“I CAN’T BREATHE”
Tags: Equality, Politics, Race, Society, Revolution

June 1, 2020 — Following are my unfiltered thoughts on the current moment in time. A moment, which I feel is an inflection point for humanity. Who we are, and who we become. This will be a look back, and a look forward. As well as a clear-eyed view on where we are right now.

Strap in, people, this is gonna be a long one…

Having lived in L.A. back in 1992, I can say that today feels very different than the Rodney King riots. There are a lot of reasons for that. L.A.P.D. has gone through many reforms. There are still problems, and police shootings, but the militaristic shock troop mentality of the Los Angeles Police Department back in ’92 is gone. In many ways, it feels that Minneapolis is where L.A. was back in ’92. And much of the U.S. is probably in the same place with their police. Militarized. Reactive. Seeing black and brown people as guilty and an existential threat that needs to be neutralized immediately without impunity. Add to that many police forces have been infiltrated by actual white supremacists who use their positions of power to literally execute people. Which, unfortunately, is a very American tradition.

But today’s protests feel very different.

First, these protests have erupted and spread so fast. And, in many places that you would not expect. Salt Lake City, Utah. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. These are very, very white cities. There are very few minorities living in Sioux Falls and Salt Lake City. And I hear there were marches and protests of solidarity this weekend as far as London and Berlin. This isn’t just black people burning down their own neighborhoods out of anger. This is everyone coming out to say, “We have had enough and things have got to change.”

Second, like I just said, this isn’t just black people burning and looting their own neighborhoods. LA ’92 was chaos. White people getting pulled out of their cars and beaten near to death. Korean storeowners on rooftops with rifles, shooting at Black looters. Black people burning everything down. Their whole neighborhoods going to ashes. That was pure rage. With terrible racial undertones. Black vs. White. Black vs. Korean. Cops vs. everybody. In fact, in ’92, the police just cleared out and let the neighborhoods burn. They did nothing to stop it. “Let the animals kill themselves.” Such was the mindset of Darryl Gates’ L.A.P.D.

But today is different. The protests are completely multi-racial. This is not a black or brown thing. This is an everybody protest. People, regardless of race, are saying “Enough, we have had enough of this bullshit and we can stay silent no more.”

“I CAN’T BREATHE” are three words. They are a chant. They are on signs. They are some of the final words that came out of George Floyd’s mouth before he was murdered. And he is certainly not the first black man who was murdered by police to say those three words. Eric Garner was strangled by the NYPD in an illegal chokehold. His last three words — “I can’t breathe.”

America is literally choking its citizens to death. And, at the same time, the world is collectively choking to death on COVID-19.

“I Can’t Breathe.” Three words that sum up the entirety of the existential crisis we are now collectively experiencing as humanity.

Back to my point that this isn’t just black people burning the hood. These protests, in LA at least, have been taking place in other neighborhoods. Wealthy places. The Grove. Santa Monica. Beverly Hills. My point is — in L.A. at least, there is a plan behind the protest. There is definitely anger, rage even. But it isn’t the same unbridled, uncontrolled fire burning rage of ’92. At least, not in L.A. It is controlled and targeted rage. To protest in wealthier neighborhoods. I think there are many reasons for this.

People feel safer to come out and protest at Pan Pacific Park. This will bring a much more inviting and multi-cultural community. This has been highly successful. The protest I attended at Pan Pacific Park/The Grove (I left before the looting started) was entirely multi-cultural. I was completely surprised. I saw like 20 white people for every black person. And this was a protest organized by Black Lives Matter! Plus, lots of Asian people, lots of Latinos. And it was all peaceful and love. Plus, it was a beautiful day, and everyone was just happy to get out and be a part of a community after being stuck in quarantine for the past three months. To be honest, it looked and felt like Coachella.

For the most part, wealthy people, and people in power, don’t care if poor people burn down the hood. It doesn’t affect them at all. They aren’t shopping at the Crenshaw Mall or Slauson Swap Meet. If black and brown people want to burn down the hood, let them. But when white teenagers are smashing up Santa Monica, clearing out the Nike Store and REI? That’s where these wealthy people shop. That’s their neighborhood. You have their attention immediately. I am not condoning the looting. I am 100% against it. I think it threatens the legitimate protest movement. But while I am against it, I understand the reason behind it. Of course, there is greed. And there is “loot the rich, loot the corporations.” But there is also a pervasive anger and existential anxiety that there is no future. These kids have been robbed, not only of their senior year of high school, and their possible college experience, and seeing their girl/boy friends, hanging with their friends, being kids blowing off steam. They have been stuck at home with their whole families for the past 3 months, reading online about how Trump and the Fed are leveraging their futures to bail out corporations. And they are fucking pissed. So, they are coming out to burn it all down. I don’t agree with it. But I empathize. I understand.

And then, there are the political groups that are using the chaos to push forward their own agendas. The Anarchists. And the Alt-Right nazis, who are dressing in black like the Anarchists, burning cars and black businesses. Using the disguise to foment chaos, trying to bring about the Second Civil War. This is all happening. Google “the boogaloo” and “second civil war” if you want to know more. Vice did a good piece on it. So, there are these groups using the chaos to push forward their own agendas. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pkyb9b/far-right-extremists-are-hoping-to-turn-the-george-floyd-protests-into-a-new-civil-war

There are organized gangs that are using the chaos to steal shit. I mean, literally planned looting like it’s Grand Theft Auto. Trucks pull up to the store. A bunch of people all in black leap out and loot the store. In and out in 5 minutes. And the trucks take off again. They drop the loot off at various drop points around L.A. And other cars pick the stuff up. In fact, my old neighbor said that our old alley was being used as a drop off spot.

OK, so, lots going on there. To sum it up — people have had enough and they are coming out to make their voices heard. Because they feel helpless and scared and pissed. Trump has marginalized America and his policies are leading to death by COVID and death by cops and death by racists who feel empowered to literally hunt and shoot kids jogging in the street. The majority of America is saying “Fuck this. We are pissed. We have had enough. We can’t breathe, so hear our primal fucking scream!”

This is happening all over America all at once, because people have realized that they are not alone in these thoughts. There is a greater community that agrees with them. This community is actually, the Majority. People are trying to reclaim America from the dark forces that have taken hold and perverted it to the twisted horrible disaster show that it has become.

But the dark forces thrive on chaos and they are using the chaos to push forward their own agendas. And make no mistake, Trump will use this to try and win re-election. He will divide and conquer. He will blame Antifa and “thugs” (aka. black people) and say that only he can protect the good people from them. This is what Republicans have been running on since Nixon.

It is an old playbook. It may work. But I don’t think so. I think most of America is with the protestors right now. Because they, too, are scared. They, too, don’t know what the future holds. They, too, are angry that the future has been leveraged to bail out banks and corporations, throwing us into debt forever. And all they get is a $1200 check which doesn’t even pay last month’s mortgage. So, they are likely going to lose their house, because they already lost their job, and unemployment runs out in July. And they are deathly afraid of catching COVID because they don’t have health insurance. They lost that when they got laid off. So, they don’t really care if the Apple Store gets looted. They can’t afford the new iPhone anyway. They are trying to figure out what food they can afford to feed their family this week. And when is the best time to go to Costco or Walmart to buy that food so they don’t face too many crowds and catch COVID. And if they can even make it to Costco or Walmart in time to get that food before the curfew that was just announced ten minutes ago sets in.

They, too, are saying “Fuck you, assholes. I understand now. Black people getting murdered in the street by cops is all of us.” The metaphor resonates. Because it may be George Floyd with a knee on his neck, suffocating until he dies. But it is all of use with a knee on our neck, with no future, suffocating until we can take it no more.

“I CAN’T BREATHE”

Three words that will define our future.

We are in for dark times, my friends. Dark times. Trump will lock down on civil liberties. He will send in the Army to look tough. He will rev up the racists and tell them to start shooting “bad people.” And that is what the racists want — a second Civil War. That is what I fear. That the chaos goes uncontrolled. Because if racists are out on the streets shooting black and brown people, eventually, the targets will shoot back. And then, we descend into chaos.

I think we are in for a summer of madness. Burning everywhere. COVID out of control. Bullets flying. And all the natural disasters that always come — hurricanes, wildfires, floods. And no jobs, no future, no hope. Only rage.

But, in spite of all this darkness, I am ultimately optimistic. I think that come November, people will be ready for a change. And they will say, this isn’t working. Let’s have a new beginning and rebuild the world. And then, from the ashes, we can start again.

Until then — Be safe. Take care of one another. Love. Have empathy for your fellow humans. Because we are all going to need it.

I’ll end with one of my favorite poems from Langston Hughes. I think it sums up the current moment perfectly.

HARLEM

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore —

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over —

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?