Exploding

This is a difficult post to write, to read. If you need uplift, this isn't it.

Gradual and well-planned political activism did not come soon enough to save the life of Quanice Hayes, a seventeen-year-old African-American youth shot by a white Portland policeman on Thursday while carrying a toy gun. There is a fund to raise money for his funeral and to help his mother, a widow with four other children, currently trying to find housing. A vigil has been hastily arranged for tonight.

In the morning a couple of hundred protesters came into the streets to protest against or defend Planned Parenthood (PP), a health agency that provides reproductive health care and access to contraception. PP says it provides referrals for abortions to only 5% of its patients, but that 5% of their mission is contested by the new administration. 

A silent “wall of support” had been planned by advocates for reproductive rights, but some activists objected to a silent protest because they felt it played into the silencing of women, and there were conflicting reports about what PP clinic administrators wanted. A small silent protest stood across the boulevard from the clinic, while right outside the doors, “pro-life” demonstrators carried signs and spoke their mind, mingling with “pro-choice” demonstrators who chanted, gave testimony on a megaphone, and waved signs. 

I took four excellent books on white supremacy and movements for justice to read at the Coast this week. All emphasize taking time for thoughtful and consistent planning, community-building, and the pursuit of multiple strategies, but none of that saved the life of Quanice Hayes. While we debate strategies and tactics, more children are shot and killed by militarized police.