Inside A DNC Protest-Planning Meeting

Secret service agents and rangers contain a protest area occupied by Bernie Sanders suppor
DANIEL SLIM/AFP/Getty Images
Lee Stranahan

Organizers from the group Democracy Spring told a crowd of protesters that they consider it important to be “white allies” with a “black liberation” march taking place in Philadelphia that was put together by a coalition of groups including Black Lives Matter.

The gathered crowd of about 80 protesters was given practical information on how to get arrested.

The plans follow the long-standing leftist tradition of letting black liberation groups become the vanguard of the movement, with white activists dutifully taking their place behind. In the 1960s, for example, the major split in the Students for Democratic Society that led to the formation of the Weatherman involved whether the movement was sufficiently servile to black leaders of the revolution such as the Black Panther party.

It does not appear that protesters who are being arrested are being sent to jail. Instead, they were held on buses and then given a citation.

Protesters also discussed various ways to organize things, including the immediately practical (use the bathrooms before going to the event), the tactical (how to create more effective chokepoints), and the political (how to best let the black liberation group lead without interfering or usurping their roles as leaders of the movement).

One protest organizer also said that the group had plans for direct action every day of the convention and urged their fellow protesters not to let up.

One concern the protesters had was that the increased money they gave to Philadelphia through their arrest fines went into purchasing police riot gear that would remain in Philadelphia, long after these largely out-of-state protestors had left, leaving the local police with heightened nerves and more equipment. This concern was addressed but never answered.

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As the protesters prepared to board the Metro subway system in Philadelphia to join the Black Lives Matter group, an ominous tone was struck as they all chanted the words of the “Queen of the Black Liberation Army”, ‘Assata’s Prayer’. Assata Shakur is a convicted cop killer who is currently wanted by the FBI and living in exile in Cuba.

One observer at the Black Liberation march told Breitbart News that the march was already “aggressive” and that white participants were being told to move to the back of the line by organizers. Watch for more stories on this march later.

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