And start a caucus inside of the organization to turn all 1500 members out so that we can put ourselves on the line, so when Don’t Shoot Portland does an action, we’re all there saying, “Hands up, don’t shoot!”
Do y’all remember why we say that? Mike Brown was killed by Darren Wilson in Ferguson, MO on August 9th, 2014, that’s why we came together in Dawson Park the next day, to say that we’re sick and tired of this… crap (I’m on the news), to say I’m sick and tired of this crap, and we’ve been going ever since.
So yes there’s been a lull in the movement, but Don’t Shoot Portland has been holding it down for you this whole time. So, now that it’s popular again, and some of our neighbors have put back their Black Lives Matter signs in their yards when maybe they’d put it in the backyard…. Okay, I’m not mad at you, I’m happy to see it again. Good, I’m very happy about it. That means we’re fu-… that means we’re winning!
We’re at the Department of Human Services. Raise your hand if you’ve ever been denied something at this building. Okay, look around, you’re not alone, don’t be ashamed, because you need help, okay? This is capitalism. We all need help. The only people in this system that don’t need help are the people really making the decisions, that are making the people in this building tell us that they don’t have anything for us.
It is the mega-rich, the capitalists, the pigs—well, I like pigs—the worst people you can ever imagine. It is them, it is them, they are having backdoor meetings with each other right now, and deciding whether or not they’re gonna stay with the status quo with Biden, or if they’re ready to go full fash with Trump. That’s what they’re doing. So they’re having meetings now, so all of our representatives who we send to Washington, DC, who we hope and pray are over there representing what we say—they’re not—they’re over there, and we’re hoping and praying that they’re gonna bring something back home to us, that they’re gonna be able to take care of us. They’re not. You’ve been denied, repeatedly.
You all saw each other raise your hands. They are not doing a good job and yet they still ask every time, “Oh, please, let me have your vote!” No! You’re not gonna have it. You know what, you’re not gonna have my vote. So, I just want to make sure everybody’s on the same page. I already said you’re all the core, you’re all at the first action, I’m giving you congratulations, and I’m letting you know that we have to have a shared understanding about who is at the table, who’s pulling the strings.
Why is it that we’re here, and we don’t have any power except collective people power, but we’re not in any elected positions, we’re not titans of industry, we’re not business owners out here, we’re not anybody that has the power to actually be able to push things, and deliver that power. All we have is our bodies and our collective voice. So you might want to be asking yourself, why is it that the people who have the access are not out here with us? Why is it that us, all of us little low… I don’t want to curse but you know pieces of you-know-what, that’s how they think about us. Why is it that it’s us who have nothing, that have to come together to be able to say in a collective voice that we’re not happy, and they’re not even here with us? No.
Because they’re waiting for the polling to come in. They’re waiting for the polling to come in. They’re waiting for all the people that are advising them to tell them that they’ve crunched the numbers, the poll numbers are in, and you can say, “Black Lives Matter,” now. Even though… Ooh, I’m getting so mad. Come on, scream! So, it is them, that have been waiting for the poll numbers to come in for them to finally be able to say, “Black Lives Matter.” Even though not that long ago they were ready to help the police beat us all down in the streets because we’re saying “Black Lives Matter,” and they want to call that “Black identity extremism” and put us on watch lists.
And at the same time, they were saying that they were going to defund programs that watch white supremacist groups so that they could watch us! That is true. So that means, that because of their overreach, because they always get real cocky, and they always think that they can do whatever they want to people, they were not anticipating that in this moment of a global pandemic, when people are getting sick, people are scared to come out of their homes….