this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2025
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cross-posted from: https://50501.chat/post/97685


Originally Posted By u/Northwest_Thrills At 2025-04-07 01:34:57 PM | Source


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[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 62 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I'm so glad the George Floyd protests solved police brutality!

This is why protesting should only be treated as the initial rallying cry to garner support. Without the millions protesting willing to engage in direct action — like general strikes, permanent boycotts, etc — there will never be meaningful change.

[–] match@pawb.social 39 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

honestly my state saw a lot of meaningful change out of it

[–] AThing4String@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Honestly actually thanks for this - doom scrolling late at night and feeling 0/10 hopeless.

Shit's bleak, but if there's legitimately nothing we can do about it we might as well lay on the railroad tracks, eh?

[–] match@pawb.social 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

hey hey hey. we got 3 million people out to the protests last weekend. the republican house is getting stymied and criticism is rallying from all directions. trump's already running out of steam and we've barely begun fighting him

[–] alanjaow@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

5 million is the official tally! 😁

[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

there are no functional railroads near me. I'm going to have to fly to get to them. fml.

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The George Floyd protests were absolutely the reason that Chauvin got convicted and sent to prison. It's fucked up that that's what it took, but they at least got a concrete result. Which is more than I can say for any of these other protests. Not that I don't support them-- in fact I drove 2 hours to DC to participate on Saturday. It was cool to see so many people out, but to make changes, you have to force power to recognize you as a force to be reckoned with.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 weeks ago

15 - 26 million people to get one person convicted for an act they clearly did.

America is so fucked.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I remember when Biden mocked the Defund the Police movement in his first SOTU, and then went on to accelerate the militarization of police. Now, we have cop cities.

At the end of the day, none of these people are going to vote differently than they have for decades, so nothing is going to change.

[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Coupling his Defund response with his backing of a far right wing genocide, and his absolute bed-defecation in the dem campaign for president, Biden is easily the worst dem president of my lifetime. And I'm not young. I hope history remembers him accurately.

[–] match@pawb.social 4 points 2 weeks ago

but what about his brace leadership during the pandemic where he filled our hearts with hope by

by uh

uhh

i guess we got a stimulus check?

[–] Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I did. I watched. I listened. I learned.

I changed. Others will. Yet more can.

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago

Musk wanted to create a bigger protest by recommending a pardon for his murderer police officer.

[–] oxysis@lemm.ee 25 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Remember kids nonviolent protests does not mean you can’t annoy the shit out of the people you want to change things. Don’t make the ruling class uncomfortable and they won’t bother with listening to you.

[–] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Blocking traffic on the freeway is nonviolent

[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

"Since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, more than 100 incidents of hostile drivers ramming into activists have been documented. These assailants have included police officers, gun-toters, and even, in one instance, a Ku Klux Klan leader. Many, though not all, of these aggressors were charged under local statutes—but now, a growing number of Republican state lawmakers are trying to ensure that, in the future, such vehicular attacks get a pass."

https://slate.com/business/2021/04/drivers-hit-protesters-laws-florida-oklahoma-republicans.html

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I have no idea why people go to American protests unarmed. Is it not clear enough that these fascists only understand violence and personal consequences?

If Florida ever goes open carry, I'll be there, on the intimidating side. We've shown again and again that liberals sporting rifles and shotguns is straight fascist repellent. Like any other predator, they will not engage in a fair fight.

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I’m so sick of these Nazis

[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world -5 points 2 weeks ago

let them have their pageants and protests. let them shout their words. let them push a little and get some pepper spray. let a few of them get arrested. they're young. they have their whole lives ahead of them. they're more afraid of us.

[–] npcknapsack@lemmy.ca 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Earth Day, 1970. 200 million people in the USA then, so 10% of the country. And look where the earth is now...

[–] cooperativesrock@lemm.ee 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That 3.5% number is of sustained engagement, not one and done. A single event with lots of people is the beginning of a movement. The work needs to keep going. But, the 1970s did see a lot of environmental progress.

[–] npcknapsack@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Did you mean to reply to me on that? I was only talking about how crazy the earth day one was, not trying to make a direct comparison. The earth day one was absolutely massive, yet I don't think the climate is in a good place now.

Regardless, I do hope Americans throw off fascism.

[–] cooperativesrock@lemm.ee 7 points 2 weeks ago

I did. It seemed you were saying that the Earth day 1970 protest didn't do much to help the Earth. That isn't so.

The US EPA was created in July of that year and the Clean Water Act passed in 1972. Banning DDT for Ag in the US in 1972 brought birds of prey lile the Bald Eagle back from near extenction. They were supremely successful at getting legislation passed. The focus was toxic chemicals and pollutants, not climate change as that wasn't really on the radar then. So yes, the climate is in shambles right now, but it wasn't really part of their platform. They mostly got what they wanted from that march and activism then the urgency faded away.

[–] Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago
[–] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago

So far. I really hope the 3.5 percent rule works for a country as large as the US.

[–] ynthrepic@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

We somehow need to explain to everyone who marched for George Floyd that brown Muslim Americans are being deported to El Salvadorian prisons without due process and subject to prison labour. Overt racist slavery is back, and we're far from outraged enough.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 weeks ago

Where’s the MLK speech in this list?

[–] Jaysyn@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

An astounding number of people in this thread simply do not understand how the math of a two-party FPtP electoral system works.

Also, If your 3rd party isn't putting the work in for local elections, your 3rd party isn't actually a serious political party, regardless of your opinion of it.