Bullets in the Hood

So by now, this image should be ingrained in our minds. The case of the unarmed, groom-to-be shot down in a hail of gun fire, Sean Bell. And with the developments surrounding the recent verdict, it is with great anger, shame, and disgust with the legal system and its indemnities that I felt compelled to write this installment.

The case of Sean Bell although tragic, is by and large, more often the rule than the exception. Lest we forget:



Armadou Diallo, the 23 year old immigrant/student from Guinea who was shot and killed on February 4, 1999 after 4 plain-clothed New York City police officers unloaded 41 shots into the unarmed man. ALL of the officers were exonerated.



Patrick Dorismond, a security guard and father of two, who was approached on March 16, 2000 by two undercover New York City police officers. After the officers solicited him to sell them drugs, a scuffle ensued and a single shot was fired, fatally wounding Patrick Dorismond. A grand jury investigated and declined to indict,Officer Vasquez, the shooter.



Timothy Stansbury, killed on January 24, 2004 after he pushed open a rooftop door "startling" a patrolling New York City Police officer. The officer subsequently fired one round, fatally wounding Timothy in the chest. After a month of deliberation a grand jury declined to indict Officer Richard S. Neri Jr., citing the incident as accidental.

And the list could go on forever...

These instances are indicative of the racial biases on which our understandings of the world are formed. They are flare ups of our ignorance. Stagnation to our progress. Indicators of the work we have ahead of us.

Impinged in our American culture is this sense of instinctive racism. This notion of innate criminality and wrong doing associated with our black men and it is killing them. Even in the midst of history, as a black man could very well be the next Commander and Chief, we are still bearing witness to black men being subjugated into this caricature of "the brute"; savage, animalistic, and more importantly deserving of harsh punishment, even death.



The image of Emmett Till comes to mind...

It scares me to even think that we have not come far enough away from the desperate times of Jim Crow. We are not that far removed from an establishment that promoted "Separate BUT [Un]Equal", from a political arena that condoned vigilante justice in the form of lynchings. My father is only 52 and yet he can still tell me stories about the DAY (the actual DAY) he and his fellow classmates were the first black students to integrate a primary school in Cambridge, MD. Amazing...And yet, I still run into young and old alike who are only passionate about cases like Sean Bell for as long as it runs on the front page. So what does it take? What will be the cause celebre for OUR movement? If inspiration is what you seek, I dare you to pick up a book.


Til next time,

Stay Postive, Stay Political, and Stay in the KNOW