Justice now
4th May 2015 · 0 Comments
By Edmund W. Lewis
Editor
All eyes were on Baltimore, NYC and Philly last week as the struggle continues in the streets of the U.S. The murder of Freddie Gray, 25, has obviously struck a major nerve across America with people from all walks of life.
While the young bucks were being blamed for everything that went wrong last week in Baltimore, the outrage was not limited to the youngest among us.
As people of all ages from all walks of life chanted “Black Lives Matter” and cops lined up in riot gear with snipers and small armies waiting blocks away to be called into action, a group of whites chanted “Blue Lives Matter,” as if cops’ lives don’t matter to decent, law-abiding Black people.
The funny thing about the reaction of police supporters is that they assume Black people have a problem with law-abiding, Constitution-protecting cops.
For the record, we don’t.
We have a problem with the other batch — the bad apples and bad asses who think they are above the law and can do whatever they want to people of color and the poor.
We get that law and order are supposed to prevail but the greatest and most persistent impediment to law and order are trigger-happy cops who see nothing wrong with shooting an unarmed man eight times in the back while he is running away or severing someone’s spine.
What kind of God-fearing and civilized human being thinks it is all in a day’s work to take the life of an innocent man because he or she felt like it or feared for his own safety? What kind of individual shoots down a 12-year-old boy with a BB gun or stands over someone who is dying and laughs or cusses him out? Who thinks selling loose cigarettes is a crime punishable by death or that Black men and boys have the kind of superhuman speed and strength that requires cops to use every bullet in their guns to subdue them?
We live in a society that calls itself civilized even as it gives law enforcement agencies the authority and power to take innocent lives, even as elected officials and others continue to describe the United States as “leader of the free world.”
We wring our hands and shake our heads at the senseless violence taking place in underdeveloped and war-ravaged countries but pretend not to see the atrocities and human rights abuses being committed in U.S. cities. Some of those who say and do nothing about deadly police force see it as necessary to protect the freedoms and privileges of the ruling class.
We know that crooked cops stick together and cover up one another’s crimes. We know that cops of any race are not immune to media messages that present Black men and boys as dangerous and fearsome. We know that every time a Black man, woman or child encounters a cop, he or she is literally facing the possibility of sudden death at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve.
We also know that sunlight is the most powerful shade repellant and that what cops fear the most is being caught red-handed violating someone’s rights. We know that cellphones can be an invaluable tool in the struggle to end police terror.
Along with images of burning buildings and looters in Baltimore and a mother throwing a flurry of punches at her rock-throwing teenage son, we witnessed a lot of young people demonstrating the ability to fight injustice with their minds and words. As young people talked to reporters last week about the plight of young and Brown people across America and discussed strategies for ending police terror, the future began to look less dim.
There were many examples of young people who are stepping up to the challenge and arming themselves with knowledge of self and the history of Black struggle in the U.S. and worldwide.
We need to share the wisdom of past struggles with them and encourage them to continue to use their energy and brilliant minds to advance the causes of freedom, justice and equal protection under the law.
We need to come together and devise a long-term strategy for dealing with the many ills that plague us, placing excessive and deadly police force at the top of that list. We need unity of purpose and a commitment to come together to do whatever it takes to address the problem.
Police departments are the first line of defense for white supremacy and as such are not threatened by someone throwing bricks or beer bottles.
We need to hit the police with the U.S. Constitution and challenge whites who see what is happening to step up and stand up for justice and equal protection under the law. We need to hit law enforcement agencies with the long arm of the United Nations and make it clear to the global community that all is not well in America.
We need to make it clear to elected officials that either they are going to get off their cans and represent our interests or face the possibility of standing in an unemployment line. With the right mix of determination and resolve, anyone can be booted out of office. Local, statewide and federal elected officials need to either uphold the law and make sure the police don’t trample on our constitutional rights or take a long walk.
Instead of getting angry, we need to get organized.
Instead of getting ready, we need to stay ready.
All power to the people.
This article originally published in the May 4, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
