I realize that coverage of the events in #Ferguson may not be what you all expect or even want from a musicians social media page. Honestly, I held back from going because its a complicated situation and I wanted to be there in the right way. I though about it, debated it, dithered back and forth between the desire to be an activist and the fear of seeming like a tragedy tourist. I finally went. In the company of good friends, new allies and strangers, all of the anxiety about whether I should be there or not became immediately irrelevant. So much so, in fact, that I couldnt leave until the guns came out and officers in riot gear threatened the press (where we were stationed) with immediate arrest if we did not leave. In the afternoon, we marched in a huge circle because the police said we would be arrested if we stopped walking. A Getty Images photographer was taken away in zip cuffs as people shouted who are you with? whats your name so that they could share and report. Organizers and community leaders poured their souls out as they chanted, handed out roses and lead people in song. Protestors from everywhere.. kids.. young people.. old people... everyone in between. I met people from all over the country as we drank bottle after bottle of water in the hot sun. And we kept walking. National Guard troops in armored vehicles and buses were stationed to secure the perimeter around the police Incident Command Center and the media base camp where we charged our phones and met with friends in the media. The soldiers treated me kindly and with respect but it was surreal to see them. I thought, This is what the news looks like, not real life. But it is real life. The realest. Someone sent Umar a bag of respirators and goggles which we passed out to journalists. A person from Palestine sent Sam a Twitter message saying to mix antacid and water for tear gas relief and to spread that around Ferguson. A man from Turkey sent me an Instagram showing how to dunk tear gas in big jugs of water to neutralize. Be careful out there, he said. Later, as the crowd swelled up the street in peaceful protest, we were barricaded in by hundreds of law enforcement officers. Tensions were high and leaders on both sides were struggling to rein in their people, which they did admirably for a while but resentment towards being caged in was building. One man near me remarked, The cops got everything. Everything. What do we have? We were all balanced on a knifes edge. When the balance tipped, we heard the boom of the tear gas and saw the smoke billowing. We poured antacid and water into peoples stinging eyes as journalists in full combat gear walked towards the relatively safe media pen with hands on each others shoulders. People were running but didnt know where to go. I stood next to a resident who lived about 200yds away from where we were but couldnt get home. A civilian vehicle rushed up to police and passed over a man holding a bloody shirt to his side. A SWAT vehicle raced by with a mans motionless sneakers hanging out the back door. And we stayed because we HAD TO. Because leaving felt like a betrayal. At least, we stayed as long as we could. Even though I knew those semi-auto rifles were non-lethal (marked in orange), theres something completely unnerving about a gun pointed at you. Powerless, our voices taken away but our cameras up, we were threatened with arrest and... honestly... the threat worked. I know people braver than I who stayed as long as they could and it was longer. But Im going back.. and Im going to post about it using the voice Ive created through music because it just happens to be the one I have. So, yes, this isnt what youre expecting from a Facebook page devoted to a synth-pop band. But I think, maybe, what matters is whats happening and we can talk about music when its over. KRISTIN #handsupdontshoot
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:48:04 +0000
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