A Firsthand Report on #BlackLivesMatter and Bernie Sanders
By Susan DuFresne.
I was there. I was there to hear Bernie speak at Westlake in Seattle yesterday.
To get it out in the open, I am a white ally and still learning, still reflecting, still processing what happened yesterday in Seattle, when Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors took over the stage at the Sanders event.
I was close to the stage and watched it unfold. It would be unfair to say that all whites were booing. It would be unfair to say that the crowd that was there to hear Bernie are all white supremacists. It would be accurate to say we are all playing a part in a system of institutional racism and that for too long, we have let it slide. We haven’t done enough to end it.
What happened was interesting in a crowd of mostly whites, many elderly, many Baby Boomers… Because the event was about social security. People of color seemed to be at least half of the speakers and musical parts of the program. I don’t know if BLM was invited in advance. Security was very light. Almost absent.
I have been to many protests there, even co-organized them and there has been more of a police presence at other events, yet THIS was a MUCH bigger crowd. In fact I didn’t see police there at Westlake yesterday until AFTER the BLM group disrupted Bernie’s speech. Even then, they stood back from the event on their bikes.
When the BLM group began to disrupt it was interesting to observe the crowd. I was there with a group of teachers. We stood next to a group of nurses. Some in our group have participated in seeking cultural competency training from Denisha Jones and have participated as white allies in BLM events. I was wearing my arm band from a Black Students Lives Matter event as my hat band — which I got at a Feb. 6 protest in Seattle, where I, with other teachers, used civil disobedience to block rush hour traffic by laying in the crosswalk at Westlake for 4 1/2 minutes to signify the importance of the life and the death of Michael Brown.
The crowd’s response showed they had mixed feelings about the BLM disruption as an act of civil disobedience. Some had traveled far to hear Bernie speak. Some did boo. But many also chanted “Let HER speak! Let HER speak!” Many of us whites were telling the other whites who were booing or talking during the time BLM was trying to speak to be quiet and let her speak. Whites in the crowd were shushing other A Firsthand Report on #BlackLivesMatter and Bernie Sanders - Living in Dialogue:
