A few years ago I was at George R Brown to show support for my Muslim neighbors and friends. They had an amazing conference , there was good, music, craft stalls. It was fun. Across the parking street, a group of proud boys, bigots, and boogaloo assholes where protesting them, based on nothing but hate. I\u2019ve talked about this before. Amelie and I walked towards the bathroom, and while they were in there, I was confronted by a big, ignorant, fucker of a proud boy. Screaming I didn\u2019t belong here . I was in the wrong place. He was trying to start an altercation. At one point I saw a couple of officers, and asked for help. They turned their back on me. The proud boy was emboldened and kept pressing. I finally walked away when Amelie was done, and managed to make to back to the convention center. I\u2019ll be honest, I wasn\u2019t helpless, I had what I needed to protect myself if it came down to it, and instinctively got into a guarding stance. This asshole wasn\u2019t going to kill me without a fight, and I think that my dumb luck and instinct threw him off enough that he wasn\u2019t going to risk anything. At the end of the day he was a coward and a bully. One on one he was nothing. Emboldened by numbers though, they will attack anyone, including the cops they claim to respect. Those cops didn\u2019t have my safety in mind, they happily gave space to white supremacy. The problem is, that toxicity destroys everything, and now it\u2019s been turned into the same systems that empower it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Content warning, this is disgusting and violent. I don\u2019t cheer this. But this IS the America we live in. I\u2019ve seen this multiple times. The LGBTQ and BIPOC communities have seen it. Women walking home alone have seen it. We can, and must, do better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n