Let me start with this; I don't make pieces for people who ask borderline racist questions so that they can avoid seriously engaging in constructive conversations about race. Nor do I write for people who tell marginalized people how they ought to deal with systemically oppressive institutions. I write for my own curiosity and intellectual growth. I write to bring myself peace. I write because it helps me cope with living in a world in which my ancestral identity has been stolen and my body and my talents are constantly subjected to potential violence and plunder.
Today I break that rule. I have to. I understand that the people who normally ask this question so as to artificially conflate, complicate, and corrupt discussions about any kind of violence that black people are subjected to don't REALLY care about the black victims of "black-on-black" violence. Or the black victims or any kind of violence. But I do. I find the question extremely insulting and condescending. So I'm answering it once and only once, and I will direct the assholes who accuse me of using black victims of said crime committed by white supremacist America to somehow advance my own political motive to this link. So here goes: first of all the term "black-on-black crime" itself is misleading and unnecessary. There is nothing extraordinary about the fact that most violent crimes in which a black person is victimized are perpetrated by other black people. Crimes are committed against those who occupy your same space. To say "black-on-black" crime is to imply that black people are more predisposed to kill/assault/rob each other than other groups of people which is untrue (If you REALLY need proof click here). To assign race to crime is superfluous. The second point is that a murder which a stranger commits and pays for with jail time is far different from a murder in which your tax dollars pay for, in which the killer almost never even sees a court date, and in which the killer most likely receives a pension for. The third point is that elevated rates of violence in black communities, whether perpetrated by a street criminal or government subsidized "law" enforcement, are both manifestations of the same problem. Black communities have been systematically robbed of resources for 400 years. This results in a situation in which the competition for a very scarce amount of resources is so intense that it many times turns fatal. Not only that, but the only way to enforce the laws that justify and perpetuate the plunder of these communities is also through violence. Violence is an epidemic that is caused by poverty and desperation.White supremacy doubly rears its violent murderous head in black communities on a daily basis in these ways. And finally, for you condescending pieces of..... WE DO TALK ABOUT BLACK VICTIMS OF STREET VIOLENCE. ALL THE TIME. CONTINUOUSLY. We happen to have hearts, and actually care. So we pay attention on a daily basis. Because it actually affects us, and we don't just bring up the subject when put on the fence about our privilege. We live with the consequences of violence. The victims are our brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and in my case fathers. We pay homage to victims, go to their funerals, hug their mothers, pay our respects, make timeless music about them, visit their graves, and carry grief in every day we have to walk without them. Furthermore. Newark, Chicago, Harlem, Brooklyn, Detroit, Gary, and Baltimore ALL HAD STOP THE VIOLENCE RALLIES IN THE LAST YEAR. Those were all cities that came up in the first page when I googled "stop the violence rally". Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. (shameless plug for the greatest fraternity on God's Blu Earth) has partnered with the President in the My Brother's Keeper program, a program aimed at taking at risk (black) youth off of the streets and out of harms way. In almost every city in which violence is a problem you will find anti-violence coalitions, you will find churches tackling this problem, you will see community organizers and mayors and city councilmen tackling this problem. The sad thing is that despite their efforts, the only thing that will truly alleviate the slow burning genocide of black people in our inner cities is an end to systemic black poverty. Something which they have little control over. A final word for those of you who ask "what about black-on-black crime?" Shut. The. Hell. Up. You don't really care. You don't have to live with lost friends, fathers, brothers, cousins. You don't have to hug the family members as you can feel their tears soak through the shoulders of your shirt. You've never had to turn on the news and see that a kid you were just in P.E. with Wednesday is in critical. You don't know what its like to hear stories of an officer in blue calling your mom a bitch, tazing and detaining your cousin for no reason, threatening to beat your uncle. You don't know what its like to watch people walk around with "RIP [insert victim's name]" shirts in middleschool. You don't know what its like to watch over a dozen of your boys fall KIA to the school to pipeline prison by the time you throw on the cap and gown. This is Des Moines I'm talking about. This isn't Chicago, Harlem, Compton, West Side Baltimore. Do you know how terrifying that is? No, you don't know. And your degrading calls for me to take responsibility of a condition that is perpetuated by YOUR privilege just so you can hide from the reality that your comfort - your safety - isn't earned, can be labeled as nothing less than racist and heartless. So sit down. and shut up. -515
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October 2018
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