MaxE wrote:
This article from Politico directly addresses the OP.I don't know if Politico has an editorial bias. They seem to publish pieces from different points of view.
I would like to quote
The Wikipedia article about BLM:
Quote:
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and inequality experienced by black people. When its supporters come together, they do so primarily to protest incidents of police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. It started following the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Pamela Turner and Rekia Boyd, among others. The movement and its related organizations typically advocate for various policy changes considered to be related to black liberation. While there are specific organizations that label themselves simply as "Black Lives Matter," such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network, the overall movement is a decentralized network of people and organizations with no formal hierarchy. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself remains untrademarked by any group. Despite being characterized by some as a violent movement, the overwhelming majority of its public demonstrations have been peaceful.
It aggravates me when people refer to BLM leaders who are "trained Marxists" like how do you train to be a Marxist and who would train you? Like there are people who have made such claims but they are insignificant nobodies. Their names are unknown to Americans. The people who came to BLM protests to commit violent acts or to loot had no political agenda. They were common criminals inspired by a culture of violence that seems to be everywhere.
I think we should pledge to stop using the phrase "BLM riots" as a way to confuse the issue, especially as regards non-Americans who could be confused into believing that a "BLM riot" is an actual thing.
How do you train Marxists? You are going to have to ask BLM founder Patricia Cullers how that is done as she is the one that made that claim.
Progressivism Marxism Underpins Black Lives Matter AgendaQuote:
So, Black Lives Matter at least has a good start on accomplishing Garza’s goal of “dismantling the organizing principle of society.” But what does it seek to put in its place?
Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, Black Lives Matter’s three main founders, have always been candid about their Marxism, which is a synonym for communism.
In 2015, Garza told SF Weekly that “social movements all over the world have used Marx and Lenin as a foundation to interrupt these systems that are really negatively impacting the majority of people.”
Also that year, she told a gathering of world communists, Left Forum, that it’s “not possible for a world to emerge where black lives matter if it’s under capitalism, and it’s not possible to abolish capitalism without a struggle against national oppression.”
As for Cullors, she has affirmed on the record several times that she’s a Marxist. In fact, with so many journalists denying that she is a communist, Cullors herself released a video on Dec. 14 stating clearly:
Am I a Marxist? … I do believe in Marxism. It’s a philosophy that I learned really early on in my organizing career … .
She subsequently adds:
… the U.S. is so good at propaganda and being like … it has sold the idea of the American dream, and that’s tied into capitalism and wealth. It’s much harder to sell communism … .
In a June 2020 interview, Cullors said of Garza and herself: “We are trained Marxists. We are super-versed on, sort of, ideological theories.”
As far “BLM riots” there is rarely a perfectly accurate way to name a riot because as you mentioned there are so many motivations both personal and political. They named the 1992 riots the “LA riot” and the “Rodney King riot”. The “LA riot” was a continuation of the 1960s naming them after the location where they occurred. You could not do that in 2020;for obvious reasons. Naming them for George Floyd seems more inaccurate then “Black Lives Matter” which was the phrase everybody was using at time.
As for the claim it was just a bunch common criminals there is no way of knowing for sure, as far as I know no surveys have been done of the the rioters. You are probably right about the looters, but common criminals do not explain the burning of the police station in Minneapolis,
the vandalism of over three hundred police cars and torching of 14 in New York.
So the quote turns out to be from the Heritage Foundation which is a well-known source of right wing propaganda. Anyway, calling Patricia Cullors the Founder of BLM is a propaganda tactic. She founded an organization she called BLM but she is self appointed, she didn't originate the grassroots movement by any means. It's not much of stretch to imagine the Right put her up to this as she's such a convenient bogeyman. I challenge you to go into any public space and ask 100 people if they recognize the name Patricia Cullors and find anyone who says yes. I have only seen her name in the context of Right Wing propaganda. Back in my day, everyone knew who Angela Davis was. She was without a doubt a Marxist but I would have no idea who trained her.
Bottom line anything out of the Heritage Foundation is crap and should be properly labeled.
24 Jun 2022, 6:45 pm
