Last year, the day after Thanksgiving in downtown Seattle was either a powerful moment for the Black Lives Matter movement or a disruptive shitshow, depending on your vantage point. Whichever way you saw it, be advised: It’s happening again, and demonstrators say their Black Friday protest is going to be even bigger this time around.
What happened last year, in case you’ve forgotten, was this: In an attempt to turn the annual “Black Friday” shopping stampede into “Black Lives Matter Friday,” hundreds of demonstrators converged on downtown Seattle. They wanted the day to be focused on halting police violence rather than on promoting consumerism. To that end, they blocked intersections, tried to enter the downtown transit tunnel (they were turned back by police and a closing metal gate), and marched through downtown malls bearing signs that read “People Over Profit” and “Hands Up, Don’t $hop.” That last sign—”Hands Up, Don’t $hop”—was a variation on the familiar protest chant “Hands up, don’t shoot,” which traces to the August 2014 killing of unarmed black teenager Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri…
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