signs and signals

[adrian_turtle]

I was returning from my constitutional Saturday, and saw a group of people lined up along Mass Ave, holding up signs every 6 feet or so: "Black Lives Matter," "No Justice No Peace," "I Can't Breathe," "Hate Has No Home Here." I ran up to my apartment to make a sign, have a drink, and put on a mask that wasn't soaked with sweat, then went back to take up the slack in the line.

This was nowhere near the Black Lives Matter event in downtown Boston. As some of you know, I am afraid to go where there are likely to be police lights much less police violence. And of course now even taking the T is frightening. My neighborhood is closer to Lexington Battle Green than to the Boston Common, and this whole thing felt very quiet and peaceful and just saturated with white privilege. I'm not sure if it was any more meaningful than re-tweeting helpless outrage. But I did go back. And I'll be going back again.

The plan, insofar as there is a plan, is for people to stand there with signs for an hour every day. Cars going by have responded very positively. More than 2/3 of people passing waved or honked or gave us a thumbs-up. (Including most of the bus drivers.) Some rolled their windows down and cheered. I only saw one actively negative response. Even the police officers gave us tightly civil nods when they drove past.

There were several times I was a little scared. A surprising number of drivers pulled out signs to wave out their windows, to show their agreement. I had no idea so many people just happened to carry "black lives matter" and "I can't breathe" signs around in their back seats. It's great that they do! But FFS, people, keep your hands on the wheel!

And there was that one guy. He wasn't scary, but he was confusing. He might have just been passing by on his way home from a cosplay event, and not paying any particular attention to us. (Do I want to know what kind of cosplay?) He was wearing a tricorne hat and carrying the flag of Imperial Japan. If he had been wearing an old-fashioned navy uniform, or some outfit that looked vaguely steam-punkish, it would have had a different effect than wearing that hat with cargo shorts and hiking boots.* I would also have seen it differently if he had been holding the flag up and waving it, instead of carrying it down around his knees.


*I cling to the idea that if I don't make fun of other people's fashion choices, nobody will make fun of my own, so I can wear cargo shorts for as long as I can squeeze cell phones into the pockets.








*Does anybody even remember Burma Shave anymore?

Comments

[hobbitbabe]

Is it awful that in this fascinating account of witnessing for justice, I giggled at the part about the puzzling cosplay dude?

[adrian_turtle]

You're not the only one! I didn't want to laugh at him when he was actually walking by, just in case he was flagging some kind of racism or misogyny or unexploded bomb that might be triggered by getting laughed at. But the other demonstrators were snickering at each other. "Who WAS that unmasked man?"

[amaebi]

Yeah, the sounded very Distinctive.

I remember Burma Shave, but only barely from actual signs I have myself seen. And I may possibly have confabulated those memories.

[julian]

Oh, I like those sorts of standouts. Jamaica Plain has one monthly, first Thursday of the month. No, it's not A Massive Action or Hugely Meaningful, but I think it's an indication of how overall opinion and overall possibilities have changed (or are changing).

[hiranu]

For the record, I remember Burma-shave as a concept, And even think I remember seeing some signs of that nature traveling by car through Missouri and Nebraska in the early 1970's.

[silveradept]

While I haven't seen Burma-Shave adverts, I understand the concept perfectly well.

I like the small demonstrations like that one. They're often a way of showing that the people who are done with this are everywhere and not just in major population centers where they can be ignored or demonized.