A Riot Is The Language Of The Unheard

 

President Obama was quoted as saying "I've never seen a civil rights law, or health care bill, or an immigration bill result because a car got burned."

While that may be true, it would be foolish and naive to believe that riots don't sometimes influence political outcomes.






When a community has its voice systematically marginalized, when that community is under-represented in the police force that claims to serve the community, in the government of the community, in the media voices that discuss the community, and in the capitalist ownership of the business that profit from the community, the danger of riot as response to crisis grows. When the crisis happens that precipitates the riot, the response should not surprise anyone. 


The President's quote represents a further marginalization of the community by inferring that even the riot, the last, desperate effort of the voiceless, can not bring about the justice, or freedom, or representation, or equality that the community seeks. 

In a society dominated by corporate media, President Obama may have been right. The world that once was has changed. The Arab Spring should stand as proof of that. 

Ferguson's prosecutor blamed social media for inflaming the situation surrounding the death of Michael Brown. While his speech was largely tone-deaf and the outcome of his "prosecution" legally questionable, he (perhaps unconsciously) recognized one truth: the ability of the dominant culture to control the narrative surrounding the killing of a member of the community, by the police who are supposed to serve them, is gone. 

The voiceless now have more than just the riot at their disposal. Social media gives them the means of organizing; and with the means of rapid, dynamic organization comes the ability to reshape the political landscape.

Just ask Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.