The Wanderer's Voice: April 2015

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

I Miss...

They say you can't miss something you never had. As the child of an absentee father I disagree. We know exactly what we're missing. We see other children with their fathers and wonder what it would be like if ours was that loving, caring, or even just present. It leaves you with a hole in your heart because you know you could have used the guidance in your tough moments, when the advice of a man who'd already been through his own tough times could help steer you away from the same pitfalls. To know that someone would always have your back and be in your corner but love you enough to tell you when you're wrong from a man's perspective I imagine would be incredibly empowering. I'm aware that there are some fathers that even while present, are horrible people to their children and that their influence cripples them instead but the power of the influence is still there. Even when we speak of the founding of our nation we speak of the "founding fathers." Men who some of us hold infallible and will forever remain the blueprint of what America should be. I know that feeling. Its the feeling I get when I watch footage of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When they speak on the issues of their time there is a feeling of self assurance and faith in their steadfast leadership that makes me feel like everything is going to be ok. We of course know how it ended for these great men. I realize now, on a larger scale Black America feels the same way we do looking at other children receiving the guidance they so desperately long for.

We had it once. Frederick Douglass' philosophy of equality through education and outspoken leadership was the driving force of the post Reconstruction era. Most of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were founded during his lifetime and his speeches inspired a waves of black intellectuals to take up his mantle long after his passing. The debates between W.E.B. DuBois' Talented Tenth ideology, Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Compromise, and Marcus Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association left our people with no shortage of schools of thought on what success was and how to achieve it. The assassinations of Malcolm X and Dr. King, however, seems to have brought the era of the great black leader to a close. We have a generation of kids for whom that type of leadership has never existed. The black intellectuals of today, Michael Eric Dyson, Cornell West, Tavis Smiley, and many others don't seem to have as strong a voice. You have to seek them out instead of being the inescapable force their predecessors were. They seem to be content with being talking heads on someone else's news network instead of banding together and forming their own organization. The NAACP has been silent on issues that don't involve them getting a check and honestly, I've gotten more news on black entrepreneurs and people making positive changes in our communities from Mary Jane Paul than our "leaders". Many who lived through the 60s and 70s had hoped that Barack Obama could be that voice but he has consistently shied away from directly confronting the issues that may still be affecting his grandchildren if no progress is made. The recent riots and protests set off by the unjustified deaths of unarmed black men show that the need for strong leadership is there. The desire for change is there. The need for justice is there. As Malcolm X predicted, we are assailed in the media as if we're a pack of wild animals that can't control themselves. We are weighted down by practices like gerrymandering, housing discrimination, and outright gentrification designed to strip us of the rights so many gave their lives for and like Christ on the cross, we are screaming "why have you forsaken me?"

The reasons no one has stepped up to carry the torch of leadership have been debated, dissected, and disclosed on countless whats-wrong-with-black-people themed projects across every cable news channel. My take is that the rise of the black middle class has created a class divide among black people that compound the racial issues that hinder us all. We've lost sight of what unites us. Black immigrants tend to look down on African Americans (a sin of which I am guilty from time to time). African Americans in turn resent foreign blacks. The reality, of course is that our stories are as intertwined as the tribes our ancestors were taken from centuries ago. It's a divide that doesn't truly exist but we've been living with segregation so long we've adopted it too. It doesn't matter in the end, though. The lack of leadership and common purpose for our people has left us wandering. Everyone just tries to eek out the best living we can and every man woman and child is left to fend for themselves. We keep looking for the person who can bridge the gap and bring us together the way we used to be. I once advised young brother who asked me where our leaders are and I told him that leadership comes from a strong family first. I still believe that but I realize now what he was really asking. He's looking for what our great men used to provide. Its like that little boy watching what a good father does for his kids. It's something we all miss

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

The Definition of Insanity

I may be starting losing my mind. The video of the latest police shooting to make national headlines literally had me laughing yesterday. Clearly, nothing is funny about this but it feels like I'm going insane staring at the same headline every few weeks.

It's like Satan's version of Groundhog Day.

The talking heads at CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX News say I'm supposed be shocked and outraged. Honestly, the emotions that really dominate my thoughts are fear and indifference. It's like that song on the radio you know is crappy and they play it so often it becomes background noise. Black men have to be desensitized to certain things or you'd be fighting every day. Literally. Even if you work in a diverse environment, racially insensitive comments, negative assumptions about your background, personality, and way of life are just things you have to deal with. You also become desensitized to the script that has been played out over and over again since childhood. Video evidence of obvious wrong doing by law enforcement is presented on a national stage which produces no punishment worthy of the crime. This incites an angry response from citizens which is then in turn condemned by political leaders. Then everything forgotten about until the next incident. You probably have a case in mind. It could be Eric Garner or Ramarley Graham in New York. How about Oscar Grant in San Francisco? Maybe John Crawford III or Tamir Rice in Cleveland? How about the first case that started the phenomenon way back in 1992, Rodney King? For the sake of consistency, I'm excluding cases in which the alleged aggressor wasn't a member of law enforcement (Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida; Jordan Davis in Jacksonville, Florida) or there is no explicit video evidence of the crime nor the events leading up to it. (Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri) Their stories delve into an entirely different aspect of this issue regarding the attitudes and fears of black men in general. That's another much longer, deeper, and more involved conversation.

Rodney King, after being assaulted by the LAPD in 1992

As a people, we should be outraged any abuse of power but the aspect of this scenario that troubles me more than anything is the fact that it flies in the face everything we profess to love about America. We resist tyranny. We stand up for those who cannot defend themselves. We defend freedom for all. We believe in innocent until proven guilty.
That is who America is supposed to be. So why is it when it comes to defending the freedoms of our own citizens so many turn a blind eye or worse, blame the victim? This is the country that promises opportunity and fairness as long as you play by the rules, right? Police officers aren't supposed to be judge, jury, and executioner yet every time we see another life lost the first reaction for many of us is that he must have deserved it. Maybe I'm the naive one in believing that the only thing a suspect deserves is his miranda rights and a fair trial. Maybe I'm just ignoring history when it comes to the application of the law to certain Americans.

People much smarter than me have tried to explain it but from an individual perspective the answer is simple. Of all the rights denied to us, the one that hurts us the most is the right to be seen as individuals. If one of us sins it is treated as indictment on the entire diaspora. It's why when a deranged psychopath murdered two NYPD officers in "revenge" for Mike Brown's death, it was used as "evidence" the protesters were dangerous. It was also justification to disrespect the Mayor, who was doing what any father would do, trying to protect his son. In general the actions of a depraved few are used to justify the abuse of power for all. We rarely get the privilege of being seen as individuals. The scenario plays out over and over again because to some people, we're all the same and need to be controlled. Too many communities are living under what feels like a military occupation because neither side sees the other as human.

There are 2 things about the current shooting that gives me hope, however.

Michael T. Slager (left) shot Walter Scott (right) 8 times in the back, killing him

1. The swift action of the North Charleston Police Dept. Former Officer Michael Slager has not only been fired, but charged with murder. The people of North Charleston should be proud of how seriously it takes the trust of its citizens. Slager's indictment may not be a conviction but I can't imagine any legal argument that could exonerate him. Then again, Rodney King's attackers were acquitted and Eric Garner's assailants weren't even indicted.
2. Both the right and left slanted media, seem united in condemning this killing as unjustified. Normally everyone would line up on their respective sides and use this man's death to push divisive talking points. This time there seems to be an atmosphere of universal disgust at how Walter Scott was murdered (Warning: Graphic). I would like to think that's because what Slager did was indefensible. It's more likely because the video leaves no doubt about the sequence of events. The video even shows Slager trying to plant his taser next to the dying man to save his job instead of trying to save Walter Scott's life.

If we're going to change the culture of distrust between the black community and the police we also have to change ourselves. We have to bury the idea of us vs them which seems to have taken over as the default discussion stance, preventing any real productive exchange of experiences. Old ideas have to die on both sides. The neither majority of black men nor police officers are savages and we both can agree that no one benefits from the current status quo. North Charleston is taking steps in the right direction but the day needs to come when their response is the norm, not the exception. To do otherwise and expect different results would be to invite more of this...