IMPORTANT: In the coming weeks expect Democrats to push respond to this moment by pushing for:

-more surveillance
-more policing
-more Internet censorship

This is the exact opposite of what we need to do. We need to address this problem at its root: systemic racism & injustice

The mainstream pundit narrative will focus almost exclusively on the tactics used by those who stormed the capitol. The tactics are not the point. There is nothing inherently wrong with militant protest, the problem is weaponized white supremacy sparking violence.

You'll hear self-avowed progressives call for things like more funding for the FBI to "monitor domestic extremist groups." In their imagination this will be used to target Proud Boys etc. In reality it will just deepen the surveillance state that harms Black & brown communities

You can't stop fascism with authoritarianism. The weaponized white supremacy, patriarchy, and economic injustice that led to this eruption of violence cannot be stopped by cracking down on dissent, criminalizing freedom of expression, or militarizing police. We have work to do.

Censorship always silences marginalized voices first.

Surveillance always criminalizes Black and brown and Muslim and LGBTQ+ dissent the most.

Expanded policing just deepens the systemic injustice that caused all of this in the first place.

When people are scared they cling to authoritarian structures. We've seen this since Trump came into office, with progressives and liberals lionizing institutions like the CIA and FBI that exist primarily to uphold US imperialism and oppression. it's a path that leads to disaster

We need profound, transformative, structural change. We need to dismantle the economic & political systems that have brought us to this point and create new ones that protect people's basic human rights and take care of people's basic needs. We need to abolish failed institutions

I know it's kind of cheezy to quote him but Albert Einstein famously said “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

We can't heal the wounds ripped open today by doubling down on the racist and authoritarian policies that got us here.

But that won't stop politicians from both parties from attempting to exploit this crisis to push an authoritarian agenda.

They'll demand the repeal of Section 230, even though that will actually make it harder to address online hate

They demand more funding for the FBI & cops

This IS a crisis. But it's a crisis that demands a true reckoning. It's a crisis that demands we reject the fundamentally flawed ideologies and institutions that have caused so much suffering since this country was built on stolen land. It's a crisis that demands hope, and action