Today we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr... His actual birthday was January 15th but the holiday which calls for us to service the community is today, 3rd Monday in January.. Hopefully many of us take time to reflect on King and think about ways to better our community…
As we think about MLK, let’s also reflect on the inspiring and magnificent homecoming that was held for Amiri Baraka.. The words spoken about him and his accomplishments from everyone from Sonia Sanchez to Jessica Care Moore to Cornel West to Danny Glover to Sister Souljah to his son Ras Baraka to name a few underscored the importance of forward thinking and community upliftment.
As we reflect on the life and legacy of both King and Baraka, let’s think about this poor mother in East Oakland who lost her 13-year-old son Lee Weathersby. He was walking home from the boys and girls club at 9pm on New Years Eve when he was gunned down in what many were speculating as a case of mistaken identity..
The heartbroken family had just buried Lee and was still trying to make sense of his killing when Sunday night her other son 19-year-old Lamar Broussard was gunned down as he sat in his car. This took place in the middle of the day at 2pm..Also killed was the passenger in the car.. U can read about that here —> http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/oakland-family-loses-second-son-space-weeks/nctdC/
Earlier this week a 24-year-old brother named Brandon Clemens was killed as he walked home with a friend over on 14th Avenue.. He was robbed of his school books.. The mom when shown on TV was understandably beside herself..http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_24924745/man-fatally-shot-east-oakland-robbery
The way these stories get covered in the news is very sterile.. Black death is routine with the faces of crying family members making for good television, but rarely are they treated where the humanity of those killed is upheld and made universal. Such stories are always followed with a meaningless stat of how many were killed this year vs last year at a particular time as if less or more death somehow make things better.
Many of us who live in these communities are left consciously and unconsciously hoping that the victims of these deaths were somehow involved in something shady so we can justify in our minds their killings. It’s hard to own up to the fact that Black life, meaning all our lives in general are seen as meaningless both within and outside the community.. That’s gotta change…
We can no longer fall back on the excuse that it’s the parents not doing their job.. Maybe they are, maybe they arent’.. What difference does that make if its your well raised loved and cared for loved one gunned down by someone who devalues life?
Maybe its the music and things shown on TV..We’ve been noting that for a number of years.. Definitely for the last 20-25, and what we’ve seen is corporate outlets presenting more not less toxic material and throwing obscene amounts of money in the face of those who will create and deliver such goods.
We can get more police to patrol our communities and hope that they care enough to actually solve the crimes versus containing entire populations who spark fear in the majority population because of how these stories are reported..
We need to reflect on King and the bold steps he took with the Civil Rights Movements and Baraka and the bold steps he took with the Black Arts Movement and the 1972 Black Power Convention in Gary, Ind and ask ourselves what BOLD, INNOVATIVE steps can we take individually and collectively starting today to end this continuing heartbreak that is visiting our communities from Oakland to Memphis to Philly to Houston to Chicago to Miami far too often..There are no easy answers, but the least we can do is plant seeds and model the type of loving behavior we’d like to see others emulate.
So in closing all of us should reflect, not just on King, Baraka and all our ancestors but also on the unimaginable pain the families, especially the mothers who just lost precious sons..Lets reflect on ways to heal our community…