The planned non-violent protest at the Mall of America, organized by Black Lives Matters Minneapolis, is gaining support and momentum.
Two Minneapolis City Council Members have written the Mall authorities asking that the demonstration be respected. One council member writes that
The goal is to have a peaceful demonstration.
I repeat, the goal is to have a peaceful demonstration - and to highlight the need to stop the senseless violence against the African American community and other communities of color.
Please do not threaten, intimidate or disrespect the freedom of speech these tax paying residents are planning to exercise this Saturday.
The second council member writes
I understand that a peaceful protest is planned for tomorrow at the Mall of America. I have been asked by some of the organizers to reach out to you and assure you that their goal is to have a peaceful protest and raise awareness about the need to stop violence against communities of color.
The organizers also had this exchange with the infamous Pointergate KSTP tv station:
KSTP-TV just called us for an interview and we told them we'd be happy to talk as soon as they apologize to NOC and Navell Gordon for running a racist hit piece accusing him of making gang signs. #Pointergate #WeRemember
Here is link to a tv interview with one of the main direction action organizers, Mica Grimm:
http://www.kare11.com/...
"We're trying to show people that this isn't going to be the same Christmas for a lot of families because they've lost loved ones," Mica Grimm, a community organizer who has coordinated local Black Lives Matter events in the wake of grand jury decisions in Ferguson, MO. and Staten Island, NY.
According to the Black Lives Matter Facebook page, the number of
people who've said they'll be participating now stands at 3,000.
There are a bazillion racist comments on the Facebook page which are well worth ignoring, though I wanted to quote an excerpt from just one poster, since, on script, the guy repeats almost verbatim what Dr. King said, over 50 years ago, is the typical line spoken by those people who obstruct freedom and justice for African Americans:
I support your cause but to decide to go in and protest anyways is beyond my comprehension.
....
I support the cause because black lives do matter but I do not sport the action that is still to take place on December 20th.
Here's the quote from Dr. King that I've found myself citing again and again and again over the past few days:
I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season."
The struggle continues....