In Light of #M17

Stole this from Kevin, one of our gamers here in NYC. He posted on Facebook:

“…the extreme police violence Saturday night made my head spin.

Friends in the hospital with broken thumbs, jaws, ribs- reports of a handcuffed woman seizing, ignored, in the street. The videos are shocking. And, as I’ve felt before, it made me wonder if America can really be changed. It’s so overwhelming, perhaps my skills would better be applied back in Zambia where at least I can be effective at directly confronting poverty and injustice. We are up against the most powerful military and police system in the world, and we are armed with only words, social networks, and creativity. But then I thought about the police- angry, violent, robotic faces that don’t discriminate in their aggression, and I thought about my Grandfather- a Green Beret, U.S. Army Colonel, and the warmest, proudest person I’ve ever known, the man who taught me what patriotism means. I thought about the genealogy he’d traced of our family, when I learned that I came from a long line of pioneers and revolutionaries, stretching back to the very first european settlers in this country and joining with the Native Americans in their struggle along the way.

I thought back to the cops- cowardly, mindless enforcers who violate the constitution to break up a gathering of peaceful non-violent citizens. They are not America, My grandfather could explain it to them in no uncertain terms. This country is MINE; its victories, its failures, its economic system, its oppression, its constitution, its parks, its streets- all mine. I won’t give it up, you can break my bones (Lord knows I’ve done a decent job of that by myself), lock me up, attempt to silence me and my fellow citizens; but I’m not going anywhere, you can’t take what isn’t yours.

1. We are the people.
2. We are united.
3. This Occupation IS NOT LEAVING.”

You know that whole life, lemons, lemonade thing? This is exactly that.

We will never win with force, they’re armed to kill. We will never win in numbers, they’re an army with tens of thousands. We will never win with politics, they’ve bought our government. So what do we do?

We play. We play games with them. We play tricks on them. We keep smiling. We keep fighting. We never stop. And we invite the world to play.