Barely 3 days after I wrote about the continuing daily Black Lives Matter protests, including freeway closures, a beautiful soul was killed, mowed down on I-5, and another is still in hospital.
Rest in Power, Summer Taylor.
And speedy healing, Diaz Love.
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The CHOP feels occupied in a different way, now. With the return of law enforcement to the East Precinct, there are police cars and squads of cops everywhere.
I went out Saturday, not wanted to feel intimidated in my own neighborhood. I felt tense, walking past phalanxes of police all along 12th, Pine, Pike, and Broadway. (And then there were the "patriots.")
Some officers say hello. Some march by without so much as a nod.
It is simply and awfully tense.
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The park was closed for a few days and even though the "Park Closed" signs are still up, I saw dog walkers and loungers there early this evening.
A couple of residents who lingered too long on Pine were detained for being in the "exclusionary" zone, whatever the hell that is.
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We've gone from the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone to the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest to -- ?
I miss the art, the conversations, the community, the energy.
We had a shot at being a different kind of city, finding a more human way to connect and experiment and be, and it feels like it's been jerked away.
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HOWEVER.
I don't miss the chaos at the park.
I don't miss wondering who might get shot tonight.
Surely there's a way for community and security to co-exist.
If anyone is looking for a mission statement, maybe this is it.
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