Thread by @WallofVetsFL

This is the third post in our weekly series #soyouwanttotalkaboutmondays, inspired by the work of @sywtta! Today we are discussing rioting, in the words of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety

One of the best resources for understanding the words of Dr. King is Bernice King, you can find Bernice on Twitter: @BerniceKing!

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#soyouwanttotalkabout
#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety

"Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots.” - Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

#soyouwanttotalkaboutmondays
#soyouwanttotalkabout
#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety

Our citizens are drawn to the streets in protest now more than ever in our society due to the injustices in our nation's systems. Our government's response by and large is to assault peaceful protesters and escalate these situations into a riot.

#ReimaginePublicSafety
#BLM

The government also imposes curfews to criminalize constitutionally protected free assembly and give them the artificial, arbitrary justification to declare a riot. This leads our media, many of our citizens, and our government to discredit this mostly peaceful movement.

#BLM

Social justice activists, now labeled as domestic terrorists for being against fascism, are working to change these conditions so that we will no longer continue to need to take to the streets to fight for justice.

#ReimaginePublicSafety
#BLM

Our government, media, and many of our citizens continue to frame the discussion around protests negatively because they sometimes turn into riots.

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#soyouwanttotalkabout
#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety

They work to discredit the largest social justice movement in the history of the United States, without accepting that there are unjust and brutal conditions that we live under that make riots extremely prevalent.

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#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety

These injustices are at least as deplorable as the act of rioting itself.

“And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again." - Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

#BlackLivesMatter

"Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention." - Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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#soyouwanttotalkabout
#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety

The very word "riot" also has a racist history that should not be ignored, as discussed here by @NPR:

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1299123621756047360?s=19

#soyouwanttotalkaboutmondays
#soyouwanttotalkabout
#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety

It is time for our nation to band together in unity and change these conditions so that we can move forward into a peaceful future together.

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#soyouwanttotalkabout
#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety

As veterans, who swore an oath to protect US citizens from fascism and other threats, it is our duty to stand up and protect these social justice heroes working to make our nation safe for all its citizens, not just its most privileged ones.

#ReimaginePublicSafety
#BLM

Does our oath have an expiration date?

Thanks to @sywtta for all of the inspiring content for our new series,
#soyouwanttotalkaboutmondays!
#soyouwanttotalkabout
#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety

#UnitedWeStand!
#WallOfVets #OurOathNeverExpires
#WallOfVetsFL #WeSworeAnOath #BLM #BlackLivesMatter #CallingAllVets #VeteransForBlackLives #FloridaVeterans
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For more information about Wall of Vets, Black Lives Matter, Anti-Racism and more follow the link in our bio!

Reflecting on this week's thread, perhaps the most poignant thought that I had while preparing it was that while these are Dr. King's words from 1967, they ring no less true today, in 2020.

We've come so far, yet have so very far to go.

#BlackLivesMatter
#ReimaginePublicSafety