Media coverage, pictures and writ-up of "Take a knee at Browns' opening game" demonstration in Cleveland, OH

[don bryant]

Corporate media stayed away - one public radio station did a story:
http://wksu.org/post/protesters-stand-kaepernick-taking-knee-browns-opener

Melanated Media News covered the entire demonstration - here's highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqcXj7O1YUc&t=10s

Melanated Media News interviews with fans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7AiZWhC43U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln2zvTZ3AyI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBimtUshlXs

= <thomas...@aol.com> wrote: 

 

We got the balance just about right: an African-American-led protest

against police brutality with lots of support from White Allies.  A five-

year-old African American boy shouted out many of the chants over

the microphone, "No Justice, No Peace," and "Take a Knee for Colin,

Take a Knee for the Browns!"  Protest signs had pictures of Trayvon,

Michael Brown and Tamir, for those forgetting what it was all about.

 

On WKSU radio today a young African American woman at the Free

Stamp was the lead story.  WKSU reported that our Browns protest

was just part of a national wave of Colin Kaespernak protests at NFL

stadiums across the U.S.  No surprise that the Cleveland mainstream

corporate media was a no-show, no CPN, no 3, 5, 8,19...no Pee Dee

as Roldo used to refer to our newspaper of record.  Cleveland media,

along with our pitiful political "leaders" are buying into this 21st Century

version of Roman Bread and Circuses (and bread seems to be running

out for many of our needy, impoverished children).

 

CPA was represented by Don Bryant, Nina McLelland, Peggy Kacerek

and myself.  My sign read "LOOMIS...ARPAIO ON THE LAKE."  This

seemed to go over the head of many Brown's fans, but one guy came

up saying, "Where can I make a donation?" because he said he hated

Arpaio and the Trump pardon, so much.  His $10 dollars went to Black

on Black Crime (I was a little worried about how may cops I pissed off).

 

I often try to turn our protests into a sociogram.  This one came out at

1/3, 1/3 and 1/3.  Some were against us as in "F-U Bitch," and worse.

The middle would not make eye-contact...Hannah Arendt's banality of

evil, maybe?  And some gave us high fives, raised fists or peace signs.

Or stepped forward to take a knee with us, for photos by their friends.

Almost no Blacks cursed us, but some seemed embarrassed that they

were going in with the majority-white crowd, without supporting those

on the team who had been taking a knee.  Those who showed they

were with us were both blacks and whites. (excuse the ethnic nature

of my demographics, but that's how much of the election polling goes,

as well, to figure out how The Donald buried Hillary after Obama had

won so easily in 2008 and 2012)

 

If there was a success to our protest, besides the fact of a few activists

reaching thousands and thousands of fellow Americans, streaming by,

by the hundreds, minute by minute, it was how we started conversations.

As in, "Dad, why are those people on their knees, holding those signs?"

It's moments like these that give me hope, and they often happen out in

the street, where we meet not just the good but also the bad and ugly! 

Or as someone once put it, those people cursing us may join us someday.

 

              Kim [Hill, retired teacher, Cleveland area, Ohio]