Walk the Walk!

June 08, 2020, By Webmaster

How would you like to save the U.S. Post Office AND register voters?
In the challenge, participants drop off voter registration forms to likely Democrats who aren’t registered. You’ll mark the houses you hit at mapthe.vote, share your progress in the WOW Dems Group Page, and at the end of the month, we’ll tally up who dropped off the most registration forms!
We can make change happen! Let’s walk the walk!
Email president@wowdems.org with any questions or if you want more info.

How to be a BLM Ally

June 05, 2020, By Webmaster

By Sheena Kwon, WOW Dems Volunteer

“I can’t breathe.”

That’s what George Floyd said as he was restrained by Minneapolis police officers for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

George Floyd was murdered. The world saw, on video, a Black man slowly suffocated to death as police officers – sworn to protect the American people – showed blatant disregard for human life.

We’ve been here before.

We’ve heard “I can’t breathe” before. Before losing consciousness, Eric Garner said it 11 times when he was put in a chokehold by NYPD officers in 2014. Garner, who was also Black, died about an hour later. His death was ruled a homicide.

“I can’t breathe” has since been used as a rallying cry for those protesting police brutality, particularly against people of color. However, George Floyd’s death does more than send the undeniable message that police brutality exists. It’s symbolic of our oppressive government and the militaristic force that has intertwined anti-blackness as a permeating and imperceptible factor of daily struggles in order to slowly suffocate Black livelihood.

How could such a heinous act of murder – one that has been replicated throughout America’s brutally anti-Black history – not spark anger and frustration in Americans? Yet still, many choose to instead condemn the looting and rioting that have occurred alongside peaceful protests – looting and rioting that’s usually completely unrelated to the nearby protests. I believe the anti-protestors, focused on the destruction of buildings and property, are incorrectly responding to the real matter at hand in an effort to diminish the seriousness of what we’re protesting in the first place.

Hypocrisy and humanity.

First, the media and Trump’s descriptions of these protests are extremely different from the portrayals of protests carried out by gun-wielding, mostly-white conservatives who wanted to risk public safety just to get a haircut. Many Americans are unwilling to acknowledge the privilege that allows the media and the president to paint a different picture of protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement. The majority of the BLM protests are peaceful, but the media and this administration choose to highlight those accompanied by looting and rioting.

Second, the destruction of buildings and property is not comparable to the destruction of Black lives. When you speak out for the sole purpose of reprimanding protestors, you are part of the problem. If you are more enraged by the anger and grievance that has followed the murder of countless Black lives rather than by the injustices themselves, you are discouraging the solution.

Third, peaceful protests are being met with violence. Undercover cops are infiltrating protests and destroying buildings to make them seem more violent than they are. Bringing in the National Guard has resulted in conflict between protestors and the police. I’ve seen countless videos of people arrested for simply exercising their first amendment right, tear gas canisters thrown unprovoked, pedestrians pepper-sprayed, and protestors beaten simply for asking for a fundamental civil right. Many of these protests are peaceful, but some resort to violent tactics to combat uncalled-for violence carried out by police.

Fourth, it appears the majority of people angry about the destruction of buildings and about looting are not Black. It is not the place of non-Black people to tell Black people how to feel and how to grieve. The blinding power of privilege, the inability to empathize with the struggles of Black people, and the refusal to acknowledge the countless deaths that have occurred at the hands of police is apparent. Communities are banding together to donate to broken businesses and clean the streets. However, Black lives cannot be brought back. The money you make and earn is not comparable to the loss of your life, just as it is not comparable to the loss of a Black life. By placing a price tag on property damage carried out by frustrated protestors is essentially placing a price tag on Black lives. George Floyd’s life was worth more than the mere $20 he was murdered over. Black lives mean much more than that.

Step back and support.

Stepping back from criticizing protests is crucial. It’s important to support and uphold the Black Lives Matter movement. Being an ally means much more than taking to social media to pardon yourself from doing the real work and using performative activism to mislead others into believing you support the cause.

Here’s how.

First, spreading images of Black suffering isn’t beneficial. I’ve experienced many of my non-Black classmates posting the videos of George Floyd’s death without warning. This flippancy desensitizes us to police brutality and harms the Black folks who watch the posts. Images of Black suffering normalize the injustices; they don’t brutally shock people into enacting change. They don’t uplift the Black community but rather, continue to maintain the system that pins them down.

Second, do more than post on social media. If you can’t protest, donate. If you can’t donate, sign petitions. There are so many ways to help; silence and inaction make you part of the problem. Silence makes you complicit. One of my family members said they shouldn’t have to do anything for the Black Lives Matter movement because “overachievers” like myself would do the work for them. For change to occur, collective action and desire to change the system are required to re-imagine how our laws and the police are structured now. We must demand material change through solidarity. 

It IS your responsibility.

The last thing I would like to say is that even if it feels like there’s not much you can do, every single person has a responsibility to support the Black Lives Matter movement. The Civil Rights movement was the catalyst for widespread change across the United States and inspired progress for all communities of color. For people of color to now turn their backs on the BLM movement is contradictory to the rights their own predecessors fought hard to have today. It’s imperative that all communities, regardless of background, come together to fight for a better future. All lives don’t matter until Black lives do. 

General Member Meeting 3/21/2019

February 19, 2020, By Webmaster

When: Thursday, 3/21/19 Time: 6:45pm to 9:00 pm Place: Saigling House at the ArtCentre Plano 902 E 16th St, Plano, TX 75074 (See map at the bottom for extra parking if all spaces are gone in front…

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