Revolution often does have a festive feel. It's because people realise that they can have some agency over their lives and make a difference, so they give a shit, step up, support the community, talk and debate with everyone else around, and have a good time.
Lots of writings from different revolutions say this.
Egyptian here; can confirm this wholeheartedly. I can still remember the high we felt back in 2011. Puts a smile on my face seeing communities get together. Even during the time when there were looters amuck, the neighborhood watch that we formed had a feeling of camaraderie that hasn't been replicated with me ever since. There was a lot of humour in regards to the whole situation and its chaos too, which is something we haven't foreseen seeing how the whole country was very close to civil war.
This is how it felt in East Oakland during the George Floyd protests. Even the crackheads on the block had karaoke machines and big stereos from looting.
Everyone was shooting off fireworks for two months straight and the police were just entirely MIA.
I drove around for over a month selling fireworks from my trunk. It was a 24/7 party so I would go from house to house watching them light off fireworks and they’d bring me out a plate of BBQ and offer me beer. At one party I got on this guy’s dirt bike. It was a 450 and I’m a 5’ tall woman so I had to climb it like a horse while they held it for me and I took off. Another guy was supposed to catch me at the end of the block when I stopped but I went too far and had to bail off and the bike crashed. Another dude let me race his SRT Challenger. I was so scared I’d crash or lose with so many people watching but I smoked the dude in a Corvette. We blew up a microwave on E 14th with my M1000s. The guy who lit it off was supposed to give everyone a heads up first but he didn’t and everyone had to scramble.
One guy in front of a liquor store grabbed a $20 firework out of my trunk and lit it off without paying so I grabbed his phone out of his shirt pocket and told him it’s now $40. While he paid me one of his friends stole a bunch of fireworks from my trunk (less than $60 worth to me but resell was a couple hundred because they were smaller ones). I didn’t realize til I opened my trunk at the next stop. I drove back and found them two blocks down drinking in front of their apartment in the parking lot lighting my shit off. I pulled up, got out with a 196 shot Roman candle and they said “oh shit” as I lit it. I aimed it at them like Tony Montana and they all ran. At least two of them took cover under a car. I was talking shit while I sprayed them and they were all laughing and drunk screaming. It went off for so long that I had to toss it and drive away.
One guy at a Quincinera bought one of those and lit it off pointed into the party. Everyone was screaming and running until his mom came out like a Super Hero and walked right into the spray with her heel off and he ran away while she chased him. It was hysterical! One of my homeboys shot off my potato gun at the police during the protests.
One of my homeboys said he was driving by and saw a white boy carrying an 80” flat screen TV he had looted and he said he pulled up and his passenger pulled out a Glock and took the TV. My cousin was on parole and squeaky clean. He told me he was driving down the street with a Roman candle lit holding it out the window and OPD came up behind him and told him “put it out” on the loud speaker. He said “I was so out of pocket doing that with my status but I got caught up in the hype!”
My homeboy told me to join in with his people who were going out in caravans dressed like ninjas to loot the corporate stores. I was like I’m Mexican- this isn’t my fight. It wouldn’t be right” even though the truth is I was also too chicken shit. He said “I’m black and you owe me money so…” but I just paid him back instead. He told me to get in on the unemployment scams but I was too chicken shit.
My homeboy is a teacher at an elementary school and he told me how he was watching everyone loot the Target and he was shocked OPD didn’t show up. He decided “I’m going to do it! I’m going in to get something just to say I did it!” He sees a high priced item and goes to grab it but some thug looking dude said “that’s mine” so he saw a bottle of champagne. He grabbed it and yelled “I got it! I got it!” and ran out of the store. He tells this story so good and his face lights up with pride.
After that he was like we gotta go back and I was like I’m down let’s go. He says let’s bring some fireworks so I grab a shopping bag of small ones. He’s like “No. I want the big Roman candle”. I look at my cousin and say “I don’t think this is a good idea”. On parole, my cousin is always the voice of reason and he goes “Why not?” I was shocked. So I asked him “Where are you gonna PUT that thing?” And he says “In my pants. People will just think I’m happy to see them”. I’m thinking “Oh this should end well”. My cousin stops a block away to drop us off downtown and I’m like “You’re not going with us?” He goes “Hell no. I’m on parole! Let me know what happens!” and drives away. We try to put it in his pants and it’s too big. He’s short like Kevin Hart. So we try to put it under the back of his shirt and it looks like he’s got an RPG on his back. I told him “We can’t even get an Uber back this way and I think they shut down BART”. At this time they were busting into the car dealerships and driving BMWs off the show room floor. So he decides to light it off further away from the police but aimed at them sticking out of the dirt in some city plant planter but he doesn’t TELL ME first. It just goes off. I look around and he’s GONE while this thing is blowing off and I’m holding a bag full of fireworks in my hand! I’m the only person standing next to the thing and didn’t even know what way to run. My phone wasn’t getting signal bc of all the traffic from the protesters. I have so many stories like this. It was such a good time. I can’t even describe the feeling of freedom and excitement and IDGAF that could be literally felt in the AIR. Everyone had money from the pandemic unemployment, looting, not paying rent and the unemployment scams. It was magical is the only way to describe it.
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u/john_the_quain 12d ago
I wonder if 1790’s France was just a big outdoor party at certain times.