Thursday, August 21, 2014

The Next Ferguson: A Survival Guide for Future Generations Protesting Police Brutality


(newyorker.com)
A disturbing yet culturally necessary trend has developed in our nation in which every twenty years an uprising occurs due to police or military brutality based on protests induced by racial profiling. The short list includes the 1970’s Kent State shootings, the 1990’s Los Angeles riots, and this decade’s Ferguson protests—not to forget the death of Eric Garner by the hands of police. Here is a survival guide for the next protest two decades from now (if not sooner) that will have occurred after the next racially charged rebellion.

  1. 1992 Los Angeles Riots (crackedhistory.com)
    Know your town’s demographic. Less Caucasian police amount to more than a greater minority population.
  2. Pack a lunch to your protest and plan to stay long into the night or as long as possible. Also, this is a good time to take those vacation days or dip into that nest egg for bail if you are detained by police.
  3. Wear light colors preferably white because if you do bleed during the protest it will appear more profound in subsequent photographs and news video
  4. Invest in a gas mask and a bulletproof vest (you have 20 years to prepare)
  5. If you plan on being a martyr, then prepare your last will and testament or statement to be read publicly. Hire a speechwriter or ghostwriter.
  6. Bring an American flag. Cops are less likely to shoot you regardless of what you call them if they see the Red, White, and Blue.
  7. 
    1970 Kent State Massacre (en.wikipedia.org)
    You are NOT Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, or any other historical civil rights leader. Don’t do it for the fame. If you are, then stay home.

And finally…

  1. Write down your experience and your own survival guide for future generations as well…if you survive…