Following the police shooting of a black man named Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, nationwide protests have sprung up against the rampant, societally-embedded racism that plagues black Americans each and every day. The protests follow a related surge of protests earlier in the year that sprung up after the police murder of a black man named George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On Friday, former President Barack Obama spoke out about the ongoing tumult, urging Americans to funnel their frustration into a particular set of actions — including, he noted, making sure to make their voices heard in the upcoming elections.
Obama said:
‘As people exercise their right to protest all across the country––let the undeniable paths of our progress be a guide going forward: peaceful, sustained protest; strategic, committed organizing; and purposeful, overwhelming participation at the ballot box.’
Obama also noted, “If you are looking to take action—or looking to educate yourselves on these issues—we’ve gathered some resources from the Obama Foundation that can help.”
Check out his message below:
If you’re looking to take action—or looking to educate yourselves on these issues—we’ve gathered some resources from the @ObamaFoundation that can help at https://t.co/V7b0mJoZiL.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 28, 2020
This occasion is far from the first time that Obama has spoke out with similar messages for Americans. He and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama have been consistently advocating for Americans to make sure that they’re ready to vote this November — or before, if they have an opportunity to participate in early voting. Early voting (and voting by mail, if available) can help avoid any last-minute, Election Day problems that might keep a voter from having their voice be heard. Trump and his political allies have been recently clamoring against voting by mail — they might be paranoid about the potential for a major GOP loss if Americans get the chance to have their voices truly be heard.
Trump and some of his political allies have also recently claimed that Democrats, as a whole, have encouraged violent rioting amidst the nationwide protests. This claim is a lie. Just this week, Biden insisted that he “[condemns] violence in any form.” How much more unequivocal can he be?
Biden: "I condemn violence in any form … And by the way, when I spoke to the family, the mom was really incredibly straightforward, she said, this is not who we are as a family, this is not who my son is, we condemn the violence. So who is rooting for the violence?" @MSNBC
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 27, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response to Obama below:
