Who are the Tampa protesters and what to they want?

This is Black Lives Matter the slogan and Black Lives Matter the organization.

“Black Lives Matter” as a message is NOT something anyone disagrees with. Injustice is evil and, while there are flaws in the justice system, by and large, millions of police interactions are just, non-violent and protect the public.

The horrible death of George Floyd sparked an outcry and fueled the marxist elements of the Black Lives Matter organization, leading to violent outbursts, ripping down of statues, vandalizing public property, the formation of “autonomous zones,” racist attacks across the nation…so we ask: who are the protesters and what to they want?

BLACK LIVES MATTER: ABOUT US

The organization has an extensive page on “What We Believe” which lists the history from Trayvon Martin to Michael Brown to now. Focusing on injustice and racism is part of that universal message and slogan, but the “state-sanctioned violence” and globalist language aligns more with marxism and socialism that anything resembling freedom and liberty.

Moreover, the group seeks to “do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence….Build a space that affirms Black women and is free from sexism, misogyny, and environments in which men are centered.”

So this isn’t about criminal reform, even defunding the police, it’s about a wide range of far-left ideologies.

They propound anti-family messaging: “…disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”

Citing statistics on black families with one parent seems moot at this point (Google Dr. Walt Williams and those keywords to expand your horizons on the topic) because they seem more interested in virtue signalling to the LGBTQ community by “freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking.”

Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC)

So of the biggest organizers in the Tampa area is the Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC), self-described as a”grassroots organization, formed after the murder of George Floyd, dedicated to fighting for justice and progressive change in Tampa.”

Over the last couple of days, here’s their message: “Protesting is not a crime, drop the charges now!” and “TPD kills while on patrol, what do we want? Community control!”

They are attempting to pressure Attorney General Andrew Warren to drop more charges against protesters, even those committing felonies and resisting arrest. Conflating protesting with blocking traffic and vandalizing statues is commonplace to BLM in 2020.

“Warren has only dismissed the cases from the night of June 2, where peaceful demonstrators were corralled, tear gassed, pepper sprayed, shot by rubber bullets, and finally arrested,” said David Jones, a member of TBCAC. “While it is definitely a win that those charges were dropped, we have to fight for the numerous other protesters whose cases have not been dismissed.”

Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC) protesting July 3 photo via Twitter

WHAT DO THEY WANT?

It’s clear that nothing is universal and seem folks may be seeking elements of reform and change, but these protests want some control….control of the police.

“TBCAC was also demanding the creation of a civilian police accountability council, a locally elected board of citizens who would have the power to subpoena evidence from departments, hire and fire officers, negotiate the police union contract, approve or deny the department’s budget, and investigate cases of police misconduct. Much of these functions are currently done internally in police departments.”

“This movement will not stop until change happens,” another member of TBCAC stated in the coverage from the last couple of days. “We will do sit-ins at town hall, marches in downtown and protests all over until the charges are dropped and justice is won.”

Protesters’ bail is being paid for by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) using GoFundMe (which has raised over $70,000 at the time of this writing)

Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society

So what is SDS fighting for?

“On July 2, students gathered at the gates of the on-campus residence for the president of the University of South Florida (USF) to demand that the university take measures to increase Black enrollment,” a new article begins. “Over the past 10 years, the percentage of Black students at the university has been on a steady decline, from a high of 12% a decade ago to the most recent report of 10%. But even the highest percentage is much lower than the demographics of the Tampa Bay area, in which Black people comprise nearly a quarter of the population.

“Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led the crowd in chants calling for an increase in Black enrollment, as well as Black faculty and counselors. Tampa Bay SDS also drew attention to the fact that they have been met with pushback from administrators in the past when voicing these demands, with representatives of the university implying that an increase in Black enrollment would negatively affect the school’s graduation rates.

 

3 Comments

  1. The law is above colors. It has to protect all people. Using violence and intimidation against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims, in called TERRORISM. Not because I say it, but because that is the legal description. Check out fbi/investigate/terrorism I encourage everyone to go through that page and learn About domestic violent extremists, how social media is influencing and recruiting individuals who are receptive to extremist messaging. Having said that, I stand by the law and looking forward to see those individuals charged with the crimes they committed.

  2. In response to Brandon Jones’ Opinion Article in The Tampa Dispatch on July 8, 2020 Tampa, Florida

    Confusion and misrepresentation are powerful weapons that have been long employed by the wrong hands, hearts, and intentions throughout the recorded ages of men. With all due respect Mr. Brandon Jones, I pose to you this inquiry. What was your motive for writing this article? Was this a commission from Tampa Dispatch (I know it is an opinion however they putting this online for everyone to read speaks volumes to your and their misunderstandings of Black issues in America of which I will cover shortly with your prose) or a personal interest? After digesting your article after several reads, I reached these conclusions about what you have written as most will see me and automatically place me in their minds as a BLM representative (of which I am officially not a member of but as a Black man on the U.S. consensus ) rebuttal to your prose.
    1) I quote you here: “Black Lives Matter” as a message is NOT something anyone disagrees with…”. Therefore Mr. Jones, If anyone does not disagree with the slogan, then why so much animosity displayed from those that oppose the group’s mere visual presence and existence in current social political matters as projected through various social media outlets like FOX news, CNN, MSNBC, and others (when they are looking for rating boosts) through character slander and message confusion among other divisive ploys? If you don’t disagree with the slogan, you DON’T have any disagreements with what have been written out in its demands for a society that demands to be reoriented in practice on rendering complete social justice for ALL people (Blacks especially) and not on sustaining racial economic hierarchies based on the premises of freedom and liberty defined exclusively by those with social economic means.

    2) And here, you have misinterpreted the BLM central focal message and have subjected your readers to the folly of distractions by writing: “Focusing on injustice and racism is part of that universal message and slogan, but (distraction starts) the “state-sanctioned violence” and globalist language aligns more with Marxism and socialism that anything resembling freedom and liberty.” Mr. Jones, the focus of BLM is to ultimately topple injustice and racism globally for all Black people. When you write “but the “state-sanctioned violence” and “globalist language aligns more with Marxism and socialism that anything resembling,” you are intentionally distracting readers from BLM’s mission and central aim of achieving what you call “freedom and liberty,” in their own means as America’s four fathers have from Great Britain not long ago. If freedom and liberty have failed BLM in America, they like any other group under similar situations, will look to other forms that promise what they are looking for.

    3) “So this isn’t about criminal reform, even defunding the police, it’s about a wide range of far-left ideologies.” No sir, it is not. As stated earlier, BLM wants what I want. This is for America to be reoriented in practice on rendering complete social justice for ALL people (Blacks especially) and not on sustaining racial economic hierarchies based on the premises of freedom and liberty defined exclusively by those with greater social historical economic leverage that derived from historically institutionalized and later abandoned banal economic enterprises (American slavery). The BLM fight is about reaching freedom and liberty by taking power (this is defined as social economic power and empowerment through national reparations to descendants of former slaves) for Black people in America ultimately.

    4) BLM is all about family. “They propound anti-family messaging: “…disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.” I am not going to give you a history lesson on the dynamics of African American families. Here, I will state the old African adage (proverb): “It takes a village to raise a child.” The “Western-prescribed nuclear family structure” in many ways was a failed if not an out-right phony imitation of real social support systems that were built on support for survival.

    5) Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC) wants what BLM wants. That is “martial” control of the communities in where they constitute an ethnic majority of inhabitants. TBCAC and BLM want to see ONLY those serving in uniforms that identify as non-white on the U.S. census patrolling the neighborhoods. People who identify with, represent, or who are externally associated by non-blacks (as I will be by readers that misread and understand my message that I type today) as TBCAC and BLM supporters see no other way. The policing forces in their present condition country wide have evolved from the old slave patrols of the preceding centuries in America. Built to “break” Black lives that “break” laws. For many African descents, police forces were never seen as legal “protective” entities to begin with in the communities that they formed following 1865.

    6) Yes Mr. Jones, “A civilian police accountability council, a locally elected board of citizens who would have the power to subpoena evidence from departments, hire and fire officers, negotiate the police union contract, approve or deny the department’s budget, and investigate cases of police misconduct…” is a noble start but only the beginning of what can be achieved in a few short months.

    “Much of these functions are currently done internally in police departments.” And this sir is the problem. The solution is to look at history critically, listen critically to narratives outside of your comforts, learn outside of your heritage, and apply JUSTICE so that ALL social economic grievances will cease completely for ALL people (Black people exclusively); for ALL time.

    7) Finally: “Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led the crowd in chants calling for an increase in Black enrollment, as well as Black faculty and counselors.” More representation is good, no problem there.
    “Tampa Bay SDS also drew attention to the fact that they have been met with pushback from administrators in the past when voicing these demands, with representatives of the university implying that an increase in Black enrollment would negatively affect the school’s graduation rates.”
    As a two-time graduate of the University of South Florida in 2007 for History and in 2013 for Africana Studies (with an emphasis in modern African history), I find this to be a shoal remark that fails to take into account the systematic injustices that have produced this current predicament for many of us all.

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