Thread by @michaelharriot

Whenever I'm asked about allyship, I like to tell the story of history's most notoriously revolutionary group of white allies – the Boston Vigilance Committee.

A thread.

The group was organized in 1841 by an abolitionist named Charles Turner Torrey to "secure to persons of color the enjoyment of their constitutional and legal rights. To secure this object, it will employ every legal, peaceful, and Christian method, and none other."

Yep, Torrey was saved, sanctified & filled with the Black Holy Ghost.

No, seriously. See, when he was at Yale, he found Jesus But he started attending Black churches, so he probably never did that slow rock & arm wave thing people do when they get the white Holy Ghost.

Anyway, Torrey HATED slavery. So he started financing part of the Underground Railroad. He worked in the Mass. Ant-slavery society but left due to beef with William Lloyd Garrison

You've heard of Garrison. He was the FOUNDER of the Anti-slavery society but he HATED Torrey

Garrison had been a star on the abolition scene for years, and wondered why everyone liked this Torrey guy so much.
But, instead of fighting, Torrey left & started the Boston Vigilance Committee. He also helped organize a part of the Underground Railroad from DC to Albany, NY

He and Garrison never settled their beef because Torrey died in 1846 and was lost to history. The Boston Vigilance Committee even shut down for a min.

But a group of activists who weren't connected to Torrey started it back up in 1850 after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act.

These new members were basically a lot like Garrison. Sure, most members were white, but they believed that slavery should be abolished and tried really hard to help Black people. Perhaps there is no better example of their dedication than the story of Shadrach Minkins

Minkins had escaped slavery in Virginia, moved to Boston and got a job working as a barista at Taft's Cornhill Coffee House (think Starbucks, but with no cappuccino machine).

On Feb. 15, 1851, federal marshalls went undercover at the coffee house and arrested Minkins

He was the first person in the state to be arrested under this new law, so ALL the white allies swept into action. In 30 minutes, hundreds of protesters surrounded the place.

The best abolitionist lawyers petitioned for a writ of Habeas Corpus. More joined and filed briefs.

But the Supreme Judicial Court judge wouldn't budge. So the dedicated abolitionists remembered their pledge to "employ every legal, peaceful, and Christian method, and none other" and did what anyone would do.

They gave up.

What? Abolition-ing is HARD!

ANd the Black folks were like "WHAT???

Y'all going home? I thought y'all were real ride-or-die abolitionists!"

And the white dudes said: "Wait... Y'all were serious about the die part?"

But these were no ordinary Black dudes. They were gonna do something about it.

Now, you might think: "Well, these elite white lawyers and businessmen had a lot to lose!" But so did the Black guys! But the Black folks weren't about to let this BS go.

The outraged Black guys included Edward Walker, the first Black dude to pass the Bar in the state

Robert Morris was also there. He might've been the first Black man to file a lawsuit in America and the first Black man to WIN a lawsuit in the US. There was Lewis Hayden, who had escaped slavery himself.

When their white allies refused to help, they came up with a plan

Three days later, on Feb. 18, at Minkins' first hearing, 1851, they put their plan into action. All the white abolitionists were there protesting peacefully. All the local ministers were there. Six white lawyers had volunteered to help Minkins' defense.

They wouldn't need to.

The Black dudes "bussed" (it's like "burst," but with more swag) into the courtroom with their coats covering their faces and just snatched Minkins up out of there.

The feds were so surprised, they didn't even put up a good chase.

They hid Minkins in an attic and he escaped to Canada.

The Black dudes were arrested and tried, but they beat the case. But they KEPT DOING IT.

What is my point?

Well, Massachusetts' abolition movement, ESPECIALLY the Boston Vigilance Committee,are noted for opposing slavery

They are offered by historians as an example of white allyship. William Lloyd Garrison may be the most famous white abolitionist EVER.

They supposedly opposed slavery on the grounds of Christian ideals.
But when push came to shove, they only went so far.

None of those Black dudes left the Vigilance Committee. They weren't even mad. Because they understood the limits of white allyship.
The Black folks knew white allies would only go so far to fight for Black people's freedom--even in the name of White Jesus.

Now if that's offensive, let me explain what happened when the white guy caught the Black Holy Ghost.

See, until recently, Charles Turner Torrey's name was lost to history, partly because of his beef with Garrison.

See, Torrey believed that a real Christian would ride or die

Because its LITERALLY what Jesus would do.

THAT is why he and Garrison had beef. Garrison believed he was too radical (BTW, Garrison eventually started a beef with another dude, Frederick Douglass.)

Charles Turner Torrey was arrested for "stealing slaves" and died in prison. Until recently, he was lost to history. MOST children have never heard of Lewis Hayden

But if you look up the Boston Vigilance Committee, history says THEY are the heroes.

If you look up William Lloyd Garrsion, HE is the example of a white Ally.

The point is, if you're white, the BEST way to be remembered as a white ally vest your allyship in a system created to deny Black people's freedom, while risking nothing.

But we see you.

We know what you're doing.

But we're not mad.

It's not like we were counting on your scary ass anyway.

This thread is about Joe Manchin.