"The Interrupters"

"BLM seems to have entered a new phase in its relatively young life: non-cooperation with the mainstream political parties. As an increasing number of BLM activists are successful in changing the media narrative surrounding the presidential elections, national leaders have had to formalize a set of principles about its refusal to endorse any party or candidate.

Because the network is decentralized and expansive it has been difficult for some to understand BLM's strategy, structure and vision. Some have asked questions like, "What are their demands?" "Are they making it up as they go along?" "Why are they going after Bernie Sanders?"

I spoke with five leaders in the movement for black lives, some BLM members, some from other organizations who closely with BLM, to answer some of these questions, which are on the minds of millions, including some of the organizers themselves...

U.S. Student Association's Olla: Bernie is worth engaging because Bernie will actually listen. There is a lot of crossover between the BLM base and the Sanders base. Bernie will inevitably redefine what "progressive” means in the U.S., and these actions are a way for people that go unheard to contribute to that definition...

Why would Hillary feel the need to advocate a more "progressive" stance on race when Bernie, her most "radical" opponent was ignoring the black vote, being explicitly class-reductionist, and not releasing a public platform on racial justice? By agitating Bernie you’re shifting the entire Democratic Party left...

BLM—Minnesota's Mcdowell: The biggest question I have is, "How do we absorb all this momentum right now?" There’s so many people who want to get involved. How do we set up a culture and a solidified structure to plug people into? We don’t have that right now. And then how can we make this a movement where everyone is feeling like they’re heard and welcome?

[Another] huge internal question is, "How can we make sure that people show up on the streets for black cis and trans women who are killed by cops, not just black men?" There’s also the big question around the role of white allies, especially here in Minnesota. There’s a lot of white people and non-black people who are down, but how do we have structures for them to be involved without giving up black leadership?"

http://www.colorlines.com/articles/interrupters

This was super interesting, and I am loving how I see the term "interrupter" being used in different places. Like, using it in parallel with the idea of allyship, as the action.