Tag: Black Lives Matter

Fear: How Open Carry Can Lead to an Open Season on Black Males

Posted on by Marino A. Bruce

Fear is a powerful emotion that is governing profiling, policing and politics.  This fear has fueled some legislators to pass open carry laws that allow individuals to carry firearms in hallowed places such as faith and educational institutions. Second amendment proponents proclaims loudly that individuals have the right to protect themselves. However, these same individuals are eerily quiet when black male citizens are gunned down by individuals who are supposedly trained to “protect and serve”. What can Black males do to be protect themselves when the agents of public safety represent credible threats to their ability to remain among the living?

The events over the past 48 hours have ripped off the scab covering the deep wound resulting from the tumultous relationshp between marginalized males and the police. Too many funerals have been and continue to be planned for African American males whose last moments on this earth were spent absorbing bullets from gun barrels pointed at them by police officers supposedly engaged in routine traffic stops and street interactions.  Police shootings often associated with Chicago and Baltimore are now springing up in cities like Baton Rouge and Minneapolis. When does it end? How will it end? As someone born during the late 1960s, I never was able to grasp the fear of law enforcement expressed by older family members coming of age in the South during the Jim Crow era. I now get it. As I reflect on the events surrounding Eric Garner, LaQuan McDonald, Tamir Rice, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling and Phlando Castile, I recall the haunting   lyrics of the Billie Holiday classic “Strange Fruit” that bear witness and protest the lynching of Black Males. The lyrics of today are captured video footage bearing witness to horrors of policing by fear.

President Obama reponds to the deaths of Mr. Sterling and Castile by challenging us to “do better”. In my mind, doing better requires us to do the hard work of holding public servants at all levels accountable. Protests are important and necessary; however, demonstrations must not be limited to crowds and megaphones. They need to evolve and involve coalition-building and community organizing. Indivduals of conscience and goodwill need to come together to demonstrate that we are a nation in which we are our brothers and sisters keepers. When this occurs, we will have a collective strength and power to face our fears, and do what is necessary to ensure that all lives matter.

Answering the Bell

Posted on by Marino A. Bruce

A few weeks ago, Mr. Wesley Bell was declared the winner of a local city council election. In most cases, local elections do not warrant national press; however, this city was ground zero for protest against police brutality for the past year. Ferguson, Missouri has been scrutinized and criticized for it lack of diversity in position of power and thinly veiled oppressive practices that filled municipal coffers with revenues raised by exploitive police practices. Mr. Bell has worked to be part of the solution as he was a calming force in the streets and decided to lead by example. In short, he answered the bell by serving the community and then running to lead it through public service. The leadership in Ferguson has a different hue and there is a ray of hope for a new day. Michael Brown did not die in vain. The events surrounding the tragic and premature end to his life rang a bell much like Dap Dunlap in School Daze telling America in general and Black America in particular to wake up.

Since then we have witnessed a number of tragic deaths of black males. The age of the victims ranged from early adolescents (Tamir Rice) to middle age (Wesley Scott); however the offender was the same, a police officer. The offenses bringing police officers to the scene were minor but the consequences were heartbreakingly monumental as gunshots from those who pledged to protect and serve the public ended lives of those were not threats to themselves or others. The victims of these police shootings were imperfect as we all are; however, death was not an appropriate response to a traffic stop or a tense interaction. We have yet to learn the lessons from Ferguson, Cleveland, New York, and Charleston because Baltimore is now on fire. Bells are ringing loudly for those of sound minds and sincere sensibilities to step forward to be our brothers and sisters keepers. It is an assumption of social scientists that human beings are social beings; therefore, we need others to help us grow, learn, and love so that a society of imperfect people can strive towards a more perfect union that is indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

John Donne penned a meditation that was reshaped into a poem that is hauntingly appropriate for this day and age.

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend’s were.

Each man’s death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

The Importance of Women’s History Month for Minority Males

Posted on by Marino A. Bruce

Women’s History Month as a commemoration has only been recognized less than 30 years. Recognition of the importance of women in American history is long overdue. Women have been active in every significant episode in the evolution of the United States. The fight for civil rights during the later half of the 20th century would have had radically different outcomes without the contribution and leadership of women. Our mothers, sisters and daughters do not get the credit or consideration they deserve for enduring and overcoming assaults associated with sexism, racism, and poverty. Women have been and continue to be critical for the development of men. However, the shrinking number of adult males in communities brought about by school-to-prison pipelines and persistent high levels of violence associated with a drug-fueled underground economy have forced a significant segment of women to take on multiple roles in their homes and community. Women continue to hold it together but this comes at a cost. The focus on survival leaves little time and resources for the pursuit of upward mobility. As a result, families remain trapped in environments where discouragement, despair, and danger destroy hopes and dreams of better days.

A change will come when minority boys are groomed into men who cherish gifts of love they have been given by their mothers, aunts, sisters, girlfriends, friend-girls, and wives. It is a rare male who has not experienced the support and love of a woman. However, it is far to common for males to be unavailable to provide support and encouragement for those who sacrifice so much for us. We need to be present because the survival of our community and culture rests upon strong relationships between males and females. So as this women’s history month comes to a close, let us celebrate those who brought us in this world and continue to fight desperately for us to stay in it. We are our brothers AND sisters keeper and it is time for us to be full participants in the making of a new history where men, women, boys and girls are affirmed and allowed to pursue their personhood without undue, unfair, or unjust burden or barriers.

The Paradox and Challenge of Our Time

Posted on by Marino A. Bruce

Every generation in the United States has moments when the state of race relations becomes painfully obvious to everyone. In the middle 20th century, it was Emmitt Till. In the late 20th century, it was Amadou Diallo. Last year it was Trayvon Martin. This year, it has been Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice. The tragedies associated with the demise of Mr. Brown, Mr. Garner, and Master Rice are exacerbated by the fact that they were killed by individuals who took oaths to protect and serve the public. In two cases, grand juries made decisions that harkened back to the Jim Crow era when Caucasian males could kill their African American counterparts without worry of arrest much less prosecution or conviction. The hopes of a post-racial society that were ushered in with the election of the nation’s first African American president have been brutally dashed as the events over the past few weeks force us to inhale the vile stench of racial injustice and inequality that has been festering throughout the history of this country.

Prophetic visionaries throughout our existence as a nation have challenged citizens to clean and dress deep wounds caused by practices such as slavery or policies based on a “separate but equal” doctrine. Unfortunately, we have responded to these calls for action with benign neglect. As a result, our collective capacity for greatness has eroded because some of our best and brightest lights have been extinguished by social policies and practices that prosecute too much and provide too little care.

In times like these, it is tempting to give in to the cynicism, apathy and nihilism that appear to be ever-present. However, times of great challenge are also times of great opportunity. The events in Ferguson, New York, and Cleveland have motivated individuals from all walks of life to protest, march, and chant, “Black lives Matter”. The sparks of activism and advocacy have flared up and only time will tell if these sparks will coalesce into a multicultural movement for justice. It is my hope that posts on this forum will contribute to this movement is some small way through ideas that illuminate, encourage, and challenge us to see the humanity in mankind with greater clarity and to seek solutions to our social ills with fervor.

It is important to understand that social transformation does not come without sacrifice. Some people will have to give up time. Others will have to sacrifice money. Still others will have to give up a way of life that may have existed for generations. This is the price of social change. African Americans who preceded us have paid the price for racial minorities and women to have the lives we have today. The torch has been passed to us and we have a great opportunity to challenge this country to live up to its creed and create space for all children regardless of social background and/or social standing to grow up to be whole, healthy, and productive citizens. The question is, are we willing to do the work?