March for Justice — For George Floyd and All the Others
Thousands of protesters gathered at Travis Park to express solidarity and outrage against the killing of George Floyd and many others murdered by police. The names of those killed in San Antonio were called out and there was protest against San Antonio police officer Matthew Luckhurst who tried to feed dog poop to a homeless man. The main problem in San Antonio is a corrupt San Antonio Police Officers Association (SAPOA) contract that allows them to defend the most rotten and racist officers on the force, some of whom are suspected of being sleeper cells of white supremacist terrorists.
The vigil, rally, and march according to many that included thousands of supporters in cars and raising fists in support, estimated the crowd to be in excess of 20,000. Normally, grid counts do not include supporters on the sidewalk and those showing support from windows and cars. This is why “official” counts are often misleading. I marched with them to the police bunker located on Santa Rosa Street where shouts of “I Can’t Breathe” and “Black Lives Matter” rang out in thunderous voices. The crowd was as diverse as the city and thousands of whites, browns, and others supported the event. The Autonomous Brown Berets and the Black Lives Matter group hosted the event and were joined by dozens of other organizations.
A problem that became a lightning rod was the white vigilante group called the Texas Freedom Force that made itself the self-appointed guardian of the Alamo Cenotaph and appeared in a threatening manner fully armed. They are so uneducated about white supremacy that one of them even made a ridiculous comment claiming the Alamo was not about racism. It is totally about racism. One bizarre comment was, “The Alamo has nothing to do with white supremacy . . . . The Battle of the Alamo was not “just for white people or Hispanics. It was for Americans.” WRONG!
We all know that Texas heroes were slave owners and were angry when Mexico abolished slavery in 1829. There are hundreds of records that prove this. This organization is the same one that opposed the removal of that racist confederate statue at Travis Park a few years back and wandered around Texas with their fake history. The state and the city need to establish a real security presence and prevent self-appointed vigilantes from patrolling the Alamo.
After the marching was officially concluded, a small band of window breakers did minor damage to a few businesses. The march was not upended by this as they were not part of the protest. However, the presence of vigilantes at the Alamo incited many. All said, the protests will not let up until the real thug in the White House is removed in November and white supremacy crushed. We should concentrate on SAPD officer Matthew Luckhurst, a violator of human rights that must be fired and charged with a crime. We need not forget the name of Noble Cooper who was shocked to death, nor Marquis Jones and the dozens of others killed unlawfully by SAPD officers. The police union contract must be scuttled and city council members that receive money from their political committee exposed to the public.
During this time of rebellion and protest one should remember the African proverb: The child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.” We must also not forget what Martin Luther King said when fighting white supremacy; “I think we have got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard.”
