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People from the Black Lives Matter movement march during the Pride parade in Toronto, Sunday, June 25, 2017. ( Mark Blinch / THE CANADIAN PRESS )

They came. They saw. They disrupted.

Black Lives Matter, whose inspired protest against police in uniform last year brought Toronto Pride to a crashing halt and anti-Black racism among police to the forefront, found their message amplified across North America this year.

Other chapters of the Black Lives Matter group protested Pride in various cities: in New York City where about 100 of Torontos finest had made their way in a huff; in Seattle, where they staged a 30-minute protest one minute for every year in the life of Charleena Lyles, recently killed by police; in Minneapolis, where they protested the death of Philando Castile, chanting no justice no pride; in Vancouver, where they staged a separate march altogether to honour queer-trans people of colour. Here, protesters also staged a die-in, in which five people lay down on the hot pavement and others drew chalk figures around them.

In Toronto, where Pride comes during an inquest into the death of Andrew Loku, the mentally ill Black man killed by a police officer in 2015, the young activists showed up on Sunday after the parade had passed, not to put themselves front and centre, but to remind people they are still challenging anti-Black racism within Pride, within queer-trans communities.

Pride is actually ours. Queer and trans people of colour actually started this, said BLM co-founder Rodney Diverlus. We dont need to register for a deadline, we dont need to tell you were coming, we dont need to pay money for a float. Were just going to take up space.

Perhaps Diverlus should have said reclaiming our space, the space created by queer and trans people of colour, who played a major role in the Stonewall Riots 50 years ago this week. The series of riots, named after Stonewall Inn, a New York bar patronized by queer and trans people that was frequently and violently raided by police, were seen as the first major protests against police on behalf of LGBTQ people.

Key among protesters were transgender community organizers such as the Latina Sylvia Rivera and Black transwomen Marsha P. Johnson and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, but those roles have been erased over time as the movement has been whitewashed.

No doubt, Toronto is one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world. No doubt, Toronto police are heroes to many people, including gay people of colour. No doubt, BLM doesnt speak for all Black people no group ever speaks for all.

Yet, liberation of some is not liberation of all. Thats not so difficult to grasp, is it? There are disparities in how we experience the police. You dont have to hate the police to agree with BLM its not a zero-sum game. However, theres a reluctance to understand the unique cruelty of anti-blackness.

Black Lives Matter was reviled as a hate group last year for protesting that lack of equal treatment, and making demands for more inclusivity. That demand already made an impact; Anu Radha Verma, a curator of brOWN/out, a Pride event focused on the South Asian gay community, publicly thanked BLM on CBC for making her Saturday event possible.

Do you know who is a hate group? The KKK, about a dozen members of which turned up in full regalia to crash an LGBTQ parade in Florence, Ala., earlier this month.

Which would you call hateful? Protesting against those who are the instruments of your oppression? Or stomping on the oppressed, when they rise to resist?

What that resistance has made clear to some of us straight folks looking from the outside in, and perceiving the LGBTQ communities as a unified force of good, is that anti-Black racism exists everywhere, and the rainbow just covered up the streaks of racism within. Disagreeing with BLM does not make you racist, but being able to place how Black people experience police in your blind spot makes you privileged.

For some gay people, their history or experience of discrimination doesnt seem to have exempted them from discriminating against others.

There was Darryl DePiano, the owner of iCandy, the Philadelphia gay bar whose audio recording calling Black queer men ni-ni-ni-ni-n-word was broadcast on loud speakers in April. There was the other gay bar in N.Y.C. where multiple complaints surfaced about people of colour being discriminated against and not being allowed in. (Rebar, the bar in question has denied that.) These are not isolated incidents.

Pride is not about race, say those who have never been excluded or targeted on the basis of their skin colour. Its about celebrating gay successes, they say. Except that acceptance and protection have not been extended to all people.

How equal is equality, when its only for a few?

Shree Paradkar tackles issues of race and gender. You can follow her @shreeparadkar

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You don't have to hate police to agree with BLM: Paradkar - Toronto Star

A New Jersey adjunct professor was fired after defending a Black Lives Matter event while on Fox NewsTucker Carlson Tonight.

Lisa Durden got into a heated exchange on June 6 with the host as she spoke about an all-black Memorial Day celebration, and said, you white people are angry because you couldnt use your white privilege card. Shortly after Durdens television appearance, Essex County College President Anthony Munroe released a statement condemning Durdens comments, and insisting her beliefs are not reflective of the schools.

READ Halle Berry Comments On Black Lives Matter Supporters Who Only Talk The Talk

The college was immediately inundated with feedback from students, faculty and prospective students and their families expressing frustration, concern and even fear that the views expressed by a college employee (with influence over students) would negatively impact their experience on the campus, Munroe said in a statement, according to NJ.com. I fully believe that institutions of higher learning must provide a safe space for students The character of this institution mandates that we embrace diversity, inclusion, and unity. Racism cannot be fought with more racism.

Munroe said Durden, who taught pop culture and communications for the Newark school, was suspended for six days with pay and then terminated after a public meeting with the school board on Jun. 20.

The college affirms its right to select employees who represent the institution appropriately and are aligned with our mission, Munroe said, while stating it supports and affirms the right of free speech and independent views and expressions of those views for our faculty and staff.

READ Stevie Wonder: You Cannot Say Black Lives Matter And Then Kill Yourselves

Durden said the schools decision to fire her was meant to send a message. They did this to humiliate me, she said. Essex County College publicly lynched me in front of my students.

During an interview with NJ.com, the Newark resident said she assumed because she taught at a predominately black school her opinions would be supported. It should be a safe place for me, she said. I thought when I came home from war, I would be safe. Instead, I was fired.

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A New Jersey Professor Was Fired For Defending BLM While On Fox News - Vibe

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is the latest former Obama administration official to turn to social media to oppose the Senate Republican healthcare bill.

"McConnell/@realDonaldTrump: who do you stand with on health care?," Holder tweeted Monday night. "The average guy or the wealthy? You're taking care away from millions-why?

Former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president and former secretary of state, have already posted their own statements opposing the healthcare bill, which would repeal and replace parts of Obamacare.

The Senate healthcare bill would insure 22 million fewer people than Obamacare at the end of a decade and would reduce the deficit by $321 billion, according to an analysis published Monday by the Congressional Budget Office.

After the release of the CBO score, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said lawmakers would "soon take action" on the legislation.

So far, at least five senators want changes in exchange for their support.

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Eric Holder blasts Senate Republican healthcare bill - Washington Examiner

Last week alone, Michigan Democratic congresswoman Debbie Dingell said "I don't know where I belong" and "I'm not sure where I fit in" over the course of two different media interviews, ruminating on her place in a party she believes is splintering in too many different directions.

Dingell, who believes Democrats are alienating the working class voters they once represented, is disillusioned by her party's impulse to segment itself into the categories of identity politics. "We've become this identity politics. The Women's Caucus, the Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus," Dingell observed on MSNBC after Jon Ossoff lost his bid for a seat in Georgia's 6th District. "We've lost the sense of we,' that our strength comes in community."

In an interview with the Washington Post published one day earlier, Dingell said that her party was in "disarray," pointing to its failure to connect with the working class voters who once saw Democrats as their voice in government. "We took people for granted. We, for a long time, thought we had that worker, men and women, that union worker. We've lost them because we stopped talking to them." The congresswoman also relayed in the interview that voters in her Michigan district "don't think we understand them."

"Nobody listened to me in the last election when I told them they weren't talking about the issues that really mattered in the Midwest," Dingell lamented, adding later, "I sometimes feel like I have no home even in the Democratic Caucus here."

After losing the presidency and the Congress in addition to a host of down-ballot races over the course of the Obama years, Democrats are pledging to do better. But with a base split between progressives fixated on intersectionality and the #Resistance defining liberal opposition to Donald Trump as eagerly obstructionist, it will be difficult for Democrats to unify around solutions to the problems Dingell understands better than most in her party.

Leaders like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and DNC Chairman Tom Perez have resorted to a bizarre and insulting schtick of peppering their speeches with curse words in a transparent bid to appeal to blue-collar voters with whom the canned rhetoric of Hillary Clinton or the lofty language of Barack Obama never resonated.

For her part, Dingell recognizes the value of connecting with voters based on their backgrounds. "We need to understand each of these groups have issues. I'm a woman, I've been discriminated against," she conceded, continuing, "But I know my power and strength is being part of a broader community where we all pull together and fight for an issue."

Especially in the wake of Ossoff's loss last week, Democrats are paying a lot of lip service to the notion of reforming the party and getting serious about speaking to working class voters. But unless they are able to reconcile their increasingly radical, and increasingly vocal base of fervent anti-Trump resistors with Dingell's constituents, a monumental task by any standard, she may never be able to find her place in the party again.

And her voters won't either.

Emily Jashinskyis a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

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Michigan Democrat Debbie Dingell: 'I don't know where I belong' in the party of identity politics - Washington Examiner

(1 of ) Matt Stevens, SMART's community education and outreach employee, uses the new Airport Blvd. station to take photos of a SMART railcar, Wednesday June 29, 2016 in Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2016 (2 of ) A SMART train passes through Rohnert Park at Southwest Boulevard in 2016. (JOHN BURGESS/ PD FILE) (3 of ) A SMART train passes by the bicycle rack at the Railroad Square SMART rail station, in Santa Rosa in 2016. (ALVIN JORNADA/ PD) (5 of ) A SMART test train pulls into the Rohnert Park platform, south of Rohnert Park Expressway in Rohnert Park in 2016. (CHRISTOPHER CHUNG/ PD) (6 of ) Scott Mitchell, one of 11 train engineers for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit system, takes the public on a test ride in August 2016. (ANGELA HART/ PD FILE) (7 of ) SMART's train number 2 heads for San Rafael, Monday June 26, 2017, crossing Sixth Street in Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2017 (8 of ) SMART's train number 2 heads for San Rafael, Monday June 26, 2017, after stopping at the Railroad Square station, Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2017

MARTIN ESPINOZA

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | June 26, 2017, 12:13PM

| Updated 6 minutes ago.

What better way to generate buzz about a new transit service than to offer free rides? Thats exactly what Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit will be doing starting Thursday.

Offering the public an early look at the North Bays newest transportation system, SMART has scheduled three days of free rides June 29 and July 1 and 4, with more free ride schedules expected to be announced later this week.

Were really excited to be able to finally let people on the trains to experience them, said Debora Fudge, chairwoman of SMARTs board of directors.

Fudge, the mayor of Windsor, said SMART has been granted permission by the federal government to allow limited passenger use while federal officials do their final review of SMARTs positive train control, or PTC, an advanced safety system that automatically shuts down a train in the event of an emergency such as derailments caused by excessive speed.

She said SMART has fully tested the trains PTC system and will be offering free rides until the federal government approves paid passenger service.

When we get that final permit, then we run 34 trains a day and start commuter service, Fudge said.

SMARTs soft-launch begins Thursday, with three free round-trip rides from between Rohnert Park and Marin Civic Center stations. Trains depart southbound from SMARTs Rohnert Park Station at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Trains will depart northbound from the Marin Civic Center at 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Riders can get on and off at any stop.

Then on July 1 and 4, SMART has scheduled a type of excursion service for Sonoma County residents planning to go to the Marin County Fair in San Rafael. Free rides will be offered between all stations between Sonoma County Airport Station and the Marin Civic Center station, which is near where the fair will take place. Riders on these trains also can get on and off at any stop.

The train will start at the Sonoma County Airport Station at 5 p.m. and arrive at the Marin Civic Center at 6:01 p.m. On both days, the train will be held at the Marin Civic Center until after the fireworks, departing back to Sonoma County at 10:36 p.m.

The train arrives at Sonoma County Airport Station at 11:37 p.m.

Free rides will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis, said SMART spokeswoman Jeanne Mariani-Belding, who encouraged people to arrive early.

The specific schedules and station locations offered during the public review period are based on thousands of responses from the pubic, SMART said.

On Monday, one North Bay resident watched with curiosity as a SMART made a test stop at the Santa Rosa Downtown Station at Railroad Square.

Emily Porter of Mill Valley said shes been considering commuting between Marin County and her job at a winemaking supply company in Petaluma.

I was wondering if it was going to be a viable commute but the commute is not that bad, she said. I reverse commute to Petaluma when everyone else is going to San Francisco.

Rick James, who lives in Santa Rosa and works at Keysight Technologies, said he has no reason to use the new transit system as a commuter but wouldnt mind taking it for fun family trips. On Monday, James and his daughter, UC Santa Cruz student Kelsey James, spent part of the afternoon visiting Railroad Square.

Both joked theyd definitely ride the rail system if it went all the way to Santa Cruz.

I hope it takes off, though. Weve invested so much, said the elder James. It would be good to get people off the road.

Kelsey, who is getting a graduate degree in cognitive psychology, said she had a chance to study abroad in Italy and loved riding the train. She said she admired how the various Italian public transit systems of buses, taxis and trains were connected. Theres something nostalgic about riding the train, she said, adding that even a modern train feels right.

Mariani-Belding said the preview rides are aimed at getting local residents more familiar with the new transit system and how it works. She said later this week SMART will announce additional schedules for upcoming preview rides.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.

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SMART train begins free preview rides this week - Santa Rosa Press Democrat