May 30th: Dismantling Power
06/02/20
by Gloria ‘Nine’ Valle
Photo courtesy of the author
On May 25th, George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derick Chauvin. George Floyd was unarmed and did not deserve to die at the knee of a blue uniform. Upon being informed of a peaceful protest in my city scheduled for May 30th, I decided to attend. As a young brown person, I stand in solidarity with Black folks.
In my twenty-one years of living in Chicago I have witnessed countless acts of police brutality upon my own people and myself. Acts that were never addressed nor justified. As a child, I grew feelings of fear towards police as I would watch them abuse their power. Now that I am older, I am driven to be present in spaces and moments where unity is the motor vehicle of justice.
Presently, it’s difficult to unite because of COVID-19. In my regard, I almost did not make it to the protests. My professor postponed my final for that Saturday morning. In an attempt to make my way downtown on Saturday afternoon, the CTA was not running towards downtown due to the circumstances. My partner and I decided to stay in Little Village to meet up with a friend and walk to an objection gathering on Cermak and Marshall Blvd. As we waited for the gathering to take place at 7pm, my companions and I were impatient and confused by the posts on social media from protesters downtown. People we knew posted that police were dividing groups of protesters and cornering them to disperse crowds. Doubting what could possibly happen if the police trapped them, anxiety took over. We became restless and an opportunity to get a ride to downtown rose, so we took it.
With the world limiting its people, a concentrated population couldn’t have persisted through such forces alone. That was our sign that we were meant to be there.
When we first arrived by State and Van Buren I instantly saw smoke coming from north of State St. I noticed most of the peaceful protesters were out of sight. In less than half an hour of being there, the destruction awakened. The streets of downtown were occupied by people who were fed up with trauma. People with passion, courage, and no boundaries.
Photo courtesy of the author
Memories of my high school education came to mind. Scenes of Martin Luther King Jr leading protests slowly faded away from my consciousness. His powerful words, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” vanished away from my intentions. It would have been ideal to move with this mindset; however, the rage of the souls of young black folks and allies blasting through police cars and chanting “PTSD” blurred the line between “right” from “wrong.”
In minutes, stores were busted open. My psychological needs assured me that we are a product of our own environment; consequently realizations surged of how protestors are fed up with the oppressors of their environment.
Anger and destruction catches attention; how it makes noise and how it commands by force, redirects authority, releases restlessness, and much more. Simultaneously, the destruction triggered numerous intensities in many. Resentment cultivated thoughts of “enough is enough” and temptation to partake in this invalidation. Still, a part of me knew that chaos wasn’t what I had hoped to occur. Nevertheless, it’s today’s reality.
Looking at it from the root, people were reacting in the way authorities have acted with them for years. Let alone, breaking into stores is a reaction of how capitalism is idolized. For some protesters, material goods were a priority rather than continuing with peaceful actions because at least people can keep material things when justice and change aren’t guaranteed. We have been conditioned that way.
As a minority in Chicago, I am familiar with madness. I tried to not lose sight of my companions and it became difficult to stay together as we ran, disoriented with no true destination. A part of me wanted to find a quick way out of the area, but another part of me feared for the lives that can potentially be endangered if witnesses leave. My job was to be there and be useful to anyone who may need me. Although that was not the plan, I was willing to improvise and move accordingly.
I kept my eyes open and took in the experience as a whole. When one of the stores got broken into, I observed the adrenaline that pumped people to rush for clothes and shoes. Folks did not fight or hurt each other; instead crowds cheered and looked out for people who benefited from this destruction.
People destroyed downtown as a reaction to their true feelings, evidently they are constructing the next generational steps in the agenda. People of all ethnicities were a part of these actions, as they share the discomfort happening. Now the focus is on. The attention is here; destroying the lines of generational trauma to create a new future and dismantling the power of authoritarian bodies. For a moment, people were exercising their feelings toward their oppressors, and challenging those in power with control over the people.
There is no right or wrong on how the spark was ignited. Materials are replaceable, lives are not. The city is insured, but the people who are misguided and misunderstood are left to survive. Stores can re-open in a matter of days or weeks, but for a human to re-open their connection to the world it takes healing and justice. How can that outrage people more than a white cop taking a Black man’s life? That life did not belong to him yet he took it.
Gloria “Nine” Valle is a young creator that uses radio, journalism and painting as her medium of expression. She is originally from Little Village and has been part of Yollocalli’s art apprenticeship since 2016; and in 2017, she joined the audio, radio and journalism program, “Your Story, Your Way!”. In 2019, Gloria Valle was published on the Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook, a guidebook that explores the surrounding neighborhoods and cultures that fuel the city.
Gloria ‘Nine’ Valle worked on this piece with Stephanie Manriquez, the Quarantine Times Tuesday editor. Each week, Stephanie selects a Chicagoan to share a commissioned creative response to the pandemic.