Seattle: "12th Man 4 Black Lives"
December 16, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From readers:
In Seattle there are continuing and ongoing protests and marches happening at least several times a week against the murders of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and all the other murders by police nationwide. This Saturday, December 13, there were three different protests and marches across the city, and repression by the Seattle police (SPD) to prevent these marches from joining up was intensive.
Photo: Special to Revolution.
Then on Sunday, December 14, there was a big game day in Seattle, with the Seahawks football team playing the San Francisco 49ers. Inspired by the athletes speaking out across the nation against these murders by the police, calls went out for players and fans at the big football stadium to get involved. Some people, including activists from the October 22 Coalition, revolutionaries, and others, met up at Occidental Park. There was a banner displayed there that people had made saying "12th Man 4 Black Lives! Justice for Mike Brown and Eric Garner" in the green and blue Seahawk colors. The "12th Man" is a local term for the Seahawks fans.
The 49ers are key rivals of the Seahawks. Many football fans pass thru Occidental Park on their way to the big stadium. While we were displaying the banner and doing agitation, some 49er fans stopped to give their warm and supportive approval. A revolutionary posted a pic of this to Twitter (see the accompanying photo). And later in the day it was re-tweeted by Richard Sherman, Seahawk cornerback (#25). Last year Sherman was attacked by the mainstream media and commentators as a "thug" for being outspoken in comments to the press after the Seahawks Superbowl win. Sherman took this on publicly, calling out the word "thug" as a racist code word.
We soon marched with our banner and other signs from the park and up thru the plazas leading to the stadium. With loud chants we drew others to us, and the procession grew as we approached the stadium. There was another big group of protestors already there, and as we joined them our forces at one point swelled to about 400 people. There were speak-outs and die-ins happening right in the midst of the throngs of spectators going into the stadium. Many of the protesters were ardent football fans also. Many spectators were supportive, and joined in. Some were hostile and even threatening, and protestors and revolutionaries argued with them to get some understanding of the issues.
During all this, one thing revolutionaries engaged people with was the latest copy of Revolution newspaper, with the article "An Illegitimate System... and the Need for Revolution—Burning Questions"
More actions are being called for—Seattle is not backing down!
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