You should know why they protest and understand why they may riot.
“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. And what is it that America has failed to hear?”1
In June of 1969 America had failed to hear the cries of the LGBTQ+ community’s humanity as their livelihoods and their lives were being taken away in public sight.
The Stonewall Uprising were riots against police brutality; but also protest against the injustices enacted on a people.
In order to advance to the space in which we exist today the LGBTQ+ community has had to fight. For several days protest and riots occurred because the LGBTQ+ community was fed up; the proverbial soda can could no longer take the internal pressure it was fighting so hard to contain.
As we enter this month of PRIDE we must acknowledge the heavy cloud of inequities and injustices which persist, not singularly in the LGBTQ+ community but also in that of our kin communities–in particular the Black community. Our world is in a moment of uncertainty and our country a moment of unrest; these moments have compounded and once again brought to light the systemic inequities and injustices against the Black community.
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots, The Ferguson Unrest, the Minneapolis protest…today.
What has America failed to hear? “It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention…”2
The month of June is a period of time when the LGBTQ+ community and our allies celebrate how far we’ve come, take stock of how far we have to go, and most importantly honor those who fought back–against oppression, injustices, and yes the police.
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We’ve used our voices to demand the violence against our bodies stop and no one takes action…we are expected to sit back and take the violence enacted against us; only speaking to respond? The injustices and inequalities enacted against our bodies all these years is violence. So I ask you is it ok to desecrate these bodies and expect no response?
Who should be left to clean up the conditions caused by slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, sodomy laws, anti-LGBT legislation…? The answer is ALL of US; it is all of our responsibilities to be and do better.
I am gay and I am black and in this public moment I commit to using what limited privilege is invested in me as a man to take space for and uplift the communities of the parts of me that should be seen for the value they have–a value far greater than the sexed body in which I was born.
I know why they protest and while I don’t condone violence and destruction I understand why they may riot; I ask that whatever action you take please take care–your life and humanity are needed and deeply valued. There is great appreciation for those who stand up in solidarity; there is an even deeper commitment of life to those who are physically putting themselves on the front lines. I am proud of these social justice warriors risking everything to fight for space and change; I hear you and America will hear you too.
Let’s create change together; this PRIDE’s for you!
In solidarity,
.d.
1,2 “The Other America” 1967, a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr given at Stanford University.
