile response that I’ve had, was from a White Supremacist True Believer, who simply said, “You are a traitor to your race.” I’m not a traitor to my race. I just strongly oppose what too many of my race stand for these days. For one thing, we are NOT in a war situation, at least so far; and more importantly, I refuse to lie down before such hate filled people and simply let them win. If they don’t like what I say, they shouldn’t read it.

The CBS article says, “Blogger John Burk, a former drill sergeant and Iraq War veteran, wrote a post Tuesday saying the cadets' gesture linked them with Black Lives Matter activists "known for inflicting violent protest throughout various parts of the United States, calling for the deaths of police officers, and even going so far as to call for the deaths of white Americans." Burk posted his essay to Facebook, where it was shared with more than 14,000 times. "The fact that it could offend someone by its usage qualifies it as a symbol that goes against Army policies," Burk told the New York Times by email. ’It's not the fact that they are wrong for having their beliefs, it's the fact they did it while in uniform.’"

Americans have always been, or at least in the South and during my years on the earth, very shy of street demonstrations of any kinds, including the KKK marches in most cases. While we as a species will indulge fully in one to one or small group violence out of sheer inborne cantankerousness, the deep fear of one violent mob facing off against another over some political issue is extreme in the US. We love our traditions of fair laws and fair votes (as we each tend naively to believe that we actually do have here). People in my day, 1950 to 1980, feared “the Communists” as our deadly foe, because they were revolutionary. A truly conservative or even conservative-leaning person not only fears mob rule, they hate it. It’s not the American Way, most of us think. We forget that the “Boston Tea Party” was a mob action by a gang of our most respected – even worshipped in some circles – nationalistic leaders. Notably, however, they didn’t kill. They just destroyed property, which was in part a happy accident. The early settlers here were angry at the Brits, but they hadn’t been enslaved, etc. as the American blacks have. I do understand Black anger. I just don’t want my country to devolve into the cultural level of the Paleolithic.

We Americans also need to reflect honestly upon the fact that the Civil Rights and Voter laws were written and signed with a back drop of large and very persuasive street marches, which the BLM has yet to produce. Without those the Civil Rights movement would not have succeeded, and very likely we would still be living in a state of Jim Crow, or if you prefer, Apartheid.

This matters to me on a personal level because my first wakeup calls about our unacceptable racial warfare goes back to the age of 12 years old or so. The Belk’s Department Store in Thomasville, NC had a “white” and a “colored” bathroom for each of the sexes. A lot of Southern whites in those days honestly thought that they could get syphilis from sitting on a toilet seat after a black person. They assumed that said black person HAD syphilis. I remember also a shocking news photo from the 1960 lunch counter sit ins in Greensboro, some twenty miles from my home town. It showed a line of black men stubbornly facing down a line of all white policemen with three furious German Shepherds lunging at their leashes. I had also been disgusted by the inability of a black person to order food at any restaurant and actually sit down to eat it there. That clearly violent photograph, though, went beyond disgust. It scared and shocked me, and made me feel shame.

There were relatively few black people in my town and, within my experience, they were not aggressive in any way. I had little to do with them, but none of my experiences were bad ones. When I was six years old Mother said that while waiting to undergo minor surgery in the hospital I was happily talking to the black orderly who was waiting to push me into the operating room. I do remember his face. He was friendly and gentle, and perhaps interested in white people overall, but clearly in children. There were some white children that age who would already have been fearful and hostile toward blacks due to living in a rabidly racist household, but luckily I escaped that. Daddy made some disrespectful comments about blacks, but never called them by any animal names as others sometimes did, and was on friendly terms with those who worked (under him, of course) at the lumber yard of Thomasville Chair Factory as it was then called. In later years, the 1970s, he had a black friend who was his weekly “fishin’ buddy.”

Racial feelings among whites and blacks have always been a mixed bag on both sides. That doesn’t make it harmless, but it does give me hope. I’m a very liberal Democrat, but I can’t hate whites, as I’m sure many blacks do, and I certainly don’t hate blacks. I know too much about how we all came to be the flawed individuals that we are. I don’t really hate anybody, except child molesters and verbal/emotional/physical bullies of all stamps. That includes people who brutally treat animals.

It has been a mixed history for me personally, also. When my grandmother spoke of the black family who took her and her parents and siblings into their home for several weeks while their own home was being rebuilt – a huge forest fire had burned up many acres in Moore County – I was enthralled and delighted. I loved it when my parents and grandparents would tell me about their lives before the modern day. On both sides of the family their stories went back into the Civil War era. That same grandmother had love letters that a family member had written from the war to his wife. He wrote about who she could get to bring in the crops. The black family who took 6 or 8 whites in and sheltered them were not only following the Christian rules, they were doing it voluntarily. That’s what I really want to see!

Last, I want readers to remember that real interpersonal relations over racial lines -- complete with respect and love -- are possible, and within my experience, very enjoyable. I think the solution to our racial illness in this country lies within the hearts of all willing and enlightened individuals; but in the meanwhile, before universal peace is achieved, I believe in non-violent marching and other forms of persuasive and assertive behavior to achieve justice. That behavior shouldn’t include throwing things, from bottles to punches, of course. That’s not a true civil action, but merely abuse. The value of the PEACEFUL marches is that they get the public’s attention without causing those of good heart to close up emotionally and become more and more hostile. Trust me. You want to keep good will if you have it.

As a practical matter I think marching was more effective in the MLK day because they were operating under pacifist rules and instead of marching down the middle of the busiest main thoroughfare in the city, they got what was called “parade permits,” and avoided that sort of street. BLM has been purposely tying up traffic even on highways, and I do think that is detrimental their purpose. They shouldn’t want hostility, after all, but cooperation.

We need, in my opinion, to get the whole legal structure on the side of JUSTICE, from the legislatures all across the country to law suits to the local courts that today unfairly sentence so many poor people, especially but not by any means completely, in the minority communities. The success of the whole MLK movement gives me cause to work for change, and hope for true peace between people. I will continue, as a part of that goal, my lifelong tendency to make friends with people despite their skin color or slant of eye. I am strongly of the opinion that a society is the compilation of all its’ individuals – good folks, good laws. Add in some Beatle music and you can have peace and love as well.

I was shocked when I read the claim in the reader comment below BLM’s statement on the apparently undesirable display of women soldiers giving the Black Power salute. That came from a commenter named “Karen,” in which she reported the extreme anti-cop statements, and was then very logically refuted by “Nicole Flatz.” She stated that BLM marchers were chanting “What do we want? Dead Cops.” In addition, a blogger named John Burk, a former drill sergeant and Iraq War veteran, stated in his post that the cadets' gesture linked them with Black Lives Matter activists "known for inflicting violent protest throughout various parts of the United States, calling for the deaths of police officers, and even going so far as to call for the deaths of white Americans." I was surprised and skeptical, because all I had heard of BLM through the daily news articles was much more moderate than that. In looking into the matter I found a great BLM essay which I am publishing here below the CBS article. Read the BLM article and all the reader comments, as well as the statement of values on the BLM website. They’re all very helpful and informational reading.

The officer quoted by CBS News below stated on his Facebook page that the BLM groups were “known for inflicting violent protest throughout various parts of the United States, calling for the deaths of police officers, and even going so far as to call for the deaths of white Americans." That was the first time I had heard of these things, and in fact when the emotional super-bomb blew up in Ferguson, I was actually impressed by the lack of violence. Flatz, the commenter below, makes clear that not everyone at those marches are actually from BLM, and that the organization also doesn’t have total control over their participants.

I do think that they should, for their own good as well as for that of our society, make a real effort to reach and work more closely with the marchers. So far there has been too much passion and not enough planning. I was, however, glad to see that a viable movement was emerging rather than a descent into useless and highly destructive true riots. Destruction of neighborhoods and the brutal murder of some innocent non-black person who happens to get lost. Getting lost in a black neighborhood shouldn’t be a capital crime. All people should consciously and carefully work together toward the goal of peace.

Personally, I did immediately recognize that the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” did not actually mean that only blacks matter, but I believe the more they show that they aren’t actually haters of whites and especially police, the more they will succeed as a force for peace and justice. Until people trust them, as we came to trust MLK, they will not win the war. We do need strong and fairly written LAWS that state clear limits on how cops operate. No longer should police officers be given carte blanche to do exactly as they please; they must be much better trained and chosen, and must make a truly active effort to get to know, on a personal level, the members of the communities where the operate. I also feel that excessive violence for any reason should be punished by the loss of the officer's job and a jail term of appropriate length. Those “bad apples” tend to get away with it time and again, and as a result they keep reoffending. The problem with humans is that we don't really want to get along, learn about, come to understand, or become trustworthy. Those things take too much work. Until we stop all that back and forth of pure hatefulness, we will all continue to be in misery and in danger. Moreover, there will be more Donald Trumps, and more NeoFascists to follow them. We need to make our choice for peace and decent relationships very soon. We are in a very dangerous balance these days, and I don't have that simple confidence I had in 1963 that we'll all be okay. Sing Kum ba ya.

Go to the news article and BLM commentary below.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/west-point-launches-inquiry-into-cadets-raised-fists-photo/

West Point launches inquiry into cadets' raised-fists photo
CBS/AP
May 7, 2016, 9:35 PM

Photograph -- This undated image taken from Twitter shows 16 black, female cadets in uniform with their fists raised while posing for a photograph at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. TWITTER/AP
Photograph -- john-carlos-tommie-smith.jpg, Extending gloved hands skyward in racial protest, U.S. athletes Tommie Smith, center, and John Carlos stare downward during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner after Smith received the gold and Carlos the bronze for the 200 meter run at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City on Oct. 16, 1968. Australian silver medalist Peter Norman is at left. AP PHOTO


NEW YORK -- The U.S. Military Academy has launched an inquiry into a photo showing 16 black, female cadets in uniform with their fists raised, an image that has spurred questions about whether the gesture violates military restrictions on political activity.

West Point is looking into whether the photo broke any rules, Spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker said Saturday. It's unclear how long the inquiry will take and too soon to say what consequences it could have for the cadets, who are poised to graduate May 21.

By campus tradition, groups of cadets often take pictures in traditional dress uniforms to echo historical portraits of their cadets. Indeed, a different picture of the same women, without the raised fists, was tweeted out by the chairwoman of the academy's Board of Visitors, 1980 graduate Brenda Sue Fulton.

But the fists-up image, which circulated online, led some observers to question whether the women were expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which grew out of protests over police killings of unarmed black men.

The Army Times, which first wrote about the photo Thursday, said several readers had written in to say they believed the cadets were breaching a Defense Department policy that says "members on active duty should not engage in partisan political activity," with exceptions for voting and certain other things.

Blogger John Burk, a former drill sergeant and Iraq War veteran, wrote a post Tuesday saying the cadets' gesture linked them with Black Lives Matter activists "known for inflicting violent protest throughout various parts of the United States, calling for the deaths of police officers, and even going so far as to call for the deaths of white Americans."

Burk posted his essay to Facebook, where it was shared more than 14,000 times.

"The fact that it could offend someone by its usage qualifies it as a symbol that goes against Army policies," Burk told the New York Times by email. "It's not the fact that they are wrong for having their beliefs, it's the fact they did it while in uniform."

But Mary Tobin, a West Point graduate and mentor who knows the students, said they were simply celebrating their forthcoming graduation as a shared accomplishment, like a sports team raising helmets after a win.

"It was a sign of unity," Tobin, a 2003 graduate, said by phone. "They weren't trying to imply any allegiance to any movement."

The raised fist has served as a symbol of power and resistance for various political movements and causes. The gesture has caused controversy before, including when black American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos lifted gloved fists in black power salutes during a medal ceremony at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Yet the cadets, immersed in the insulated and demanding environment of West Point, didn't anticipate how their gesture would be interpreted and the attention it would draw, said Tobin, who has spoken with them about it.

"Their frame of reference is: 'Right now, we're getting ready to graduate in three weeks, I'm standing here with my sisters.... We outlasted a lot of people, black or white, male or female,'" she said.

Black women cadets are rarities at West Point, where about 70 percent of students are white and about 80 percent are men, although the percentage of women has been growing in recent starting classes.



http://blacklivesmatter.com/11-major-misconceptions-about-the-black-lives-matter-movement/

11 Major Misconceptions About the Black Lives Matter Movement

Photograph -- Protesters in Washington, D.C., after a grand jury decided not to charge a police officer in the death of Eric Garner. Getty

Since the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer in 2013 and the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, the phrase “black lives matter” has become a rallying cry for a new chapter in the long black freedom struggle. But this new movement’s penchant for disruptive protest and impassioned public speeches about persistent racial inequality have been disconcerting to many Americans who wonder what the end-game is for this new generation of protesters. Do black lives matter more than white lives? bystanders ask. Why can’t black people simply address the crime problem in their own communities? others want to know. And if the problems are really this bad, can’t voting for new political leaders solve them? sympathizers wonder. These are just some of the many questions surrounding this new movement. But the young people taking to the streets in protest have a righteous cause. They deserve a fair hearing. And we can begin by debunking a few myths about what the Black Lives Matter movement is and what it isn’t.

1. The movement doesn’t care about black-on-black crime. The idea that black-on-black crime is not a significant political conversation among black people is patently false. In Chicago, long maligned for its high rates of intraracial murder, members of the community created the Violence Interrupters to disrupt violent altercations before they escalate. However, those who insist on talking about black-on-black crime frequently fail to acknowledge that most crime is intraracial. Ninety-three percent of black murder victims are killed by other black people. Eighty-four percent of white murder victims are killed by other white people. The continued focus on black-on-black crime is a diversionary tactic, whose goal is to suggest that black people don’t have the right to be outraged about police violence in vulnerable black communities, because those communities have a crime problem. The Black Lives Matter movement acknowledges the crime problem, but it refuses to locate that crime problem as a problem of black pathology. Black people are not inherently more violent or more prone to crime than other groups. But black people are disproportionately poorer, more likely to be targeted by police and arrested, and more likely to attend poor or failing schools. All of these social indicators place one at greater risk for being either a victim or a perpetrator of violent crime. To reduce violent crime, we must fight to change systems, rather than demonizing people.

2. It’s a leaderless movement. The Black Lives Matter movement is a leaderfull movement. Many Americans of all races are enamored with Martin Luther King as a symbol of leadership and what real movements look like. But the Movement for Black Lives, another name for the BLM movement, recognizes many flaws with this model. First, focusing on heterosexual, cisgender black men frequently causes us not to see the significant amount of labor and thought leadership that black women provide to movements, not only in caretaking and auxiliary roles, but on the front lines of protests and in the strategy sessions that happen behind closed doors. Moreover, those old models leadership favored the old over the young, attempted to silence gay and lesbian leadership, and did not recognize the leadership possibilities of transgender people at all. Finally, a movement with a singular leader or a few visible leaders is vulnerable, because those leaders can be easily identified, harassed, and killed, as was the case with Dr. King. By having a leaderfull movement, BLM addresses many of these concerns. BLM is composed of many local leaders and many local organizations including Black Youth Project 100, the Dream Defenders, the Organization for Black Struggle, Hands Up United, Millennial Activists United, and the Black Lives Matter national network. We demonstrate through this model that the movement is bigger than any one person. And there is room for the talents, expertise, and work ethic of anyone who is committed to freedom.

3. The movement has no agenda. Many believe the Black Lives Matter movement has no agenda — other than yelling and protesting and disrupting the lives of white people. This is also false. Since the earliest days of the movement in Ferguson, groups like the Organization for Black Struggle, the Black Lives Matter network, and others have made both clear and public a list of demands. Those demands include swift and transparent legal investigation of all police shootings of black people; official governmental tracking of the number of citizens killed by police, disaggregated by race; the demilitarization of local police forces; and community accountability mechanisms for rogue police officers. Some proposals like the recently launched Campaign Zero by a group of Ferguson activists call for body cameras on every police officer. But other groups are more reticent about this solution, since it would lead to increased surveillance and possible invasions of privacy, not to mention a massive governmental database of information about communities of color that are already heavily under surveillance by government forces.

4. It’s a one-issue movement. Although it is true that much of the protesting to date has been centered on the issue of police brutality, there is a range of issues that movement work will likely push in years to come. One is the issue of our failing system of public education, which is a virtual school-to-prison pipeline for many black youth. Another is the complete dismantling of the prison industrial complex. Many of the movement’s organizers identify as abolitionists, which in the 21st-century context refers to people who want to abolish prisons and end the problem of mass incarceration of black and Latino people. Three other significant issues are problems with safe and affordable housing, issues with food security, and reproductive justice challenges affecting poor women of color and all people needing access to reproductive care. As I frequently like to tell people, this movement in its current iteration is just over a year old. Give it some time to find its footing and its take on all the aforementioned issues. But the conversations are on the table, largely because many of the folks doing on-the-ground organizing came to this work through their organizing work around other issues.

5. The movement has no respect for elders. The BLM movement is an intergenerational movement. Certainly there have been schisms and battles between younger and older movers about tactics and strategies. There has also been criticism from prior civil rights participants. There is a clear rejection of the respectability politics ethos of the civil rights era, namely a belief in the idea that proper dress and speech will guard against harassment by the police. This is a significant point of tension within black communities, because in a system that makes one feel powerless to change it, belief in the idea that a good job, being well-behaved, and having proper dress and comportment will protect you from the evils of racism feels like there’s something you can do to protect yourself, that there’s something you can do to have a bit of control over your destiny. This movement patently rejects such thinking in the face of massive evidence of police mistreatment of black people of all classes and backgrounds. All people should be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of how one looks or speaks. If you ever have occasion to attend a protest action, you will see black people of all ages, from the very young to the very old, standing in solidarity with the work being done.

6. The black church has no role to play. Many know that the black church was central to the civil rights movement, as many black male preachers became prominent civil rights leaders. This current movement has a very different relationship to the church than movements past. Black churches and black preachers in Ferguson have been on the ground helping since the early days after Michael Brown’s death. But protesters patently reject any conservative theology about keeping the peace, praying copiously, or turning the other cheek. Such calls are viewed as a return to passive respectability politics. But local preachers and pastors like Rev. Traci Blackmon, Rev. Starsky Wilson, and Rev. Osagyefo Sekou have emerged as what I call “Movement Pastors.” With their radical theologies of inclusion and investment in preaching a revolutionary Jesus (a focus on the parts of scripture where Jesus challenges the Roman power structure rather than the parts about loving one’s enemies) and their willingness to think of church beyond the bounds of a physical structure or traditional worship, they are reimagining what notions of faith and church look like, and radically transforming the idea of what the 21st-century black church should be.

7. The movement does not care about queer or trans lives. The opening presenter at the first national convening of the Movement for Black Lives in Cleveland this summer was Elle Hearns, a trans black woman organizer from Ohio. That she was collectively chosen to open the proceedings was a deliberate choice to center both women and queer and trans people as movement leaders. This is a clear break from prior racial justice movement politics. Not only does the Movement for Black Lives embrace queer and trans black people, but it has been at the forefront of efforts to highlight our national epidemic of murders of trans women of color. This year alone, we have had nearly 20 murders. Moreover, the movement does not merely give token representation to queer and trans people. Two of the founders of the Black Lives Matter network, Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza, are queer black women. And queer and trans black people are not called in merely to discuss queer and trans issues. They are at the table, on the stage, in the protests. These moves have not been without their challenges, and the movement has had to deal with queer and trans antagonism both from the broader public and within movement spaces. But there is a fundamental belief that when we say Black Lives Matter, we mean all black lives matter.

8. The movement hates white people. The statement “black lives matter” is not an anti-white proposition. Contained within the statement is an unspoken but implied “too,” as in “black lives matter, too,” which suggests that the statement is one of inclusion rather than exclusion. However, those white people who continue to mischaracterize the affirmation of the value of black life as being anti-white are suggesting that in order for white lives to matter, black lives cannot. That is a foundational premise of white supremacy. It is antithetical to what the Black Lives Matter movement stands for, which is the simple proposition that “black lives also matter.” The Black Lives Matter movement demands that the country affirm the value of black life in practical and pragmatic ways, including addressing an increasing racial wealth gap, fixing public schools that are failing, combating issues of housing inequality and gentrification that continue to push people of color out of communities they have lived in for generations, and dismantling the prison industrial complex. None of this is about hatred for white life. It is about acknowledging that the system already treats white lives as if they have more value, as if they are more worthy of protection, safety, education, and a good quality of life than black lives are. This must change.

9. The movement hates police officers. Police officers are people. Their lives have inherent value. This movement is not an anti-people movement; therefore it is not an anti-police-officer movement. Most police officers are just everyday people who want to do their jobs, make a living for their families, and come home safely at the end of their shift. This does not mean, however, that police are not implicated in a system that criminalizes black people, that demands that they view black people as unsafe and dangerous, that trains them to be more aggressive and less accommodating with black citizens, and that does not stress that we are taxpayers who deserve to be protected and served just like everyone else. Thus the Black Lives Matter movement is not trying to make the world more unsafe for police officers; it hopes to make police officers less of a threat to communities of color. Thus, we reject the idea that asking officers questions about why one is being stopped or arrested, about what one is being charged with, constitutes either disrespect or resistance. We reject the use of military-grade weapons as appropriate policing mechanisms for any American community. We reject the faulty idea that disrespect is a crime, that black people should be nice or civil when they are being hassled or arrested on trumped-up charges. And we question the idea that police officers should be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to policing black communities. Increasingly, the presence of police makes black people feel less rather than more safe. And that has everything to do with the antagonistic and power-laden ways in which police interact with citizens more generally and black citizens in particular. Therefore, police officers must rebuild trust with the communities they police. Not the other way around.

10. The movement’s primary goal should be the vote. Recently the Democratic National Committee endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement. The BLM network swiftly rejected that endorsement. While voting certainly matters, particularly in local municipalities like Ferguson, movement members are clear that voting for policies and politicians whose ultimate goal is to maintain a rotten and unjust system is counterproductive. Thus the movement cares about national politics, and many participants have sought to make presidential candidates responsive to their political concerns. However, there is deep skepticism about whether the American system is salvageable, because it is so deeply rooted in ideas of racial caste. In this regard, the BLM movement, together with the Occupy movement of years past, is causing a resurgence of a viable, visible, and vocal (black) left in national politics. Moving some issues of import onto the 2016 election agenda should therefore be viewed as a tactic, not a goal. The goal is freedom and safety for all black lives. And that goal is much bigger than one election.

11. There’s not actually a movement at all. Until Bernie Sanders sought the attention of Black Lives Matter participants, many [sic -- See LMW comment below.] were wont to acknowledge that a new racial justice movement even existed. For the record, since August 2014, more than 1,030 protest actions have been held in the name of Black Lives Matter. A new generation of protest music has come forth with songs from Janelle Monae, Prince, J. Cole, Lauryn Hill, and Rick Ross. The first national convening in July drew over 1,000 participants. There is a new consciousness and a new spirit seeking justice, and the participants carrying the torch show no signs of slowing down.


COMMENTS

Eric October 13, 2015 at 2:01 pm
I wish you would address those folks who state that #BlackLivesMatter is condoning violence. It’s something that I’ve come to your website and various publicans to refute, but yet to find any charter or philosophy addressing non-violent protest.

Karen Curtis October 18, 2015 at 6:27 pm
Recently there was a response to police brutality by people who marched down a city street shouting “What do we want? Dead cops” over and over. This group said they were members of Black Lives Matter- this action presents a very negative view of the movement, does it not?

Nichole Flatz October 21, 2015 at 7:09 pm
Of course that presents a negative view. I cannot speak for the BLM movement, I can only give you my opinion.

After reading what BLM stands for, their missions statements, and goals…do you really believe that slogan people were chanting originated from BLM? No one should have to insult your intelligence by explaining it to you. See #9 again. That is the BLM’s way of disowning that. They cannot be expected to respond to every single movement done in their name. Use your resources and your own intelligence. There is no need to seek an answer from someone else when you are perfectly capable of getting there yourself. There will always be people who associate themselves with a movement and then do/say something that the movement doesn’t stand for. Just because I wear a BLM T-shirt and go on a march does not mean that everything I say and do is something they agree with. As humans we screw up. As humans we have our own opinions and believe it or not people in the same group can disagree. The church is a wonderful example of that. One body and lots of disagreement.

I hope that answered your question.



LMW comment:

The use of the adjective “wont” in Item 11 above as it appears in the sentence “Until Bernie Sanders sought the attention of Black Lives Matter participants, many were wont to acknowledge that a new racial justice movement even existed" is being used to mean the exact opposite of the dictionary definition, and therefore should be corrected. [Use “few” rather than many, and the sentence will work better.] However, the thought it represents is RIGHT ON, as we ‘70s folk are wont to say. Bernie Sanders is leading the charge to a better way of thinking by politicians and Americans.

You will see that "wont" has no relationship at all to "want." To become familiar with the use of this word, which is a very old one, a reader needs to choose books that were issued before 1900 or so, according to the history chart at this Google.com site. I was an English Lit major, and I love Victorian and earlier writing. I especially like the music of the term “wont.” It rolls pleasantly off my tongue. See below:


https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=wont+definition

wont

wônt,wōnt/Submit

adjectiveliterary
adjective: wont

1.
(of a person) in the habit of doing something; accustomed.
"he was wont to arise at 5:30 every morning"
synonyms: accustomed, used, given, inclined
"he was wont to arise at 5:30"

nounformalhumorous
noun: wont

1.
one's customary behavior in a particular situation.
"Constance, as was her wont, had paid her little attention"
synonyms: custom, habit, way, practice, convention, rule
"Paul drove fast, as was his wont"

verbarchaic

verb: wont; 3rd person present: wonts; 3rd person present: wont; past tense: wont; past participle: wont; past tense: wonted; past participle: wonted; gerund or present participle: wonting
1.
make or be or become accustomed.
"wont thy heart to thoughts hereof"
Origin

Old English gewunod, past participle of wunian, ‘dwell, be accustomed’ of Germanic origin.
Translate wont to
Use over time for: wont (go to website.)