New York Justice League: "White people, check your privilege"

In a sympathetic article in the Village Voice, Katie Toth highlighted how caucasian interlopers were muscling their way into leadership of the Michael Brown protests in New York.

Demonstrators were traipsing between stores at the Atlantic Center Terminal Mall in Brooklyn, New York.

Cherrell Brown, Community Organizer 

The youthful protesters  eventually tried were trying to overwhelm a Target, but organizers from the New York Justice League tried to stop violent pushing.   Cherrell Brown, a national organizer for Equal Justice USA,  grabbed a megaphone to tell the mob: "White people, check your privilege. We don't need you to provoke stuff right now."  After a couple of tense moments, the mob chose to conduct a "die-in" by laying on the floor of the mall to make shoppers uncomfortable and move on.
New York Justice League (founded by Harry Belefonte) representative Michelina Ferrara thanked the group for coming and not giving the police and the media to vilify the activism.


Later, Michelina Ferrara, who identifies herself as a mixed race first generation immigrant with "light skin privilege", fretted that a couple of  white dudes were trying to seize the microphone at the demonstration, which may have been aimed at shutting down the Brooklyn Nets game at the Barclay Center.  Ferrara's race consciousness and concern about white privilege probably was well honed during her Womens' Studies education at De Pauw University.  But the mass of  anti-cop protesters do not  appear to publicly recognize that they are being played by progressives professionals.

Cherrell Brown and Michelina Ferrara are both products of the progressive university indoctrination system (which degrees in political science at North Carolina A&T and Womens' Studies at DePauw University respectively).  Now both have graduated to community activism.  As much as they object to the Eric Gardner Grand Jury decision, they bristle at being horned out of leadership by presumed white privilege.

Assuming that the rabble represented Gotham anti-police protesters, it seems less about race than being a collegiate cause celebre. The only elements missing were a drum corps and giant puppets.  The protests have expanded beyond focusing on Ferguson or Staten Island Grand Juries, and is a melting pot of lefty obsessions, including support for Palestinians and Puerto Rican grievances.  It may be that Cherrell and Michelina want better optics by having more melanin blessed spokespersons.  But could it possibly be community organizers elbowing for prominence to be first among equals among grievance groups.

Occupy Wall Street's Twitter account was organizing the New York Times Square protests on December 3rd.  There were pre-printed protest signs and chant sheets  from union activists from SEIU and the REVCOM.US (the Revolutionary Communist Party US).



And Nike claimed that the revolution won't be televised.  Alas, not all of these useful idiots want to take stage direction to make it seem less elitist.  Kind of why the Occupy Movement fizzled once the public figured out that it was less about the protesting the 1% and more like  trust funders camping for a cause with their i-pads and i-phones taking direction from radical leftists.

If community organizers agitation prove successful, it is worth considering Kosh's quote from Bablyon 5 "The avalanche has started, it is too late for the pebbles to vote."  In a top down, bottom up inside out Saul Alinsky scenario, political correctness  may neither be respected nor may radical privilege be checked.


h/t: Village Voice