Well, its happened again. Another police officer, another traffic stop, another gun pulled and another black man de
ad. But as the tears of yet one more senseless murder start to run down our faces- BANG BANG; shots fired, another state, another traffic stop, another black man dead on the side of the road.
History.. what is the history of black man devalued lives. Was it the arrival of slave ships to Africa the kidnapping of my ancestors bringing them to America and forcing them to work. Not even seen as human, auctioned off like cattle standing on blocks. You raped my sisters to make more slaves. Was it Jim Crow? The scent of a black man hanging from a tree covered in tar and feathers, burning. Was it the countless brothers and sisters lost fighting to be seen through the Civil Rights Movement. The murder the of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Was it the crack crisis of the 80’s or the blind eye to AIDS crisis and the killing of over 20,000 ‘social deviants’. Is it the all too common police brutality we now face? Or our children’s textbooks referring to our slave ancestors as unpaid workers.
I saw this quote that said, ‘the violence is not new, the camera’s are.’ I thought of the power technology played when Rodney Kings life was blasted around world. The outrage through riots. The anger displayed through violence. The proof.. the proof.
So now our black men are dying without reason. So many senseless reasons they are killing each other these days, we don’t need more help with killing our men. We need help keeping them alive. We need help morning all that has been lost, and we need help changing the system so that this happens less often. So black men are given the chance to be fathers to their children, and husbands to their partners. So that they can be whatever they wanna be, including what they never thought they could. We cannot do this fists swinging, we have to do this with arms outstretched willing to accept help and love. We need to be loved, and to give love.
ashpapzs 