To give you a little background on how my journey of activism began, I feel as though I need to tell you about myself. I am a young, white, Midwestern woman. Looking at myself, I am not the image of oppression or discrimation. As I grew up though, I began to see where my female-ness was rather actively working against me. It became clear to me at a young age that my "bossy-ness" was not, in fact, a product of my unladylikeness, but exactly the opposite. My being labeled bossy is a product of my leadership qualities that would otherwise be labeled as "smart" and "strong" in the boys around me being discounted for the simple fact that I am not, in fact, a boy. This realization did not hit me until about the age of middle school- I did, however, have another realization much much sooner than this. My being brought up by two lesbian moms wasn't what society called normal. As a matter of fact, many people felt it was wrong- so wrong that my parents, who were together for the entire duration of my life, did not marry until my freshman year of college, because before then they were legally unable to. Living in the midwest and being a child in public school, I was no stranger to homophobia. It was the desire to be outspoken about my family that led me to the fight against homophobia. It was the realization that so much of homophobia was rooted in misogyny that led me to the fight for women's rights. It was the realization that as long as anyone is labeled inferior to anyone else, for any reason, we would never see justice that led me to the fight against racism, classism, and so many other movements.
As a person who has always concerned themselves with social justice, despite the obvious distaste it left in mouths of authority figures above me, I have to admit I struggled to develop a stance on riots for a long time. This is because I knew that riots have been so historically valuable to the many movements aimed at social justice that I firmly believe in; however, on that same token, how is it possible that violence is helpful? How is destroying a neighborhood (a neighborhood, that in all likelihood, is the physical home of the movement itself) helpful? It wasn't until I read the transcript for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech held at the Stanford Memorial Auditorium on April 14, 1967, entitled "The Other America" that I was finally able to understand fully the meaning, value, and desperation behind rioting.
Colin Kaepernick, an American Professional Football player, who led a peaceful protest by refusing to stand for the American national anthem, subsequently faced an incredible amount of backlash, so much, in fact, that in 2017 President Donald Trump called for the firing of players who protested the flag. Kaepernick made it clear what he was fighting against- racial inequality and systemic oppression. Was Kaepernick hired by any NFL team after these protests? No. This is only one example, but history has made itself clear: equality will never be given freely- it must be taken. Justice is in the hands of the oppressed- if they are willing to sacrifice.
In MLK's "The Other America, he said "I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard". Rioting is meant to be violent. Rioting is the response to inaction. Rioting is the demand for change. Rioting says, "I have asked nicely- now I'm taking it." I'll leave you with a final quote, not from civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., but from Colin Kaepernick, someone whom I believe will must certainly, be labeled a civil rights leader in the future, "When civility leads to death, revolting is the only logical reaction. The cries for peace will rain down, and when they do, they will land on deaf ears, because your violence has brought this resistance."
For further education, you can read the entirety of MLK's "The Other America" speech here [https://gphistorical.org/mlk/mlkspeech/mlk-gp-speech.pdf]. You can also follow the thoughts Colin Kaepernick here [https://twitter.com/Kaepernick7]
