Janelle Monàe Cut Off During Message About Black Lives:"Silence is our enemy. Sound is our weapon"

[kpete]

Janelle Monàe Cut Off During Her Message About Black Lives On 'Today'
"Silence is our enemy. Sound is our weapon."

At the end of her performance of "Hell You Talmbout," a rousing protest song for the Black Lives Matter movement, Monàe told the crowd:

Yes Lord! God bless America! God bless all the lost lives to police brutality. We want white America to know that we stand tall today. We want black America to know we stand tall today. We will not be silenced...

But before she could finish, the camera cut away and an anchor tried to talk over her.

Say their names!
VIDEO & MORE:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/janelle-monae-cut-off_55cdff7fe4b07addcb42acdb
http://www.wired.com/2015/08/monae-wondaland-hell-you-talmbout/

[NuclearDem]

1. I'm sure the irony was entirely lost on the Today staff.

[saturnsring]

2. excpt when in seattle and youre bullying an old man into silence well then it's ok

[MADem]

3. An "old man" who can be easily "bullied into silence" probably should go home and

work on his zinnias and roses, enjoy his grandchildren, and write a family history to be passed on once he's planted.

Sanders handled himself just fine during that encounter--and he took a few lessons from it. He hired a black press secretary, adjusted his website to address the concerns of the protesters, and changed his stump speech completely.

SOME of his SUPPORTERS, on the other hand, learned nothing--either there, or here.

And it shows. One by one, anyone who speaks out here is being alert-stalked and silenced. It's making DU an "unsafe" place.

[Logical]

4. It was rude and did not help their cause. Bernie took those steps to.....

Keep them from doing it again. Smart move.

[OilemFirchen]

5. Fascinating!

I thought he "took those steps" to address BLM. Now I've learned that he did so to silence them.

Something new every day.

[MADem]

9. Are you serious? You think he's only pretending to listen to them?

I'm listening to YOU--and I don't like what I am hearing at all! Maybe you aren't expressing yourself clearly, but that doesn't sound too good at all.

I do NOT think Bernie Sanders is a phony. I think his greatest strength is his absolute SINCERITY. It's a huge part of his appeal, to liberals, anyway.

I wonder about some (not all) of his supporters, though. Anyone who would suggest that Sanders is playing a game, and worse, pretending to just play a game to shut people up, either does not understand his message, or is probably not a real supporter because they don't understand that Sanders is a very authentic gentleman.

Bernie Sanders is a guy who probably deserves better "supporters" than some (not all) of the ones he's stuck with, who seem to be his worst enemies, some (not all) of 'em.

smh.

[Logical]

11. She was rude and did nothing to support BLM but interrupt a person who....

Is 1000 times the person any GOP canidate is!

It is like shutting down Hillary with a pro planned parenthood protest.

The GOP is the enemy, not Bernie!

[MADem]

13. She turned #BLM from groupings of regional organizations trying to raise their

national profile, to an organization with a national profile--and she's not a founder and she's affiliated with not just #BLM, but other, more confrontational direct-action efforts as well.

You don't have to like her, but if you think what she did wasn't a success beyond anyone's wildest dreams, you don't understand how those things work.

You are STILL talking about it--see? STILL complaining, too!

Find me a few quotes where Bernie is complaining about Marissa Johnson--please....because I'd like to see those. If you can't find them, maybe that's because he never made them. Instead, he listened to her, he adjusted his remarks to address her concerns, he changed his webpage to show he was not just listening but understanding.

Why can't his supporters follow his lead? Are they unable to adapt themselves to his worldview? It's curious.

If you think "the GOP" is the enemy of #BLM, you haven't been listening to them. You haven't even been trying to hear what they are saying. They do not CARE about "electoral" politics.

There is no difference between a "GOP ENEMY" in the White House, and a "DEMOCRATIC FRIEND" in the White House who says "We need your votes, but you sit the f-ck down and wait your turn....we'll get to you when we FEEL like it, but we're better than THOSE Republicans, aren't we? Hush up...we'll deal with that police brutality stuff eventually...just take a number and get in line."

Sit on those laurels, keep expressing that train of thought--and watch the GOP, eventually--not this election cycle, but soon-- bifurcate this issue and split the minority vote. And watch minority voters--THIS cycle, not later--stay HOME in droves if Sanders gets the nomination and his "supporters" keep "mouthing off" (a term used to describe Ms Johnson's protest, here) in that fashion.

Black people do not "owe" Democrats--any Democrats-- their votes. Democrats have to EARN them. Bernie is doing that with his recent course corrections; his "supporters" though are working hard to undo every knot he ties to connect himself with the black community. We've seen that here, too, with the ugly silencing of Bravenak--who tried to tell people exactly what I'm saying, here.

Why is that, I wonder?

[Logical]

15. Former palin supporter? Great judgement! Read more, get back to me! Nt

[MADem]

16. Keep digging that hole, why don't you? That meme has been explored already!

Most people know all about this--you're the last to get the word, apparently.

This is going to require you to LISTEN for a change--are you up to it? Can you listen, without getting your back up, and HEAR what this woman actually said, and what the crowd said to her? Can you LISTEN and learn about her background, without getting angry and shutting her off?

This will take about a half hour of your time. Scroll down to the YT in mid page, click and listen. You listen to this--and then you get back to ME. Your "Palin whines" are a total failure of understanding:


http://thisweekinblackness.com/shane-paul-neil/black-lives-matters-stands-protestors-shut-sanders-seattle-rally/


Bernie gets it. Why can't his "supporters" manage that?

[saturnsring]

6. i suppose he could have knocked her down and wrestled the mic from her that wouldnt look bad at all

Would it?

[MADem]

7. Instead, he listened to her complaints, he heard her pain, and he incorporated her

issues into his stump speech. Then, he changed his website to reflect that. And he introduced his new press secretary--finally, a person of color on his national staff.


The only people who don't seem to "get it" are a few of his angry, brook-no-dissent 'cough' supporters. And the more they gripe about a matter that Bernie has taken onboard, the less they appear to anyone with an ability to reason with any degree of complexity to be actual supporters of Bernie's POV.

But whatever. Carry on!

[saturnsring]

8. yup but that's not what the thread is about

"Silence is our enemy. Sound is our weapon" says the group that silenced bernie at seattle

[MADem]

12. The person who "silenced" Bernie at Westlake was the rally organizer.

A cranky white guy, specifically. He snatched up the mic and said "I'm shutting this down."

Marissa Johnson and her two pals only delayed the proceedings. And they didn't "silence' anyone. They dared to interject with a bit of loud truth.

What happened as a consequence of this pearl-clutching (gasp!) delay (that the rally organizer--not the young ladies--turned into a shut-down)?

The good Senator Sanders CHANGED his stump speech, he CHANGED his web page, and he rolled out his brand new black national press secretary.


BERNIE gets it.


His "supporters" -- some of them, anyway -- don't. And the more they complain about Marissa "How DAAARRRRE you!!!! How DAAAARRRE YOU!!!! HOW DAAAAARRRRRE YOU!!!!!!!!" Johnson, the easier it is to figure out who's real and who isn't.

I know Marissa wanted to make a few points, but I'll bet she never thought she'd be such litmus test!

[saturnsring]

21. the people disrupting said we will speak or we will shut this down, so it was shut down

[MADem]

23. The person who shut this down--who didn't let the protesters finish their complaint--was the rally

organizer.

But you go on ahead and keep "blaming" a 20-something young woman.

It makes your candidate look bad when you do that, when you make him seem like a victim of a couple of young adults. Is that what you want?

How's he supposed to deal with Putin if he can't deal with the scary Marissa Johnson?

I want to be clear, here--I think Bernie did a great job with this whole situation. I just find it strange as hell how his "supporters" keep getting in his way.

What's up with that?

[saturnsring]

25. the person people or group or representatives there of who got up on stage where they didnt

Belong and wanted to speak uninvited to a group of people who didnt come to see shut it down. They demanded special rights they werent entitled to and consequently shut down bernie's right to freely speak to a crowd of people who came to see him. THEY were the ones whonshut it down. Not someone who was being bullied into a my way or no way situation. Protestors can get their own event and speak all they want there , do that instead of hijacking someone elses event

[MADem]

29. Ah yes, "they didn't belong." "Uninvited." "Special rights." "...they weren't ENTITLED..."

Well behaved women seldom make history, you know.

And the one who shut that event down was a cranky white guy who organized the event. Check the tape. He announced it.

Why are you so angered about this? You sure don't sound like a Sanders supporter--if you were, you would have checked his web page, and seen that he's onboard with the issues Ms. Johnson raised.


Yet here you are, continuing to pound the drum in opposition.


Bernie gets it--why don't you?

Very unusual, your ire. Not very helpful to the memes the Senator is trying to express.

So why are you doing this? Do you think you are "helping?" Or are you trying to sandbag the guy?

[saturnsring]

37. MADem I agree with the message. I don't agree on the tactic

Btw I prefer Bernie but I prefer to keep the White House with whomever can keep it. However The cranky white guy didn't shut it down, the protesters who hijacked the staged shut it down. Without them the event would have gone on as planned. What you're saying is like if a hijacker hijacks a plane and tells the pilot to take the plane to Cuba, you'd blame the pilot for the plane going to Cuba and not the hijackers

[MADem]

38. People were so polite and said please and thank you when we were protesting the Vietnam war...?

I don't especially LOVE rowdy, disruptive protests in my old age, but they're the price of admission to a democratic society. When the people yelling are saying stuff that I agree with, it makes it easier to tolerate the disruptive nature of the protests. Anyone who doesn't think we are in a state of emergency with regard to young black people, mostly males but young women are getting it too, lately, getting murdered by the police is not paying attention. This is important. It has to stop. NOW. It's not something that can wait its turn--this is a dire situation and if it's not brought to the national consciousness NOW, this election cycle, and hammered home into the minds of the voting public, we will be waiting four more years to try and bring it up. And it's harder to do that with an incumbent running.

The issue IS being raised. I'm glad for that. And if politicians can't take the disruption, issue a course correction, and move forward, they need to clear the stage and leave it to those who can.


The cranky white guy wasn't Sanders--he was the self-important schmuck in the floppy hat who announced that the event was over. Had the crowd not screamed at the protesters like maniacs (one even tossed a bottle at 'em--cute) and let them speak, the event might have been able to get back on track. The visceral anger in that crowd is what shut the event down, if you want to get down to it.

He reminded me of those teachers who think collective punishment works--all it does is make the ENTIRE class hate the teacher. In this case, he transferred the ire to the young protesters, and Sanders is paying for it with a paucity of black/latino support. I don't care how many black Sanders supporters suddenly 'discover' DU and tell me how much they adore the guy, I look at his rallies, and they're lighter and brighter than the Democratic Party is. He's not going to win without the black vote, and his supporters, continuing to berate black people for not "getting with the program," are doing a bang-up job crushing his candidacy with that kind of approach.

[arithia]

17. this thread isn't about Bernie Sanders or Seattle, either

Janelle Monàe and the incident on the Today show is. She deserves at least a moment of your consideration.

The Huffpo article goes on to say:

"While interviews and musical segments from Monàe's 'Today" appearance were quickly posted to the show's website on Friday, the "Hell You Talmbout" performance was conspicuously absent. "

They whitewashed her performance. They put her on for the benefit of ratings and then hid her away. Derailing discussion of this fact by bringing up an unrelated incident amounts to another silencing of her voice and message.

[saturnsring]

20. i think it is relevant b/c of the statement"Silence is our enemy. Sound is our weapon"

Last edited Sat Aug 15, 2015, 10:34 PM - Edit history (1)

[arithia]

22. You are entitled to think what you want, but..

I still fail to see the relevance beyond your insistence in the matter. How is it related? Because the protester called for 4 1/2 minutes of silence out of respect for Brown? Seattle is hardly the first time someone has called for a moment of silence out of respect for the dead. Because they are both supporters of BLM? So are millions of other people, so that would be false equivalency.

"Silence is our enemy, Sound is our weapon" are lyrics from the song cut from the Today show, not the words of the protesters in Seattle.

They are the words of Janelle Monáe, not Marissa Johnson. Two different black women voicing two different sets of words on different occasions in totally different settings. Monáe was invited to perform and rudely cut off, her protest song never making it up on the Today Show Website. Artists are routinely allowed to front for various causes on shows like Today, but her message was silenced in a way that has been going on longer than either woman has been alive, a way older than television.

The concept of silence as consent, as the enemy, is not new. Neither is the concept of "noise" as representation. US law has protections for freedom of speech and assembly because the founding fathers understood that protest is a powerful form of bringing attention to various causes and issues. This is especially true of issues outside of mainstream common knowledge, either brought about by the fact that it impacts a small population or a minority one that isn't otherwise being heard due to lack of political power to enact desired changes.

I'll say it again- Janelle Monáe, not Marissa Johnson.

[saturnsring]

26. i see your point and understand what your saying. has the blm apologized for ruining the Seattle

Event?

[arithia]

28. If you see my point

why are you still bringing up something completely unrelated to the actual topic? There are already threads dedicated to the Seattle event where you can discuss this ad nauseam.

Janelle Monáe’s performance has nothing to do with that incident.

The events that inspired her song have nothing to do with that incident, even if they did influence both women to speak out. (Heck, black murders by police is an issue that predates both of their births, let alone them opening their mouths about it.)

Why are you so doggedly trying to make a thread about a black woman being silenced to prevent discussion of racism about an unrelated white dude? Given your apparent anger over the speech interruption, why are you now effectively doing the same thing?

[arithia]

10. gotta "love" how..

some people are trying to make this incident about Bernie and BLM.

Given the nature of the song, it was terrible form to cut her off like that. It felt like they were saying "Thanks for entertaining us with your new hit, now run along and be quiet till we need you again."

It's lip service. :/

[MADem]

14. Mmmmm hmmmm. That's it, exactly.

Welcome to the fray. It can get contentious at times!

[arithia]

18. So I'm noticing :/

Thank you for the welcome <3

[Luminous Animal]

27. FYI, Sanders was speaking with Symone and 4 Black Lives Matter activists to help him roll out his

adjustment to his website during weeks prior to the Seattle protest at the Social Security and Medicare event.

[MADem]

30. I think Bernie has the right idea wrt #BLM. He's getting on track.

He's being thwarted by his "supporters" who want to keep yelling about people who don't know their place, though. They're continuing to beat the drum re: how the #BLM protest was bad and those young ladies had a lot of nerve, etc--you can see the theme continuing on, here.

I should hope that most Sanders supporters would not appreciate this kind of undermining of their candidate. It does him no favors.

I don't care when he was meeting with people re: BLM issues--the fact of the matter is that one thing happened, followed by others. ON the SAME day. He changed his stump speech IMMEDIATELY--he went from Westlake to a fundraiser, and was heard through the open windows rolling out brand new verbiage about BLM-related issues. That night, his new press secretary appeared. He modified his stump speech. That night, too, his website was changed.

Cause and effect? Coincidence? Coordination for newsworthiness? Who cares, really?

What's not helpful to him are "supporters" who keep screeching, long after the event concluded, about a young black woman protesting, like it's the crime of the century. Too much of that, and it splashes back.

I have to question how much anyone who continues on that tack really supports the guy--it's an undermining strategy, IMO. It suggests that he's either being screwed over by faux supporters, or a cadre of supporters believe his BLM-related verbiage is a sop and not serious.

In either, or any, event, if he doesn't knock that crap down, he's not getting the black vote. He's not getting the latino vote, either.

Far be it from me to give Sanders supporters campaign advice, those are simply observations. I don't think I'm alone in noticing, though, that the one guy associated with the Sanders campaign who doesn't seem angry about Marissa Johnson is Bernie Sanders.

[Luminous Animal]

32. I brought it up because you seem to be the kind of person appreciates facts. If you don't care, then

so be it.

Personally, I think it is relevant that Symone Sanders contacted Bernie's campaign and they listened. Personally, I find it important that Black Live Matter activists (not coordinators or spokes people but people with boots on the ground and being targeted by DHS) maintained a dialogue with the Sanders campaign.

There is certainly more than one guy that is not angry. I've seen plenty of Bernie supporters here and elsewhere say… give it a rest.

I'll leave with this as to how much his stump speech changed (i.e., not so much)

June 6th. 7 days after his official announcement in New Hampshire.

Accountability for any LEO/CO who breaks the law (re citizens or prisoners); he references SC killer cop being indicted. Prosecute them.
Community policing; integration with the people not occupation and military gear.
Training and better pay for police.
Shift our $$ priorities from jailing AA youth to education and job opportunities for them.

#t=43

And this from July 1st. Prior to Net Roots Nation

One day before Net Roots Nation

[MADem]

33. But what happened RIGHT AFTER WESTLAKE? His new press secretary opened the night rally with

"Enough is enough. Black. Lives. Matter." to raucous applause. No one in the audience knew he'd even hired her. But poof--there she was--right AFTER that demo. Hours after it. Taking the stage FIRST. And poof--that website was changed overnight. No notice, no roll-out, no announcement--just BLAM--there it was.

I think that the Sanders supporters who tell their own to "give it a rest" have the right idea. The ones who keep tearing down #BLM should be corrected. Bravenak tried to tell everyone this.

But you don't have to look too terribly far to see Sanders supporters continuing on with the HOW DARRRRE YOU! rhetoric wrt Marissa Johnson. You don't have to lok far at all, in fact.

It's a real disconnect....

[Luminous Animal]

34. And 'poof' nobody is interested in facts. They are just dazzled by the poof.

And I've little doubt you will advance that 'poof' over and over again.

Here is Sanders so called "poof"

Seven days after his announcement for his run for president.

Accountability for any LEO/CO who breaks the law (re citizens or prisoners); he references SC killer cop being indicted. Prosecute them.
Community policing; integration with the people not occupation and military gear.
Training and better pay for police.
Shift our $$ priorities from jailing AA youth to education and job opportunities for them.

#t=43

And this from July 1st. Prior to Net Roots Nation

One day before Net Roots Nation

So, no. He did not refuse to talk about "anything but economic equality". And I am really getting sick and tired of this canard being posted over and over again.

[Flying Squirrel]

35. If you really care about that

Please consider posting in AtA about it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/118722948

[MADem]

36. The admins have been told, repeatedly--by myself and others.

I was happy to see they corrected a jury fail today by dumping a thrice-returned sock.

Maybe they'll start looking into some of the blatant unfairness and fix it. Maybe not. It's their site, they can do with it what they want. I would hope they'd look long-term at these issues; maybe they ought to slow down the process by which a person ramps up to jury duty opportunities --it might solve a lot of these issues.

But hey, I will wander over and kick that thread of yours--it's worth hashing out all the ideas....!

[Starry Messenger]

19. Thanks for kicking this up, I'd missed it!

k&r

[MADem]

24. We need some music up in here.

[zappaman]

31. Are you saying he's too weak and old to be president?

I disagree.