When Black Lives Matter speaks at a Trump rally

[source: sceencap]

Last Saturday was the pro-Trump “Mother of All Rallies”, where a few hundred turned up at the National Mall for an event that had predicted a million attendees, continuing the Trumpalos’ pattern of severely overestimating how much of the country likes the orange buffoon in the White House. Because the universe loves a joke, they were drowned out by the coexistent Juggalo March on Washington, which drew about twice as many fans of the Insane Clown Posse for a fitting counterpoint in support of free speech and diversity.

The Trumpkin gathering was a funnier joke than anything a rally of clown fans could come up with, but one particular moment stood out. A crew of Black Lives Matters protestors showed up and after failing to get the crowd to ignore them, the rally organizer switched gears and invited the activists onstage to share their message, trying to cloak his about-face in a patriotic love of free speech (as if BLM had ever tried to silence anyone).

What happened next was fascinating: Hawk Newsome, President of Black Lives Matter New York and winner of today’s best name award, explained their cause in terms even the Trump fans could understand. And before long, some of them began to cheer.

These Black Lives Matter activists were invited on stage at a pro-Trump rally – and every American needs to hear what they said pic.twitter.com/m69yvgiQtw

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 19, 2017

Admittedly, getting jingoists to applaud at lines like “I am an American” and “God-given right to freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” isn’t exactly a magic trick, but that’s part of Newsome’s strategy for winning the crowd over, and it visibly worked. Not that everyone was a fan; some MAGA-hat-wearers liked to shout various racist and police-brutality-apologizing tropes, such as how a Black man who was choked to death by police was a “criminal” (he allegedly sold single cigarettes – clearly a crime that excuses being murdered by an illegal chokehold, right?) and that BLM doesn’t care about “Black-on-Black crime” and, of course, “all lives matter” – which brought Newsome to explain the reason BLM exists is that when a Black life is taken, no-one’s ever held accountable for it.

The best part came after the speech, when he was approached by various pro-Trump groups who wanted to shake his hand and say they agreed with him. It comes to show that when BLM’s opponents take the time to listen to what they have to say, they find BLM’s message isn’t easy to disagree with anymore.

(via @jk_rowling)