I’ve been mulling over writing something about the killing of Mike Brown, the resulting mass demonstrations, racist police practices, Darren Wilson’s grand jury miscarriage, and the systemic white supremacy that has facilitated all these realities, but there have been more than enough probing think pieces to speak for me as I process my rage and privilege. But as a movement for justice builds through words, solidarity, and action, there has been tension about what course of action is most strategic or successful to challenge this rigged system.
While some tactics – like the human chain that discontinued BART’s transbay service on Black Friday – have been met with fairly widespread support, others – such as property damage and looting/liberating in downtown Oakland and the Temescal – have been divisive. That tension has caused some to distance themselves from the Justice for Mike Brown movement and fueled the right’s continued mischaracterization of it. Thankfully, wherever you fall in this debate, one of America’s wisest and most astute social justice observers, Jay Smooth, has broken down the false choice inherent in this discord. By illuminating the causal relationship between the taking of black life and the rioting and property damage that follow, he reminds those who are mad about broken windows that they should care more about the cause of that destruction – the unjust taking of black life. #BlackLivesMatter
