In Case You Didn’t Know What are ‘Unacceptable Protests’

On fascism — liberally masked

Aza Y. Alam
7 min readNov 23, 2024

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A march, ending in a rally with speeches in Leeds City Centre, UK. This was granted permission by Yorkshire Police. These marches have become a regular, Saturday afternoon fixture. They are the ‘acceptable’ face of dissent.

I don’t want to waste anyone’s precious time so let me give it to you straight up: ‘unacceptable protests’ are those which actually do manage to disrupt the production and dissemination of goods — including the weapons or parts of weapons needed to massacre unarmed civilians all over the world.

After all, stuff being bought and sold is the lifeblood of any capitalist society. Business -whether that is the delivery of food, luxury goods or weapons must not stall, be suspended or delayed in any way. Thus Extinction Rebellion protests which blocked roads and the flow of traffic, stopped commuters going to work and lorries with their goods and produce heading to supermarkets etc… were becoming a big nuisance. A delay of an hour or two… UNACCEPTABLE!

‘Unacceptable protests’ are also those which disrupt the carefully crafted narrative of Whyte superiority that has been used for centuries, to justify the invasion, occupation and theft of resources from the Global South.

You don’t want to see someone glorified with a bronze statue placed in the city square, someone who built their fortune from enslavement and forced labour ? Hard cheddar, that person was also a philanthropist who did much good, donating land for parks, providing…

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Aza Y. Alam
Aza Y. Alam

Written by Aza Y. Alam

Exploring the entanglements of gender, race and class during this era of the Eurokleptocene. Let’s do better, one story, one learning, one comment at a time.

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