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We've been following the Dead Prez/Evergreen State College story here, here, and definitely here in our search to understand what actually happened after that hip hop concert. It certainly was not the beginning of a revolution, as Evergreen students have been protesting anything and everything since time began; it also wasn't The Man reenacting Tien'anmen Square.
Ultimately, it sounds like a case of overreaction on both sides, magnified by the strange jelly of tension that's been plaguing the hip hop community in the NW in recent years. It does sound like there were injustices committed, and in an effort to mobilize the impassioned troops, HipHop Congress has made a well-edited (if muffled) video about the event using footage from that night, as well as interviews with various people involved.
HipHop Congress calls it an "uprising." We prefer to call it a small-scale riot, a mob gone sour. "Uprising," to our ear, implies some sort of intentional organized resistance: this was more like a freak-out born of generational boredom and youthful folly (on both sides). Yes, it does look like the police response irresponsibly escalated an already-tense situation, and what we appreciate about HipHop Congress' press statements is that they're calling for increased police accountability and a more truthful reporting on what happened. Still, we're just not quite ready to call the protesters heroes and the cops brutes on this one. This isn't a clear-cut "you're wrong, we're right." In fact, it's a "we're all really dumb for letting this get out of hand." This wasn't truth to power! This was plain old mobbing, and it leaves a bad taste in our mouths.
Check out the video, below:
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Frankly, what leaves a bad taste in my mouth are mealy-mouthed "all sides are equally guilty" platitudes in a lame, misguided attempt at even-handedness, prompted by the absence of any substantial knowledge about the events in question. Sometimes, one side is just plain wrong, and in this instance, it's not the cops. Available evidence indicates that the members of various law enforcement agencies made repeated efforts to de-escalate the situation, to which the majority of the crowd were simply not receptive.
This video is not helpful in any way. Aside from being made by people who are not part of the Evergreen/Olympia chapter of the Congress, and who therefore cannot be assumed to have any special insight in the events of 02/15, it's a transparent attempt to divert attention from the role of the Hip Hop Congress by piling blame on the various law enforcement agencies involved. Apart from being unnecessarily inflammatory (but hey, the makers of the video aren't part of the Evergreen community, and they don't live in Olympia, so they won't have to live with the possible fallout from their propaganda piece), it's also completely unnecessary, since as far as I can ascertain, the Hip Hop Congress in general, and the Evergreen chapter in particular, bear no culpability for the occurrence of the riot to begin with.
I do think that the rioting students were "just plain wrong", if well-intentioned. As all the reports come in, it looks increasingly like the police responded appropriately.
I'm still glad to see any attention being called to police accountability, though, and if this unfortunate riot is what leads to some actual changes being made in that regard, then it's been at least partially redeemed in my book.
Thanks for commenting!