Black People Ain’t Gonna Make It To Their Destination By Taking The High Road

Botham Jean. Eric Garner. Oscar Grant. Sandra Bland. Michael Brown. Freddie Gray. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile and sadly, the list goes on. Every day, every week, every month and every year we collectively do the same thing. We repost, we comment, type RIP/RIH, #saytheirname. If you’re fancy, you may march at a rally, stop eating at Waffle House or skip watching a few football games in the name of solidarity or being down for the cause. Yet, here we are with another dead man’s name to remember, but this time the blood is on our hands. Joshua Brown, the neighbor of the late Botham Jean who served as a witness on the trial against his murderer Amber Guyger,  was shot to death by an unknown assailant. 

But, before we allow this to trend online and start making claims about who could have possibly wanted to harm this young man, ask yourself, did we as a community do enough to keep him safe? The answer is, no. While we got into heated debates about Jesus, bibles and hugs, we got bamboozled, hoodwinked and one of our own was killed right up under our noses. Now, who knows, the upcoming days could bring to light a multitude of things about Brown that could provide more insight into his death, but one thing is for sure, we allowed this man right back into the same community to be protected by the same people who tried to assist Amber Guyger in the murder of Bothem Jean. Something in the water ain’t clean and discussing it online won’t help us solve our problems. 

I don’t claim to know the answers and don’t want to diminish the work of those who are actively working in law enforcement, the legal system, activism or any other means to try to combat this problem. However, can we agree that maybe it’s time to do something other than talk?

In the 1960s, this country was turned around by Black leaders and supporters of all kinds who stood united for change. In spite of their differences, the Civil Rights leaders of that time were all pushing for rights, equality and demanding better treatment for us from this country as a whole. Are we so spoiled by the idea of America that we aren’t willing to challenge injustice anymore? Are we really that dysfunctional of a family that we will refuse to watch out for each other by any means necessary? Do we no longer believe in patrolling our own if we can’t trust the police officers in our communities? Are we that corrupt minded that we can’t trust ourselves to run our own banks, buy property and rebuild Black Wall Street? Will we not create the kind of world we wish to see or will we just wait to see who’s got next as our delegated black leader?