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Sweeping
the country is a wave of legislation that puts a chill on the freedom
to assemble and engage in direct action. This is the devilish
handiwork of the American Legislative Exchange Council aka ALEC, the
Boys in Blue aka law enforcement and corporate lobbyists. Repressive
conditions are being created by systems of oppression and people are
expected to suffer in silence.
State
governments in 43 states have considered such laws and half of those
have enacted some fashion of anti-protest laws to date. This includes
typical kinds of protest tactics like trespassing and blocking
streets or government buildings. Recent versions of proposed bills
will allow police departments to sue if their budgets are cut - as in
defund the police.
Make
no mistake. These laws are not for the domestic terrorists who
stormed and looted the nation’s Capitol on January 6. Naw,
groups like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and QAnon don’t have
to worry. This action clearly has Red Nations and Black Lives Matter
written all over it.
We
first started to see these anti-protest laws creep into legislatures
after Standing Rock captured national attention. Thousands converged
on the Sioux Tribe reservation to stop the North Dakota oil pipeline.
And Black Lives Matter protests, they’ve been going non-stop
since the Ferguson Uprising thanks to trigger-happy cops.
A
number of injustices have been inflicted upon citizens and we should
refuse to suffer in silence. The right to assemble is an organizing
tool to give people direction. It’s also a valve that releases
pent-up anger that oppressed people are forced to sit in daily.
The
right to protest is both a constitutional and human right. The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly addresses the issues of
assembly, freedom of speech, and equal protection under the law. The
country which beats its chest about being the beacon of democracy for
the world continues to inch toward a police state.
It’s
not always about trumpism when we have Democrats show up as
co-conspirators to support racist, anti-democratic policies and laws.
In Wisconsin, Democratic governor Tony Evers signed a law making it a
felony to trespass on the private property of oil and energy
corporations. The interests of the oil and energy industries are way
more important than the lives of the people subjected to the land and
water poisoned by these environmental destroyers.
Every
state in the union is a target of the GOP strategy to silence and
control the voices of resistance, especially those who are Black,
Brown, and Red. What’s happening is no longer done under the
cover of darkness, it’s in our face - begging for our
collective, organized response. Well, it’s time to stop
begging.
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