Since 2012 we have heard, felt, watched, cried, mourned people who we did not know personally but the tragedy of these fallen angels have touched our hearts as if they were apart of our families. The year of 2012 was very hectic in a sense of realness. We got a first hand experience, if we have not had one before, of racism. I am not talking of the subtle racism that people may perform on a day to day basis. I am talking about real harsh racism, watching our black people get picked as if they were a number ticket in a meat deli, to be killed. We watched men and women (majority men) get killed on social media. People from all around the world have watched these gruesome murders and instantaneously felt compassion for the victims and their families. Our social medias went from capturing beautiful moments, laughter, and joy to capturing murders, these extreme deaths caused by racist cops and entire police departments because we all anything can happen in a NY minute. We have watched how our people were preyed on, we watched how those murderers got away with killing a black man or woman, we have watched peaceful marches, riots, and looting. We have watched how one another has felt compelled to standing up for those lives that have been taken by reckless hateful people. We have all said to one another, at some point, "If he or she wasn't black they would STILL be alive right now". Those few simple words are important because as we know the colour of our skin builds barriers around us for any and everything that we desire to pursue.
We've wondered and questioned ourselves about how we would feel if one of our family members just so happened to take the place of one of these men or women? What if we watched as our son, nephew, uncle, cousin, father, sister, mom, niece, partner, or friend get killed, not only in front of our eyes, but in front of millions of peoples eyes and all of this because of their skin color??? WOW. I could cry right now imagining a loved one being taken out of this world in that manner because of a police officer, who is trained to handle different situations with different techniques, felt like his life was being threatened by someone unarmed??? It didn't make sense then and it damn sure doesn't make any sense now.
It's easy to forget, even harder to remember, that's why most people choose to forget. Remember the lives of the tragic murders because:
WE ARE TRAYVON MARTIN, SANDRA BLAND, MICHAEL BROWN, PHILANDO CASTILE, ERIC GARNER, DANTE PARKER, EZELL FORD, DONTRE HAMILTON, VICTOR WHITE, JORDAN BAKER, BOTHAM SHEM JEAN, JEMEL ROBERSON, EMANTIC FITZ. JR., LAQUAN MCDONALD,AKAI GURLEY, TAMIR RICE, WILLIAM CHAPMAN, WALTER SCOTT, ERIC HARRIS, JEREMY MCDOLE, ALTON STERLING, JAMAR CLARK, TERRENCE CRUTCHER, SAM DUBOSE, JOHNATHAN FERRELL, LARRY JACKSON JR., WENDELL ALLEN, RAMARLEY GRAHAM, ANTHONY SMITH, ANTWON ROSE JR., DEANDRE BALLARD, KAJIEME POWELL, CHARLY KEUNANG, TONY ROBINSON, WALTER SCOTT, AND FREDDIE GRAY.
- All have been murdered. All while in police custody either in an open or closed setting(in the public, police car, home, police department, etc.) All murdered because of their skin. All murdered in front of their kin. All guilty without a chance to be proven innocent. The cop(s) on duty played judge, jury, and executioner. Many people were outraged due to these killings. Watching our black people get killed oppose to a white man walking into a movie theatre and murdering numerous people, getting off on probation or going to the psych ward really had us in our feelings. I said had but I really mean have because they make it so hard to learn from the past. I guess three hundred years of slavery wasn't enough, it was 2012 and slavery was still on the up and up. Our generation witnessed a bit of the history we have heard stories about.
Never forget these names and their stories, not only because they have lost their lives suddenly and tragically, but because you could've filled those same shoes on that same day/night that their life was taken away. "Remember someone out loud or they'll die twice."
It's still and will always be #BLACKLIVESMATTER!
Also, a special tribute to Ramon Smith and Jarron Moreland who were lynched by a white Oklahoma family in the beginning of 2018.
R.I.P TO THE 40 NAMES LISTED ABOVE. MAY YOUR SOULS REST ETERNALLY IN PEACE, THOUGH YOUR DEATH DIDN'T BRING ANY. MAY YOU SHINE DIVINE LIGHT UPON YOUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS TO REASSURE YOU ARE WATCHING OVER THEM. MAY YOU ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED EVEN IN THE DARKEST OF MOMENTS.
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