Black Lives Matter activists marched through the streets of Los Angeles on Sunday as part of the organization’s annual Black Xmas protest, encouraging allies and people of color to “divest from White capitalism” and “invest in Black community.”
The demonstration began with a Mass March for Justice to “remember that Black people are still being killed by police with impunity,” culminating at the Hollywood & Highland shopping center. Protesters displayed banners that said “Black Lives Matter” from the multi-level venue as they attempted to interrupt commerce on the weekend before Christmas.
1000 folks out for our Mass March for Justice yesterday ending at Hollywood & Highland. Together, we disrupted White capitalism, celebrated the Spirits of those whose bodies were stolen by state violence & honored our Ancestors and the Divine by heeding our #SacredDuty. pic.twitter.com/zwMefDdKlv
— #BlackLivesMatter-LA (@BLMLA) December 23, 2019
The L.A. chapter of Black Lives Matter claimed thousands of people participated in this year’s main action, tweeting: “Together, we disrupted White capitalism, celebrated the Spirits of those whose bodies were stolen by state violence and honored our Ancestors and the Divine by heeding our #SacredDuty.”
Several celebrities promoted the march, including actor Matt McGorry and comedian Chelsea Handler.
“Black lives still matter,” Handler tweeted to her 8.2 million followers. “Police keep killing Black people and no one is being held accountable.”
Legal observers trained by the National Lawyers Guild were on hand to advise the protestors.
Legal Observers out with @BLMLA tonight at #BlackXMas in Hollywood. #BlackLivesMatter c.c. @WP4BL pic.twitter.com/r7O3J6Soy0
— NLG-LA ⚖️ (@NLG_LosAngeles) December 23, 2019
BLM launched its 6thannual Black Xmas campaign over Thanksgiving weekend, calling for “no spending with White companies” through New Year’s Day.
Dr. Melina Abdullah, lead organizer of Black Lives Matter-L.A., recently described Christmastime as a “frenzy of consumerism that’s rooted in white capitalism.” She has blamed capitalism for police misconduct, alleging America’s economic system utilizes “a violent, racist, police force to protect its quest for profit.”
“In order to eliminate police violence, and the killings of our people at their hands, we must also target the economic systems that built it and rely on it,” Dr. Abdullah wrote.
https://twitter.com/psl_losangeles/status/1208997744901144576
Powerful @BLMLA march today into the heart of Hollywood & Highland shopping mall & entertainment center to disrupt—to cut through our collective complacency about police brutality & racial oppression. pic.twitter.com/T86OOYVa6D
— Jody David Armour (@NiggaTheory) December 23, 2019
As The Daily Wire previously reported:
BLM established Black Xmas in 2014 to promote more collectivist approaches to economic liberty for communities of color. On her weekly radio show heard on KPFK 90.7 FM, Abdullah explained that the yearly effort urges people to donate to black-led liberation organizations in the name of loved ones as holiday gifts; move their money from “white corporate” financial institutions to black-owned community banks; and patronize black-owned businesses “that represent our interests and collectively benefit us.”
According to BLM’s Black Xmas website, the seasonal exercise “is not a call to replace White capitalism with Black capitalism, but to engage in ‘cooperative economics’ (the Kwanzaa principle of Ujamaa).” …
Previous Black Xmas publicity stunts include “justice caroling” at an upscale L.A. shopping center, where BLM activists changed the lyrics of classic Christmas songs to reflect anti-capitalism and anti-police sentiments. In 2015, demonstrators blocked traffic near major airports during peak times of the holiday rush, inconveniencing many travelers. About 65 BLM protestors disrupted Christmas Eve brunch at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, the following year.
https://twitter.com/megannxjade/status/1208947848886145024
“Donald Trump embodies White capitalism,” BLM’s blackxmas.org website states. “If you are anti-Trump, you should hold back your resources from him and the like.”
Follow Jeffrey Cawood on Twitter@JeffreyCawood.