Mourning, Burning - Chris "Preach" Smith

Photo Credit: The Portland Mercury

The cruelties of property and privilege are always more ferocious
than the revenges of poverty and oppression. For the one aims at
perpetuating resented injustice, the other is merely a momentary
passion soon appeased.

- C.L.R. James

Have you ever written with tears in your eyes? I
mean, real burning tears that refuse to fall? If so,
then you now know the state that this article is
being written in. Despite that, I am writing because
that’s my weapon. It is my service to you, the 
readers, the people.

I am writing this because the fire behind this wall
of water in my eyes, fire that is stomping unabated
in my bloodstream borne of anger, demands it. It
is an anger, and a sorrow that I share with a great
many Black and Brown folk all over these United
States who have been reeling since the beginning
of this week with the state-sanctioned murders of
Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile. A week that
began with the celebration of this country’s independence
and was marred by Delrawn Small being shot and
killed on a major Brooklyn street by an off-duty
NYPD officer. I have struggled this entire week with
this news, tried to keep balance. Then the shootings
of the officers in Dallas, Texas after a peaceful protest
by Black Lives Matter and other groups. And then the
mourning of those officers that some outlets have positioned
to be more valid than the execution of these Black
lives on VIDEO. This morning, it all came to a head.
And the burning of those tears have left certain things
much more clearer.

What we are constantly bearing witness to with these
murders by cop is this: it is the frenzied defense of a
system that fears its obsolescence rapidly approaching.
Look at each of these brothers. Alton Sterling was a
father of five, making a living as best he could. A beloved
figure in his Baton Rouge neighborhood, even by the
owner of the store that he was killed in front of. Philandro
Castile, who would’ve been 33 today. A chef at a school
for Montessori students who was a beloved staff member.
Both of these men were targeted, as so many often are,
for rising against the dictated norms of a pipeline system
through policing that has been co-opted by departments
across the nation as a way to generate revenue. Both of
these men selected through spurrious actions(Sterling
was accosted due to an apparent call made by someone
claiming he was up to no good, Castile pulled over due to
a “broken tail light”)and summarily executed. The officers
in both cases shell-shocked after pulling the trigger. And
now swept away on paid leave, protected by unions who
will tighten ranks like any other gang. Small’s death at the
hands of the off-duty cop come in the wake of a “road rage”
incident that goes off radar not only because of the deaths
of Sterling and Castile but the revelation that the off-duty
officer was involved in another racially-based incident before.
You cannot see these murders without seeing how they
are just another addition to the pyre of blood sacrifices to
an system that is far past rotten and reveals more and more
of it especially when the summer hits.

Summertime in America has always held that undercurrent
of anxiety for us. It goes back years, decades. Centuries
even, if you decide to really pore through the history they
choose to exclude from textbooks thanks to partisan politics
as racism. We have always borne the brunt of atrocities both
publicized and held quiet since the dawn of this nation. In this
digital age however, the violence is not only televised it’s on
loop and streaming to wherever you are. To truly understand
where we are, you have to accept a cold truth: there are
a number of Americans who are not people of color who have
a fixation on seeing these videos. It is no different than postcards
of lynchings and the white public holding barbecues around them
that sit in various storehouses and trunks from years past. It
satisfies a pornographic need within these people. This same
sentiment is being shared in memes on comment boards on
various forums. The white supremacists are not the only ones,
just the most unabashed. Don’t think that someone you know
or worked with or went to school with or someone you loved
isn’t party to this. Your proximity to them is closer than you
may realize. This is why many are choosing not to share these
videos or see them, and request that others do the same. Because
the network heads, website editors in chief - they are driven by
traffic numbers. If this gets them more, the better. And so the
prism of power gets strengthened. Think about it - this sentiment
lives on certain groups populated by police members with corrupt
hearts too. Why else do you see these murders keep taking
place? For them, it is what they subscribe to in order to reaffirm
an identity that gives them money and positions of power. Power
rewarded by more military weapons. Ferguson, 2014. Los Angeles,
1990. And others in between and prior.

 

Photo Credit: AP

The shootings of the officers in Dallas compound the situation
because their deaths are, in the same way, being used. Before
I go any further, let me reiterate a point: you can feel sorrow
for their deaths in the wake of a peaceful protest as much as
you feel for the murders of Castile and Sterling. In that, you
must realize one set does not erase the other, should not. But
that is what some are opting to do. This comes in the form of
the “all lives matter” crowd that is split into two camps serving
the same goal. The first camp is well-meaning, but will use the
term as a way to promote an ideal of peace that ultimately negates
it. They wish to, in order to have unity, strip people of color of
what makes them different and has put them in the position
that they are. It’s a neutrality that reinforces silence as violence.
The second camp? They know full well why they use the phrase.
It is the new “get over it”  or “stop playing the race card.” Think
about every situation you may have seen it used on social media.
If you know someone like this, hold your corner and realize they
may not come around to seeing it your way. 


Take into account the frenzy in the aftermath of the officers being
shot and killed. You had someone running the Dallas Police Department
twitter account post a photo of Mark Hughes, a brother who walked
with a rifle as per his consitutional right. Someone who gave up
the rifle to law enforcement to examine before being allowed to
continue to march. They chose him as the chaos went on, and if
not for the vigilance of the people online who debunked that myth,
he could’ve died. The suspect found responsible, Micah Johnson(I
will not play into the game of using his middle initial as a code)
who was blown up by a robot initially used to defuse bombs turns
out to be a former Army veteran who is now being depicted as a loner.
This is after being shown across screens and websites in a daishiki
with his fist raised, and hanging with Professor Griff of Public Enemy.
The mere mention of Black Lives Matter in relation to him basically
has re-ignited certain outlets like Fox News to position that movement
and other justice movements like it as enemies to the state. Think
about it - this happens and Rudy Giuliani, a crook is brought on to
speak for officers. Joe Walsh, a man who hours earlier threatened
the life of the President of the United States on Twitter, gets brought
on CNN.

I say all of this to say that if you are to not only survive and thrive
in these times right now, you need to realize that resistance of 
any sort on behalf of the people, consistent resistance lies in knowing
fully what is going on. It is a resistance that demands that you
continue to break the prism already severely fractured by current
events. This resistance means that you need to let your sorrow
channel into continuing to see clearly, acting clearly. And watch
the spin. Because imbalance is what has kept certain things in play
that harm us. Have those hard talks. Read those links people share.
Don’t shame those who look to re-center themselves through self-
care to protect against emotional trauma and need to log off. Encourage
others to get locally involved however they can, whenever they can
and if they struggle, support them. As always, the struggle continues
and I hope these words help at least one person out.

A revolution that is based on the people exercising their creativity in
the midst of devastation is one of the great historical contributions of
humankind.

- Grace Lee Boggs