why the small protests in small towns matter

As with everything else in the last three months, I feel simultaneously lost and firmly rooted in the present moment. Time fails me. It feels significant that just as things were beginning to shift “back to normal,” the protests spread and signaled: normal is fucked.

I’ve spent the last few days watching the footage from the protests in major cities. But I’ve also been collecting the stories of much smaller protests, in much, much smaller towns — some in places without a protest tradition whatsoever, where standing on a street corner will get you talked about for months if not years. But people in these towns are saying that’s the point. Those who’ve watched and participated in the Black Lives Matter movement have been saying that this time feels different. And the true ubiquity, the recurring nature, the resilience of these small town protests is part of why.

You can find what has become a sprawling, seemingly endless Twitter thread of the protests here. And you can read my piece on why this matters — including interviews with those who planned and participated in marches from Havre, Montana to Tyler, Texas — here. Black Lives Matter in Minneapolis, and in Louisville, and in Brunswick, Georgia — and Black Lives Matter wherever you live and read this right now.

Two things that have really stuck with me these past two days:

• “Of course there are protests. The state is failing black people.”

• “Miserable is exactly how the white people who want to help should be feeling right now”

Here’s a very good list of things you can do to support the movement against police brutality. Some cost money, others do not. Some just require being uncomfortable.

If there’s a small protest that you’d like to see highlighted (and that isn’t already included in that list) please tell me about it — and try and send pictures. If you or someone you know is organizing actions, tell me about that too. I’m going to keep focusing on these smaller movements for the foreseeable future. This isn’t anywhere close to over.