On Saturday, August 8th, activists from the Black Lives Matter movement seized an opportunity to disrupt the status quo and interrupted a speech being given by Bernie Sanders. During their time on the microphone, they criticized liberal Seattle for hiding it’s racism. In what seems a partial response to the interruption, activists with the Localize This! Action Camp in coordination with the Backbone Campaign, brought a 15ft inflatable elephant covered with a banner reading “RACISM”, living room furniture complete with coffee table and literature on racism, and a flip board with scenes depicting institutionalized and systemic racism and the intersections of education and climate change. They also handed out pamphlets and engaged in conversation anyone willing to discuss the topic of racism. Scans of the pamphlets can be found below.

Scan of the pamphlet

From the Facebook event page…

“You are invited to participate in a public interactive art installation to expose racism as the “elephant in the room”. This event will take place on Monday beginning at 11:00 am at Westlake Park in Seattle.

We are a collection of activists who are from the Pacific Northwest and around the country. We created this installation in collaboration with the Backbone Campaign Localize This Action Camp.

We are responding to recent events of racism and to a request from people of color. We have been asked to educate ourselves in order to see racism, then take actions to end racism.

As a group, we are predominantly white activists who are looking inwards and reaching out to our peers to join us in this action. We are challenging ourselves and others to commit to taking one concrete step towards racial justice and to share our challenge.” – https://www.facebook.com/events/1475893819399252/