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Florida’s Civil War on Black Boys
In less than one year’s time, the jurors in the infamous state of Florida have released rabid, white males into the civilized world to maim other people and/ or to walk away with vindication of ridding our world of what they perceive as enemy combatants.
On July 13th, 2013 the self-admitted killer of Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, was found not guilty in Martin’s death. On February 15th, 2014 another self-confessed killer, Michael Dunn, was a little less fortunate than his Black-boy-murdering fraternity brother, Zimmerman, as he was charged with 3 counts of 2nd Degree attempted murder and 1 charge for shooting into the vehicle four young Black males occupied. Of the four teenagers in the vehicle, three walked away and one, Jordan Davis, became another of the fatalities of Florida’s civil war on Black boys. As a result of Dunn’s actions, he faces at least 75 years in jail. On the more serious charge of murder, however, Judge Russell Healey declared a mistrial as Florida Jurors could not reach an agreement.
The war rages on.
In accordance with the law, these vicious beasts were afforded their Constitutional rights; and, despite the perpetrators’ lawlessness, we still remain a nation of laws. The killers were offered speedy trials by juries of their peers (6th and 7th Amendments). When the killers were arrested, they were issued writs of habeas corpus, explanations for why they were being held in jail. We even granted them Miranda Rights (5th Amendment) so as to not incriminate themselves for crimes, but these killers eagerly confessed!
Michael Dunn, George Zimmerman, and others like them are vampires out for blood that wish to make us all feel afraid because they are insecure, racist bigots. We are not afraid of our humanity, but they are. These killers are restless deviants that patrol rainy nights as self-appointed neighborhood watchmen or noise pollution patrols in gas station parking lots. These killers and the jurors are in a civil war against young, teen, Black boys because Blacks boys don’t deserve to live in their eyes.
In Florida and the nation over, mothers train their boys to be quiet and to not exist in certain spaces. Fathers feel guilty for not
being in a position to help their boys because they know that despite their ages and experiences, criminality only sees their Blackness–what has happened to their sons, can, will, and has probably already happened to them. Black boys like Jordan Davis have no protection in Florida. And, in Florida’s civil war, no national guard has been ordered to guide these boys through life. No suspension of the writ of habeas corpus has been issued to pick up any suspecting, white male that could be a potential killer or worse, a juror that doesn’t believe crimes occur to Black boys, but are committed by them–even when they are dead. There is no Emancipation Proclamation promising Black boys protection for standing with their nation and leading us to victory by being upstanding teenaged citizens. Black boys wear red markers on their bodies and bullets travel where they are aimed when the
trigger man is an angry, white male with a license to carry a gun. The luke-warm and not guilty verdicts issued by registered Florida voters serving jury duty are equally as lethal as the gun-wielding, angry, white-male killer–they also see red.
Justice is not blind.
There will be no Gettysburg Address to declare Florida consecrated land because there is no righteous indignation in shooting unarmed teenage boys before they are even old enough to become voters and enter into Florida’s jury pool. The only ground we stand is one that drags our nation further into a bloody civil war–Black boys are the enemy. Florida is just like South Carolina in 1861–it is defiant and eager to uphold states rights (10th Amendment) more than it values being a part of this nation. Fundamentally, Florida has already seceded. According to ThinkProgress.org, at least 26 children or teens have died as a result of this war-inducing, powder-keg law.
Stand Your Ground has to go! The Dream Defenders are leading the way.
If we have learned anything from the Civil War, it should be that in addition to the institution of slavery which is why the war began, the Civil War is our greatest stain. Black bodies, dead or alive, have always been the sacred prize in a land of cannibals and vampires. Nearly one million Americans were killed during the Civil War. America’s East coast became a hallowed cemetery between 1861-1865–that’s shameful! Not only did our soldiers die, but we also lost our president to assassination, Abraham Lincoln, by another gun-toting, racist, angry, white male.
When will we begin to hold angry, white men accountable for murder, cowardice and malicious behavior?
When will we declare a cease-fire on Stand Your Ground?
Happy 19th Birthday Jordan Davis!!
What to the American is the March on Washington?
“What happens to a dream deferred?” That was the poignant question posed by Langston Hughes in his 1951 published worked called, Montage of a Dream Deferred. Twelve
The People
years later, Dr. King and his dream roared from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th, 1963.
Unfortunately, we know what happened to Dr. King, but what happened to his dream? I would assert that the disappointment of his assassination and not fully fulfilling “the dream” diffused into the universe, spreading throughout generations, and today we are being forced to make that dream a reality. And, there is no resistance. Divine intervention? I would say so.
On Saturday August 24th, 2013, I had a very fortunate vantage point from which to place the March on Washington 2013; moreover, there were no boundary lines keeping me from seeing the stalwarts of the past fifty years serve and interact as historical mentors to contemporary interns reinvigorating “The Dream. ” Unlike the 1963 March on Washington, the goals of this march appeared to be somewhat blurred, and still there was a common thread of togetherness and label-shredding validating the necessity to
THE John Lewis and me!
commemorate Bayard Rustin’s and A. Phillip Randolph’s vision of inducing the governmental accountability to the poor, jobless, marginalized and invisible. Despite the insurmountable work ahead (and I submit that the work will never be done as ideas and attitudes evolve), I witnessed people committed to improving their lives and the lives of others in simple acts of kindness such as making seats available for late comers. I witnessed people offering their snacks to others around them. No [mental] surveys were given to see if the person was immigrant, gay, rich, poor, or American. People were just being humanly kind and the labels didn’t matter.
The highlights were many, almost to the point where I don’t know if you can honestly say that there was one I loved more than the other. And, for me, the moments were more
Rajmohan Gandhi and me!
than seeing these almost mythological figures in person; for, in front of me and seated right next to me were everyday men and women that had committed their lives to serving others, not for the gain of personal celebrity, but because it was the right thing to do. There were no bodyguards, no pretentiousness, and no do-you-know-who-I-am attitudes. They were just people with smiles and hugs and wisdom.
The March on Washington is America’s only chance at redemption and rehabilitation. For Black Americans it is our ultimate testimony. Fifty years later, “the dream” has been customized to be everybody’s testimony in the quest to become a little more visible and a little less marginalized under the government’s watch. The March on Washington is American’s truth serum and her (his) red, white and blue badge of courage.
In 1963, President Kennedy opted to watch the March on Washington from the White House. On Saturday’s event, President Obama was not in attendance either. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Attorney General Eric Holder, and former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi appeared and remarked. But the people were asking, where was President
Attorney General Eric Holder let me take his pic! Thanks!
Obama? Unlike Presidents of the past, President Obama is presiding during some of the most commemorative events our nation and the world has ever seen.
On Wednesday, August 28th, the actual anniversary of the March on Washington, President Obama will bring former Presidents Clinton and Carter to acknowledge the March on Washington. I liken this gesture as President Obama’s way of finally getting the office of the President to share in the dream so many Americans are attempting to fulfill. But we cannot do it alone. No presumption as I don’t know what President Obama’s remarks will be, but the very fact that he will speak from the very spot Dr. King stood in condemnation of the government’s failure to uphold the promises of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, is at very least, a decree that the government is finally ready to move America in the right direction for the sake of Black Americans and all other Americans. When Dr. King stated in his speech that the people had gathered on the nation’s mall to “dramatize an appalling condition,” he presented the
The Dream Defenders
brevity and sense of urgency A. Phillip Randolph and Bayard Rustin had in compelling the government to honor its promise.
The March on Washington is a lot more than an event to commemorate. It is America’s moral compass. It is a lesson in expediency and seizing the moments of now. Without pause, it is a guideline teaching the government how to implement justice and create opportunities for all people. Finally, it is an order to public officials to be courageous in honoring the oaths taken prior to taking office.
ThePoliDay Report 