Why Black Out Friday Won't Work

BlackOutFriday. This idea is silly and won't work. I am going to tell you what the problem is, and I'm going to tell you what the only hypothetical solution is, and then I'm going to tell you why that solution isn't possible, and I will conclude with the point that the battle is always lost because of that.

 The problem: The problem isn't merely that cops are brutalizing and killing Black men. The problem is that they are doing it without the least fear of consequence. And no, boycotting stores on Black Friday just to buy stuff later does not serve as any sort of consequence to law enforcement officers. That's why this idea is silly. Whether Black people are boycotting stores or not, there will be a pervasive attitude that Black people need to be heavily policed and deserve whatever type of "policing" they get. This allows not just police to do what they do, but others in the justice system to facilitate it and allow it to go unchecked. BlackOutFriday doesn't solve this at all.

The only hypothetical solution: Create consequence for killing Black people. And we cannot rely on the system to offer that consequence. The only thing we can do is create that fear of consequence ourselves and the only option for that would be to meet police officers with violence and potential killing. That's the only thing that can actually spark fear. Now, before someone reports me and says I am advocating killing cops, please note I said "hypothetical". In other words, I am not advocating this, I am saying in the abstract that this is the only thing that could work, and now I am about to explain - as promised earlier - why this solution isn't possible. Keep reading.

Why the solution isn't possible: One of the best memes related to Ferguson was the meme saying how someone looks when people are burning down everything except the precinct. It was funny, but it said all that needed to be said. The cops are untouchable. We'll rap about retaliation against the cops ("I throw a molotov cocktail at the precinct you know how we think" - Dead Prez), but we won't actually do it, whereas they'll actually kill us, without fear of consequence. The cops are well-organized to meet any threats to them, while Black men cannot return the same well-oiled organization. Another thing I noticed was people in the St Louis area saying Young Thug would be under threat of violence if he came to STL because he was dismissive of Ferguson's concerns. Wrong focus, but notice what that message conveys. They weren't going to touch not one cop, but some low-talent rapper says something and they want to talk like they are about to get turnt up. This is why we lose, but stuff like this illustrates so clearly that we just don't have the resources and the ability to harm a cop. I'm not going to do it, no one reading this is going to do it, and so there is never any concern on the part of the cops.

Why the battle is therefore always lost: In any situation, if you have a Group A and a Group B, and Group A is willing to kill members of Group B without fear, but members of Group B are not able to kill members of Group A, Group A wins. That's the endgame. Michael Brown and Tamir Rice and other slayings are going to continue whether we go to a store on Friday or not. Whether we protest in the streets or not. Whether we vote out elected officials or not. None of this other stuff matters. One group will kill. One group will not. And the game is over from there. Sorry to paint such a negative picture, but we lose folks, and this was not possible for us to ever win. Now again, please do not misinterpret what I've written here as a call for violence against the police. That's not what it is, I don't need to be reported to anyone, and I want every last one of you to enjoy many more years with your families and friends, so I call for no one to try to fight a battle they won't win. I am merely explaining that all realistic efforts available to us, including BlackOutFriday, will have no effect.