Justified Rage In the Streets of Baltimore

Watching the local corporate news feeds and listening to the paid talking heads covering the protests in Baltimore on Saturday, one might be forgiven for thinking blocking traffic and smashing windows was somehow a greater act of violence than Baltimore police murdering Freddie Gray.

This summer America got a much-needed wake up call about why people burn down buildings and smash in franchise chain storefronts. Still though, police continue to murder young black men, and still for-profit media report their pro-government, pro-cop propaganda.

Local CBS WJZ anchor Denise Koch reached a point of near hysteria with her concern for the fans of a baseball game who might be stuck in traffic due to the occupied streets. “It’s important the people of Baltimore remain civilized,” Koch proclaimed over and over.

The often quoted myth of the ‘outside agitator‘ was repeated ad nauseum. So was the myth of ‘restraint‘ Baltimore police showed for protesters. ‘Community leaders‘ cozy with law enforcement and city government were interviewed, all begging for calm and peace, while not mentioning the name of the dead whatsoever.

With so much disgusting statist media, where were the voices of actual people? On Twitter, of course.

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“If there is a so-called riot over the Trayvon Martin case, it will not just be Black people in the streets, no more than it was just Black people rebelling over the 1992 Rodney King outrage. It will be everyone of every race, culture, and ethnic background who are absolutely outraged over this murder, the fiasco of a trial, and the arrogance of white America for staging this racist show trial in the first place. A so-called riot is a class rebellion against the state, a referendum on the corruption and oppression of the system. It is not a criminal enterprise as so many so-called radicals believe. Any act of fight-back by slaves is justified, even if imperfect or not understood by many in the comfortable classes.” ~ Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin
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