I kept that momentum going, and basically every time there was a protest I went.
There were a number of them in downtown.
Some details that stuck with me:
One of the protests went all around and through downtown, and one of my friends from high school waved from off his balcony! That was very cool to me.
So, at one march, everybody congregated at some of the government buildings downtown. We did chants and things, and were warned so many times that at whatever time (I think 6pm maybe?), they were going to be arresting anyone still there. (I think there were curfews in place, maybe? I forgot why they were allowed to arrest us for being out and about.)
Anyway, it was always a hard line to walk – how much you wanted to truly protest and put yourself on the line vs all the other concerns (like if you get detained, maybe not making it to work the next day, and I was at a job I absolutely could not afford to miss, or way more pressing than that, potentially being in a cell with people who have Coronavirus as the pandemic was raging, and I have prior heart issues).
It’s tough, because I think sort of the whole point of protesting is being willing to lay down your own safety and things you have to do for others. But… we do, to some extent, have to look out for ourselves, right? (Especially with the deadly pandemic raging.)
So yeah, I stayed until cops started swarming, and then I walked out the opposite side of the park. I didn’t see the point in getting arrested for being arrested’s sake.
There was one time though where cops were very much pointing guns(?) gun like things? I think they had blanks inside. But I think that still makes it a gun? Anyway… at the protestors. And I stood my ground.
It. was. terrifying.
But, I saw other people doing it. And I saw a woman of color doing it. And I just thought as a white person I have practically no choice but to brave up. If I’m here, I’m here. And I stayed kneeled in front of a cop with his gun pointed like directly at me. And it was scaaaaaaaary.
At one of the protests I went to (not that one, but another one), there were people getting shot with blanks.
People (including me) love to think about how brave they’re gonna be at these protests. And I’m apparently brave to a point. But once bullets (even blanks) start flying, and once people actually start getting arrested, at least in these cases, I was out of there. I did want to make a point, and I did want to show solidarity. But when things were that dangerous I didn’t see the point of staying, if I could get out [although I’m not sure of the most ethical decisions on these things].
So, yeah. Some inspiring times. Some scary times. These were definitely the most ‘real’ of any protests I’ve been to. I was never actually scared at other marches and things. But these were like… run from the sound of blanks exploding of guns types of protests.