I took a few days to rest up and get ready to head back out to the streets, after being arrested on Monday night, December 8, 2014, on my third night of marching in the Berkeley protests as part of the #BlackLivesMatter movement calling for an end to police violence against Black and Brown men and women as well as to an end of the new Jim Crow and mass incarceration.
In those few days, I found myself becoming disheartened and discouraged. The news I was hearing from the usual outlets was making the movement sound increasingly dangerous and violence prone. I kept hearing calls for “A Leader” of the movement—implicit in the calls seemed to be some kind of ultimatum: “I won’t get off my duff until you show me who the Martin Luther King, Jr. of this movement is.” I heard leaders of the movement being interviewed, but more significantly being interrupted in interviews as they tried to get the message out. I heard critiques of the Berkeley protests becoming “about something else”—disconnected from Ferguson, NYC, Cincinnati, and BlackLivesMatter and just about Berkeley itself.
Maybe I was just physically tired from walking a total of 25 miles on three consecutive nights, or from losing a night’s sleep in the Santa Rita jail while more than 200 of us sat on metal bunks in an unheated building with no potable water.
What became clear to me was that the only way to stop feeling discouraged and disheartened was to get back out on the streets; to give my voice and my body over as an ally for the cause of justice; to stop starving my soul with the filter of the news entertainment industry; and to start feeding it with the testimonies of my black sisters and brothers who are leading this movement. I needed to remember that discouragement and distance are feelings I get to indulge in because of my white privilege. I needed to get back into the beauty, the struggle, and the transcendence that is this movement on the ground. I needed to turn off the TV and take the hand of someone beside me.
Meeting with students last night at ABSW for a time of prayer, singing, and conversation, I realized that most of what folks are hearing about the movement is through the filter of the news entertainment industry. Without the reinvigorating energy of the streets, I saw folks feeling more reluctant and discouraged than I’d hoped. Thus the reason for this blog post.
Whether you are feeling called to march with thousands of others, or whether you are seeking to advocate in other deeply meaningful ways, here are some places you can turn to keep informed.
I would say turn off all news entertainment, and stop looking to it for information on what is really happening in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Instead, go to unfiltered, raw-footage reporting to get a sense of things.
Each protest has numerous livestreaming reports going on. Download the Ustream and the livestream apps on your phone, or visit these sites on your laptop. Search for channels on Ustream like #BlackLivesMatter, #blacklivesmatter Bay Area, and Black Liberation and White Anti-Racism. Some of these channels have previous broadcasts archived. On livestream start with the channel called BlacKOut (a livestream account is required to view this channel).
This is a movement that was started by and being led by young people who are comfortable with technology today. So turn to Twitter as an excellent resource to follow what is happening and to be informed about last minutes calls for action, locations for protests, updates on arrests, and live reporting of events. If you don’t already have a twitter account, set up one for free. Then begin following accounts such as @blackoutcollective, @Blklivesmatter, @handsupunited_, @BTSFblog, @FaithInFerguson, @fergusonaction, and @deray. Follow the founders of #BlackLivesMatter: Alicia Garza @aliciagarza, Patrice Cullors @osope, and Opal Tometi @opalayo. Follow also Pastor Michael McBride @pastormykmac from The Way Christian Center, and ABSW-alum Rev. Michael-Ray Mathews @mrmathews who is an organizer for PICO National Network @PICOnetwork. For on-the-ground reporting, follow the independent news site @Berkeleyside.
To be aware of the ways ABSW is staying active and involved in the movement, follow Dr. Valerie Miles-Tribble @CantBeStill, Dr. Jennifer Davidson @momentofbeing, Dr. LeAnn Snow Flesher @lasnow52, and the seminary account itself @ABSWBerkeley.
Finally, or maybe firstly, read up on the origins of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, beginning with “A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement” by Alicia Garza. Visit and sign up for updates from the BlackLivesMatter website, and visit the Live Free website, a campaign of PICO National Network to familiarize yourself with the practical demands being made by movement organizers.
These are just starting places. But I hope you find them helpful if you are just beginning to navigate the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Stay tuned here, as well, for an upcoming organization of a GTU collective for centralized and organized action and reflection among the sister schools of the Graduate Theological Union, GTU alum, and area churches.
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