Kwasi Konadu

protest

A Note on “This moment is different”: Is it?

EssaysKwasi KonaduComment

A chant, “this moment is different,” has been heard, seen and printed from these weeks of protest. Protesters have embraced this chant, echoed in the mouths of Obama and official spokespersons for Black Lives Matter. Attached it to another, that declared, “unlike our ancestors, we will not sit down.” The two slogans are related. Their message has one target: the efforts of ancestors. But this is what they suggest: that somehow those in the present moment are more strong-willed, more prepared, more tactical to seize a moment their ancestors might have accepted, or to which they would’ve acquiesced. Organizing a protest of 150 deep in a small Texas town known for Klu Klux Klan activity, they felt embolden, especially after a planned counter-rally by the Klan never materialized. They have also had enough, “unlike our ancestors.” That’s why “this moment is different.”