Sadly,
this could be you Foxes, Hybrids, and Wolves.
It could also be me too.
Take a moment to pay attention to these cases for me.
Realize that this is truly is the land of the FREE.
SMH.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0wY2ZyCVUfs#!]
Wear a hoody today in memory of Trayvon Martin.
I am.
Let us not forget that we are still profiled based on the color of our skin. We often tell ourselves that if we look more LIKE THEM that then we’ll be taken more seriously. That one cannot fit this ‘profile’ of what a young black man looks like and expect not to be treated unfairly. Should we all walk around in Armani Suits or polo shirts tucked into our dockers and Sperrys on our feet to appease them? Don’t make it fashionable to discriminate against your own group based on the way they look. Do not tell the young black men out there to look less like themselves and start looking more like the eurocentric idea that is forced on you by the hegemonic majority. We need to understand as a people that it is YOUR SKIN that is causing the unfortunate events like the ones that happened to Trayvon and Emmett. If a white male wearing the same outfit Trayvon had on that night were walking through that same neighborhood, that man would have thought nothing of it. You should be able to dress in jeans, a hoodies, and sneakers and walk through your neighborhood and not get profiled or worse, SHOT, as a black man.
I just cant wrap my head around this right now. Sometimes we forget that just because we have a Black President, and we can wear designer gear and go and do anything we want to that we are respected as valuable members of society. When we are truly not respected at all. Its sad that this young man had to be sacrificed in order to wake us up out of our slumber of thinking that their is no more civil rights work to be done. We fool ourselves because we can live in Beverly Hills, and shop at Neimans, and get reality shows for being our fabulous black selves; we think that our children can not in 2012 be legally murdered in cold blood because we have arrived and we are citizens of these United States. Its time for all of us to get off of our asses and ring the alarm and let everybody know that this kind of savagery will not be tolerated.
This tragedy has filled me with rage and sadness. One of the phenomena resulting from it has been a sense of solidarity among people of all hues and walks of life, and that’s a good thing, that, hopefully, may be sustained. I note this particularly among our people. It’s reminds me of leaving a funeral or the repast following and saying to relatives I haven’t seen since the last funeral, “We only see each other at times like this. Let’s promise to get together before the next funeral.”
I really hope this wakes up many of our folk to the importance taking an active part in our communities, including registering to vote and actually voting. And, that includes insuring that our elderly relatives who may not have the proper voting I.D.s get them before it’s too late. We can’t presume that the Justice Department will prevail in all of it’s actions, knocking down these new rules, since many of these racist states will be filing appeals.
It, also, means reaching out to the young brothers in our communities who want to look the part but are really young brothers in need of some positive adult male mentoring and channeling. They do observe us. I extend myself, sharing job leads and helping with resumes. They looked at me weirdly, initially, because many of them had not experienced this kind of interaction from adult males in their community, many lacking relationships with their fathers. Now, they greet me with respect and by name.
And, you’re right, Jamari, Trayvon could have been anyone of us. Any number of my contemporaries, myself included, have been stopped, even in our Brooks Brother’s drag. And, don’t let us be in casual attire. When I’ve bee wearing jeans or sweats and in a baseball cap, giving fierce and youthful physique I might add (lol), I get stopped only to have the officers look surprised and embarrassed when they get up close enough to see my salt and pepper goatee and mustache and I.D., which reveals my identity.
For those of you in D.C., there’s a prayer vigil for Trayvon at the Big Chair in Anacostia, this evening and a “hoodie” rally tomorrow at Freedom Plaza, at 2:00 pm.
Our collective response is having a major impact. Let’s maintain this solidarity.
Much love to all of you.