Morning Politocadoes,
Following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man shot seven times in the back by cops, the subsequent protests, the violent repression by the police, and then the fatal shooting and wounding of three people by a racist accelerationist (who was shown being given support by said police), the Milwaukee Bucks collectively decided to not play in their playoff game against the Orlando Magic. In so doing, they have sparked a series of actions among NBA players and the league itself to protest the events of the past week. The decision was so tight-lipped that some players and officials were unaware until countdown clock hit zero. The Bucks would not say whether they would finish the season. By the end of the day, all of that night’s games had been cancelled.
The NBA restarted its season partly because it gave assurances to the Player’s Union that the season restart could be used as a platform to bring change to racial injustices. For the moment, the NBA appears to be backing the players. We’ll have to see where it goes from here, but something like this needed to happen. Sports teams refusing to play, commentators walking off set in solidarity, moments like this keep things like Kenosha from becoming abstractions as the country desperately tries to get back to “normal”. Whatever that is. These NBA players were already being forced to risk their lives for the sake of their livelihoods during this pandemic.
And I think that’s been key, the more people want to get things back to normal, the easier it is to forget about what needs to change. Having regular sports seasons really helps with that. Here’s hoping this goes further.
Welcome to Thursday! Please be excellent to each other in the comments. The Mayor McSquirrel Rule remains in effect. As the protests continue, please be safe, dress non-descriptively, avoid wearing contacts if you wear them normally, and keep your phones on you. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, please continue to maintain social distancing measures, wear masks in public areas, and practices sanitation policies as circumstances dictate.
Worried about getting your vote suppressed by the awful, awful people running our government? Check out NPR’s guide to vote by mail!
https://www.npr.org/2020/08/07/900210406/the-most-important-mail-youll-ever-send-a-ballot