My Position On Violent Activism - October 2020.

I watched a really powerful interview on Fox News with the president of Black Lives Matter in New York, Hawk Newsome:

This interview was incredibly interesting to me because he is our modern day MLK or Malcolm X.

He is responding to the police and government tactics of 2020.

Many things are similar to the '50s and '60s. But somethings are different.

I highly encourage you to watch this interview because you are hearing the words of an experienced activist. Everything he says is clearly from a perspective of active activism.

I am SO SICK of hearing white moderates tell black people to "be peaceful" as they go march for the right not to be shot to death by law enforcement. What does the white moderate know about this situation? The only thing they know is that they are comfortable and they are willing to protect that comfort at all costs.

Listen to Malcolm X in 1962:

Has ANYTHING changed since 1962?

There is nothing the African American, the poor American, the homeless American or the addicted America can do that will ever be equal to the murderous, torturous, brutal oppression that the white man hasn't already done to them in spades and for centuries.

I will NEVER stand in judgement of someone else's form of activism. You only have to turn on Disney Plus and watch the musical, Hamilton, to realize we are a country formed from violent activism.

An activist who judges another activist's actions is not much of an activist at all. They are more of a whiner than an activist.

And further, how can you watch that Malcolm X 1962 speech and think that nonviolent activism has done a lick of good?

Police continue to murder us with impunity.

All that said, we must follow our own path of activism. Ultimately, I believe it is a colorful rainbow of activism that is the best form of activism. When the white man has had enough, he can reach out to whatever hand he is ready to shake and get to work.

I want to be very clear where I personally stand on violent activism. Again, it's not to condone or condemn someone else's form of activism. It is merely to let you know who I am, where I stand. That way, you are free to decide whether or not you support my movement. I don't want anyone to ever feel mislead by who I am or what I do.

I have one ultimate rule: I refuse to hurt or kill another person.

Hawk Newsome, like Malcolm X, talks about the right to defend yourself. And one only has to look at the Breonna Taylor tragedy to see very clearly why that is a just and understandable position.

It is just not my position.

I own no guns. I carry no weapons of any sort. (For the record, I do occasionally carry a box cutter so I can more easily open boxes of food when I'm delivering food from the food bank. Although, I currently don't have one because it went missing at a food run a few weeks ago. Homeless people often desire knives for protection from other homeless people.)

I don't carry pepper spray. I intentionally carry nothing as a weapon. While I have a tool box in my truck that has some wrenches and hammers, you have my word that I will never use them for any kind of physical defense.)

I am the kind of person that feels bad stepping on an angry wasp that refuses to go away. I take stink bugs outside. I rather enjoy spiders making webs on my porch and in my garage.

I am not going to hurt another human, no matter what he does to me.

That's my line in the sand.

But that's as clear as it gets. From that point there is a lot of negotiable wiggle room.

I will say this... As a small business owner, I will never do anything to intentionally hurt a small business. They are often struggling against very similar storms of difficulty that stem from the same system that wants to keep everyone down except the multinational corporation.

And honestly, at this point, I am not going to actively promote or engage in looting or physically, "burning it to the ground." I just don't see the strategic value in it. You'll end up in jail and your actions are just going to get cleaned up by some insurance company.

But you should know that I support your looting and destruction of physical things like statues, government buildings and large corporations. I won't always publicly cheer you on. But I'm like a proud poppa watching the young revolutionaries demanding to be heard.

MLK rightfully said, "A riot is the language of the unheard."

I refer you to my exhibit A:

Not that I have any right to ask you of anything, but if you would, please consider passing over the small businesses and other businesses in our inner-city communities. The people of the communities rely on them every day.

Let your voice be heard in the suburbs. It will be more impactful there anyway.

From there, for me, it's GAME ON.

I'm not going to tell you exactly what I will do because that would spoil the surprise. And the surprise is the best part.

I will however say this, I love demoralizing, shaming and isolating politicians and other public figures that refuse to work for the people.

My overall goal is to get people engaged in local politics and policy. It's a HUGE wheel to start moving. It may not even be possible to ever get it moving.

But if we don't get it moving, if we don't get people active in local politics and policy, I can assure you of one thing: the people will keep looting and rioting as politicians do nothing and refuse to listen.

There is no downside for a politician who sits by and watches their city burn to the ground if people don't vote them out.

It's just more construction contracts for their rich corporate friends.

I am in the long game. I am here to attempt actual systemic change. It's probably my most idealist, naive belief of all my idealistic, naive beliefs. But that is who I am. And that's the role I choose to play.