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There’s No Such Thing as a Pretty Protest
Critics of riotous rallies are missing the point
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
It didn’t take much for us to slip on the running-turned-rioting kicks and say “fuck social distancing.”
“Something goin’ on on 52nd, bro,” I muttered. Down the hallway, my roommate Tre was already putting on outside clothes — a black tee with revolutionary names and matching joggers — and strapping on his camera. We skedaddled down West Philly’s Blackest street, our hearts pounding in our chests and adrenaline coursing through our veins. We ran into some old college friends who informed us that a cop car had been flipped just over the Market Street line, and that folks were burning shit in front of McDonald’s. As we continued up Market, teenagers cracked cinder blocks against shuttered storefronts and tossed them at police wagons and fire trucks, hurling insults when they ran out of concrete ammo.
The looting started small: a few kiosks toppled, a few T-shirts and incense packs ransacked. As the crowd piled into the neighborhood dollar-store-slash-deli for all the goods, I began to question the purpose of all this ugliness — but then I smelled the tear gas wafting through the air and heard the sound of a…
