On December 13, 2014 in San Francisco, I woke with a clear idea of what my day would be composed of. My vision shared by many more across the country saw a gathering of people with a collective cry for change, we woke excited to come together in that shared vision. One that saw a police force that would serve its people, that would be accountable for its actions. A vision that saw systemic change knowing that the ailments of our time are not isolated but wide spread, from environmental issues with climate change, to a militarized police force that is in place to protect capital not people, that is trained to escalate conflicts to the point of inevitable violence rather then peaceful resolution. How these widespread problems are all intricately connected that our shouts of “Eric Garner”, or “Michael Brown”, or “I can’t breath”, or “black lives matter” is about something much more, it's about creating a new world that addresses all these issues.
An interesting thing occurred on this day, something so illustrative of the divide that is taking place, where so many see change as necessary, there are those who don’t understand this. Im not talking about the police, or fox news for that matter, but the population that is happily numbed and feed by these forces.
Santacon was scheduled for this day as well, a day when thousands of people dress up as Santa Claus and parade around San Francisco, bar hoping. On this day when thousands chose to march together, Santacon members chose to dress up as a symbol of consumerism and get drunk together, because why not? Everything is great and life is wonderful. This is the divide I’m talking about.
I will continue to educate myself on the issues that are for our time to address. I will not get comfortable, be quiet or complacent. I will be an active pursuer of change.
