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"Only love can counter hate" doesn't mean you should love oppressors harder and hope they stop oppressing, it means that you need to love and show up for vulnerable folks, using any means possible, up to and including violence if and when it becomes necessary
If you're not willing to punch a white Nazi who's actively agitating for the death of people these systems do not give a fuck about, it's fair to question how much you care. Fuck Nazis, fuck the police, fuck respectability, fuck showing compassion to murderers
I have some... not regrets exactly but ambivalence about these tweets now that I'm re-reading them. They're not specific enough, and I was mostly just angry while tweeting them
If you're out there irl, and especially if you are white, or non-Black, non-Native, do not escalate
If you're out there irl, and especially if you are white, or non-Black, non-Native, do not escalate
I think I retweeted this earlier but it does a better job of explaining than I could https://twitter.com/oliveyoongs/status/1266117634426146816
(Check the next few tweets in that thread; all credit to @EbonyJanice for the video)
Most responsible community organizational work will include this as part of training; if you are trying to be an ally/accomplice in a situation, speak respectfully but firmly to police, etc. Follow commands and state out loud that you are following commands
Importantly, center the safety of the person or people you are trying to aid and recognize that if you escalate it is not likely you who will bear the ultimate brunt of any consequences
If you're old enough to have been involved post-9/11, you may have learned this from Muslim organizers, usually women. You see harassment, you go to the victim, not the instigator. Showing that you're there is less dangerous to them than jumping in looking to fight
Mostly my philosophy is that you should be very prepared and know what your limits are. You should not be looking for violence, but you should know that certain situations might involve it and know that going in, for your and everyone else's safety
But even more important than that is knowing that your actions as an accomplice will not automatically be net positive just because you care; there are things that generally work, generally don't, and things that generally cause way more harm than if you weren't there at all
