The socio-political reality check and cap-flung-in-the-air symbolism are still resonating worldwide, almost two weeks after the assault on the Montgomery, Alabama, riverfront dock by several rowdy white boaters on a Black co-captain of the Harriot Il.
Like a touchstone, what the Black Twitter/community has affectionately entitled the “Alabama Brawl” has set off a firestorm globally—from Alabama to Abuja, from Brooklyn to Benin. Social commentators from all walks of life have continued to analyze what many see as a turning point in the way one community felt confident in debasing another.
“Alabama [was] united because they just could not watch another racist white mob play hunter games with our lives,” activist Amadi Ajamu told the Amsterdam News. “Some stood by armed with video phones, but the real brothers and sisters stepped up to fight back. They resisted those cowards by any means, and they emboldened even more people. It was a victory for us. They faced their fears and became fearless. Together they won, and we all felt their strength around the country. Black resistance and unity in the streets.”
Reports say that two hours before the brouhaha erupted on the docks, citizens of Montgomery held “a blessing ceremony for the ancestors who were sold into slavery” at that location, in a city known for its fiercely won civil rights history. The celebration was part of “Black August,” which refers to the 31 days when Black activists rally, re-commit, and reconcile past events of resisting institutionalized oppression; fighters who went against all odds in the pursuit of Black liberation; and aim to redress the historical social, political, cultural, and social imbalance—certainly nationwide, if not globally.
“Black August was founded on the heroic resistance of Black freedom fighters to U.S. oppression,” said Omowale Clay, a member of the December 12th Movement. “These revolutionaries don’t drop from the sky, but have always flowered from the daily collective resistance and consciousness of our people. Black peoples’ collective and militant resistance to a white mob attack on a Black man in Montgomery, Alabama, demonstrates that we will not [lie] down in the face of this rising fascist/racist movement in America to scapegoat Black people for its dying capitalist system.”
A quick perusal of social media, print and radio, and some TV news channels reveals how thorough the response has been to the August 5 event in Black communities nationwide and beyond. Social media platforms on all levels have made the event something of an instant urban legend.
“The response in Alabama was more than a happenstance of Black people fighting back—it was emblematic of the spirit of resistance Black people embody even in the face of the most overt battles with white supremacy,” Keron Alleyne of the community advocacy group Operation Power, and deputy chief of staff for Brooklyn City Councilman Charles Barron, told the Amsterdam News. “Historically, Alabama is synonymous with showdowns for Black people’s resolve—think Selma and Bloody Sunday, think Montgomery’s bus boycott. It’s a part of our ‘code’ and ‘script’ to be united and the avenge-like display on the cellphone footage is the solidarity we have always known.”
With Black empowerment as the focus, the pot has been brought to boil, and the history of Black resistance, and self defense in big arenas and small, is once again in the forefront of discussion and action.
Meanwhile, civil rights attorney Attorney Lee Merritt has taken the case of Reggie Ray, 42, who is accused of using a folding chair in the aptly titled, now-viral Riverfront Brawl.
Ray turned himself in to Montgomery police last Friday, almost a week after the trending melee, and was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after allegedly using the now-infamous folding chair against the boaters who piled in on Co-Captain Damien Pickett. Ray was released from Montgomery Municipal Jail later that night.
Merritt said in a statement: “Mr. Ray was involuntarily roped into the disorderly conduct initiated by a violent white mob. Mr. Ray will continue to participate with the ongoing investigation concerning the same and is committed to being forthcoming about his limited role in the brawl.”
Before Ray was arrested, four of the whites involved in what some are openly calling “a hate crime” and “gang assault” eventually turned themselves in after the loud outcry. The four, out of the crowd of whites involved in the assault, are charged with only one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault so far. They are Mary Todd, 21; Allen Todd, 23; Zachery Shipman, 25; and Richard Roberts, 48.
In a statement, the city said police are conducting a “frame-by-frame analysis of the videos of the brawls and extensive interviews with witnesses and the victim [co-captain Damien Pickett].”
However, members of the Black community from all walks of life are so united by the blatant, unprovoked nature of yet another assault of a Black man by seemingly entitled rowdy whites, in a city known for its fight for racial and social justice, have donated $270,000 as of press time to Ray’s legal defense fund through a GoFundMe page.
A cursory glance at social media reveals the level of support for Ray, Pickett, and Aaren Rudolph, 16, who jumped off the boat and swam to defend his co-worker. Aaren Rudolph lost his shoe as he swam to the dock, and the community sent him so much money, he wrote a post giving thanks, but saying he now had enough money.
According to Picket; Jim Kittrell, co-captain of the Harriott II; and dozens of witnesses, the trouble began when the boat owners refused several requests, even by the PA system, for 45 minutes, to move their pontoon from the designated spot where the city-owned Harriot II Riverboat always docks. When Pickett attempted to untie the out-of-place boat, as is apparently customary in such circumstances, a group of white males approached him and attacked him. When Pickett looked toward the Harriott II and threw his cap in the air, it was taken as a signal by Black observers that a situation was about to begin. And it did.
With Pickett surrounded and on the ground, Black folk, including Rudolph, came from every direction. In self-defense and participation, Ray picked up the folding chair. The melee took on a life of its own, and 1,000 memes and social media comments were instantly born. The spirit of a rebirthed community undivided and calls for renewed allegiance and unity have also spread nationwide.
Kittrell said that it was not a “Black and white thing.” He told WACV radio station, “This was our crew upset about these idiots.” Kittrell said he knew the troublesome boaters from their actions last year, including stealing a golf cart intended to be used to transport the elderly and people with mobility issues off and on the boat.
Speaking with Alabama’s 93.1 radio station, Kittrell said, “This is the same group that comes every year. They’re from Selma. And we’ve had trouble with them in the past, but just jokey things.”
As 200 passengers waited to disembark, he said that when some of the crew members saw Pickett being assaulted, they “felt they had to retaliate, which was unfortunate.”
With its connection to the trauma of anti-Black violence and hundreds of cases of injustice, including police misconduct, flooding news outlets and social media newsfeeds, the August 5 incident has proven to be something of a rallying cry nation-, if not world-, wide.
Amsterdam News columnist Dave Goodson said, “Fight or flight? Eye for an eye or turn the other cheek? Ultimately for us, it’s been MORTALITY vs. MORALITY. Our natural instinct to survive at all cost has a built-in delay, fueled by years of what could happen if we were to think of resistance, let alone retaliation, but also a degree of mercy never extended to us. Being outnumbered didn’t help much, either. Those factors tally to a result that reads ‘the moral ground you stand on could be used to bury you.’
“An August day in Alabama was a dose of what ‘Damn that, I’ve had enough,’ mixed with some ‘This is not what you want’ looks like. The pride lies in the fact that the objective was clear. Let’s see how they operate when the field is level and the pressure is on. Team Us vs. Team Y’all, and we got all our sisters, so Karens can get it, too. No damage was done to a symbol of their tormentors, but rather the tormentors (and instigators) themselves.”
Montgomery Police Department’s Major Saba Coleman said that there would be no hate crime charges after they talked to the FBI.
“All these individuals having smartphones and cameras have democratized media and information,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “In the past, it was a very narrow scope on what news was being reported and from what perspectives.” That meant, he added, it “opened up an opportunity for America as a whole to understand the impact of racism, the impact of violence, and the opportunity to create a narrative that’s more consistent with keeping African Americans and other communities safe.”
Posting on Facebook, social commentator Motanya Gladden said it was ironic – or divine, that the ruckus occurred off of the “infamous ship” Harriot II, that days later was still docked in the same much-fought-for space. “It’s a constant reminder that this is what happens when you ‘eff’ around and find out. That it ain’t going down the way they assumed.”
Walking by down by the Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Alabama, Gladden added, “This ain’t the old South. We’re responding differently; and imagine–look at the stretch of river. Look at the width where our brother [Aaren Rudolph] swam across to participate in that serving of justice as it were.”
Echoing the sentiment of many a vocal observer online, and in the actual world, Gladden said that what happened on the 5th of August 2023, “is where all of our folk came together –and did the right thing.”
With folk last week referencing the George Floyd police murder in Minneapolis, the George Zimmerman murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida, and the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi, the Black community was ready for an actual show of Black unity in the face of racist violence. Reports state that Bloods and Crips showed up together in a sign of unity directly affected by the events in Alabama.
“It is interesting that this complete defense of Black people happened in Black August,” said Barron. “One of the most powerful takeaways is seeing the young man who swam to save his brother. This is a new day in seeing how we defend each other. You see neighbors suddenly introducing themselves. You see gang members joining bandanas, understanding that there is strength in unity. Those boaters may have been inspired by Trump’s visit that week, but those Black people showed them that there will be consequences and repercussions if you attack us. You will get what your hands call for. That response came from the depth of their souls. It shows that you don’t have to be politically astute, but know that fundamentally in our spirit that we are not going to stand for some out-of-control, out-of-their-minds violent white people if they try to put their hands on us.”
“Black August holds major significance,” Youth Minister Divine Allah, a recent Trenton City Council candidate Black Panther, told the Amsterdam News. “It is the month of Marcus Garvey’s 17th August birthday; Huey P. Newton [was] assassinated [on] 22nd August; Fred Hampton’s birthday [is] 30th August; and Nat Turner’s rebellion took place in August. This is the month when we acknowledge these significant dates. For those critiques on the outside of grassroots organizing and what we call ‘the Movement,’ they should heed what a lot of grandmothers told us: ‘If you have nothing positive to say, then say nothing.’ Remember it is the sacrifice of a few that has allowed for the freedoms of the many to be even able to criticize the work being done on their behalf.
“We don’t need them to apologize for our revolutionary stance, and it is those same people, national leadership included, who often benefit the most.”
While aware of the feel-good-factor energy that is flowing through the community since the Alabama incident, Allah said, “Social media revolutionaries are not activists. They have not connected the dots, nor have they done the work to create a full, fundamental understanding. Holding a couple of food drives, talking to some homeless people, doesn’t make you an activist or an organizer as you try [to] present a comfortable position within this system that we are trying to expose and dismantle.”
“The Alabama instant community response resonates globally because racism still exists,” said
Caleef El Bey Cousar, former chairman of the Brooklyn Chapter of the New York State Black Panther Party under Minister Khalid Abdul Muhammad. “Racism 2023 is a quiet energy. This is why people are reacting the way they are. You don’t often see that instant response of such magnitude. Five white people may have been arrested, but what about the others? The Black guys skipping toward the boat, [the] chair, the swimming…it’s all urban legend now!
“I honestly feel that although it has taken off in a global manner, it has been downplayed by the mainstream. That’s why we’ve got to keep reposting it, and keep the flame burning, because it allows those who remember not to forget; and for those who don’t know, they will learn that Black [people] have and still will instinctively heed a call to defend and fight in the presence of this deep-rooted, continuously inflicted racism that we bear witness to every day with their micro and macro aggressions.”
A decades-long activist and Gold Keyholder with Sonny Abubadika Carson’s Committee to Honor Black Heroes, Cousar added, “Black August is a month to recognize all Black ancestor-inspired commitments to continue the same aggressive, and [the] righteous fight for our natural-born rights.”
The celebration of Black August in Harlem continues this week, with the United Negro Improvement Association’s 62nd Marcus Garvey Day at 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 17, at Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park (5th Avenue and 124th Street). In addition, as part of Harlem Week, the Black Panther Commemoration Committee has scheduled the “Black Panther Way” street co-naming ceremony for Sunday, Aug. 20, at 1 p.m., at W. 122nd Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. For more information, send email to Panthershepcat@aol.com.
