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Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

In 2017, the Women's March and #metoo revolutionized a lot of people. Relatives that never really gave a shit started meeting with strangers in small coffee shops and in front of senator's offices to take action. They became voter registrars and knocked on doors in 2018 Women took online ranting to actual action and started running for office. I knew personally more people running for office in 2018 than in any other election in memory. All women, most won. . It happened all over the country. It's still going. The 2018 midterms sprang from a lot of things, but women organizing in a quiet way had a huge impact on that.

The events of the last two weeks were even greater than the Women's March. Places that I NEVER thought would give a shit about racism stood up. Fucking Vidor, Texas had more than 100 people show up. What the fuck? And has been sustained over a long period. Part of it, I think, has to do with the racist bullshit coming out of the White House from day one, starting with the immigration ban and pretty much every day since. Part of it has to do with the fact that parts of this country have done the adult equivalent of sticking their fingers in their ears and yelling "I DON'T HEAR YOU" when the issue of police brutality against African Amercians has been brought up. Kapernick's treatment is a particularly egregious example of this, but it's not the only one. Part of it is that this particular murder was pretty horrific and can't really be excused away, especially given the video, though I'm sure they'll try. It's certainly the first time I've seen someone slowly and deliberately killed in real life. A lot of it has to do with the rage and frustration and helplessness people feel about the pandemic.

The police didn't do themselves any favors in the early days of the protests by reacting so violently. Especially when they did jack shit with those armed assholes that were protesting fucking haircuts and bars.

I see this as a mobilizing point. Whether or not the general public forgets isn't as important as planting the seeds of organization. Is it in time for the 2020? I think so, given the sheer number of people who have been radicalized in some way. There are groups forming all over the country, even in places that were improbable before the pandemic started. It's impossible right now to get books like White Fragility on Amazon because so many people are reading them right now. My white (for Houston) yoga studio is hosting a book club starting this week starting with Heavy: An American Memoir, also impossible to get in tangible form right now. Sorority members are calling out racism in their houses on Twitter. Authors are sharing the details of their book deals to shine light on disparities. There's a revolution happening in places like Conde Nast and Crossfit. Like #metoo, people are feeling comfortable coming forward publicly with shit they've been carrying privately for too long.

The problem of course, demonstrated so beautifully by the shitty situation in Georgia earlier this week, is the Republicans have done everything in their power to prevent people from voting. This in the middle of the pandemic when we really shouldn't be that close to each other.

So we'll see, but I think that this is a flashpoint. A lot of people in this country want to ignore as a one-time-thing like all of the other beatings and killings that we forget about and move on. I don't think so.

45 is holding a rally on Juneteenth. In Tulsa. Seems like it could get interesting.