- Nashville played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement with protests and sit-ins happening downtown. When Dr. King visited, he said, “I came to Nashville not to bring inspiration, but to gain inspiration from the great movement that has taken place in this community.”
- It sucks that West End is starting to look like Anytown, USA.
- The newly renovated Centennial Park
- The upcoming school board race may well be one of the most important elections in the last 20 years. Even if you don’t have kids, or if you pay to send them to private schools, you have a chance to make sure that Nashville’s schools become more equitable and supporting for all students.
- The Tennessean has got to be one of the worst newspapers in the top-30 US media markets.
- Take your pictures now, because downtown will not look the same in ten years.
- I wonder how awesome it would have been to hang out on Jefferson Street before they dumped an interstate there and killed a culture and a community.
- The world is at our doorstep. Take a drive down Nolensville or Murfreesboro Road if you’re not sure.
- Who the hell is buying all these lofts?
- Yazoo Beer

Wow, two protests in Nashville in as many weeks? Ah, the sweet smell of progress and protest. Thousands of people took to the streets tonight in a march from the Coliseum across the river to Legislative Plaza, sponsored by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. They were marching to protest some of the more idiotic and draconian immigration legislation currently in draft form — for example the bill that proposes to make the lack of legal immigration status a felony.

The turnout was amazing — I am not any good with headcounts, but thousands of people showed up and marched, filling up legislative plaza and piling up all the way back to 4th or 5th. Various speakers took the stage to address the roaring crowd. They also closed the capitol again — same as they did during the ADAPT protests. How long before we hear complaints about how the protests were not productive because they “had” to close the capitol?

But opponents of the legislation weren’t the only ones to show up. What would a rally for a progressive cause be without a bunch of yokels? There were 5 or 6 counter-protesters over by the capitol, including some amusing demonstrations of ignorance. There was this guy:
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Photo Credit: Tom Olin

Protestors from ADAPT took to the street in downtown Nashville on Monday and Tuesday, blocking traffic and demanding a meeting with Governor Bredesen. They also closed the Capitol, an action blamed on the protestors — an action that many, including Rep. Diane Black, used to condemn their actions as “not helping”. I beg to differ. They chose to close the capitol, citing “the safety of the people who are there and safety of the public in general” (Col. Mike Walker, commander of the Tennessee Highway Patrol). He didn’t explain what safety, exactly, was at risk. Not everyone agreed that closing the capitol was even necessary:

Among the visitors denied entrance to the Capitol on Wednesday were J.C. Kuessner, a state representative from Missouri, and his wife, Patti.

Kuessner, a Democrat from Eminence, Mo., said he was disappointed not to see the House chamber.

“We had similar protests like this in Missouri last year,” Kuessner said. “We didn’t shut down.”

So was the capitol closed because it was necessary, or because it was a convenient launching pad for attacks such as this one, by Department of Safety Commissioner Gerald Nicely:

As most of you are well aware, this evening many state employees working in the Capitol complex and its surrounding buildings experienced significant delays in their commutes home because of the unfortunate actions of a national group of professional protestors who blocked many of downtown Nashville’s streets.

Photo Credit: Tom Olin

Calling them professional protestors is not only disingenuous — it’s insulting, given the inclement weather they endured to be out there. Randy Alexander elaborates:

I am not a professional protester, I am not being paid to be here. All these people that are here are here because they want to be here because their brothers and sisters are stuck in nursing homes. Tennessee keeps people in nursing homes. We don’t need sympathy and pity.

Senator Diane Black responded to the protests by saying that “This is not helping because we are working on a bill that would allow this and people have families to take care of at home and children to take care of including disabled children and this is not helping, we are losing support for this bill because of these actions.”

I respectfully disagree. I’ve now taken the time to investigate what ADAPT is all about, and what they demand. There’s an excellent rundown here of ADAPT’s history and what they’re fighting for. As a result of the ADAPT protests, I now know who they are, It’s a worthy cause, and whether you agree with their goal or not, I think it’s worth being “inconvenienced” for. Next time you’re inconvenienced by a protest on a cold, rainy day, take some time to think about what’s driving them to endure bad weather and make such a spectacle. Take some time to learn what they stand for. I did, and I stand with them, and I strongly condemn the disrespectful attempts by Black, Nicely, and others, to make these protestors out to be “professionals”, as if their only agenda is to inconvenience others. Shame on them.