Seeing the exhibits and watching the videos nearly brought me to tears. Also knowing inside that not very much has changed in this country for Black Americans yet we persevere.
Tarabu Betserai Kirkland at home in Los Angeles with his mother, Mamie Lang Kirkland, 109, who fled Mississippi at age seven. 2017. (Photo: Kris Graves for the Equal Justice Initiative)
My Grandfather William Junius Palmer with some of his children at Mt. Morris Park aka Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem. Photo taken in the 1920s. My Grandfather left Virginia as a young man. He was part of what is known as The Great Migration. Lynchings were the major catalyst to caused Black Americans to be refugees in their own country. My Dad told me that my Grandfather never discussed his youth or his past.
My Grandfather’s Silence speaks volumes to me over the years.
Most of you who have been following me for some time know that I discuss race relations on my blog. I know this is a sensitive topic and for some strange reason white Americans love to pick fights with me. Fights that they will not win nor will they change my beliefs. This is my truth and I’m not afraid to express it. I do not attempt nor have I ever attempted to curry favor with white people.
This week I will be posting blogs on the subject of race relations in America. Of course I’m sure to offend many people. I don’t care.
From the time I was bused against my will to a white school, put next to a red headed white boy whose greeting to me was Nigger I was raised to stand up for myself. The Talk. The one that Black parents give to their children is more than just how to handle yourself around the police it is how to deal with white folks in general.
Yes I am an extremely blunt, to the point, direct outspoken Black Woman. The kind most white people hate. So this is your chance to UnSubscribe or UnFollow Now. Numbers mean nothing to me. I don’t care how many Subscribers or Followers I have or Don’t Have as the case may be. I’m not here to win popularity contests.
I see so many claims of supposed Light Workers. If you are a true Light Worker you bring the truth along with the Sword. You acknowledge the Darkness and not just Gloss over it with meaningless platitudes and affirmations. Then there are those fake Bible Belt Christians. The ones that voted for the asshole who now illegally occupies the Oval Office. When innocent Black Americans are shot, murdered and tortured they immediately pull their paleface Jesus out of a hat and start telling Blacks that we should forgive and allow ourselves to be Targets. Now they don’t have to modify their behavior or do anything that would upset the status quo and make accountable a system that has a set of rules and regulations for Black & Brown races and unlimited privileges for their race. Crock of shit. Wounds don’t heal unless you expose them to the light and air of truth.
I Close Comments not because I’m afraid of a fight or a battle because as a Black American every day is a battle for me but I refuse to answer or respond to the stupid idiotic insults and meaningless arguments from not only white racists but especially white Liberals. Liberals who cloak their supposed support in carefully couched language but who in their frenzy to prove their biased tales expose themselves to the light of truth then crash and burn.
Like watching and selecting TV shows on the Boob Tube whatever you don’t like or don’t want to read, My advice to you.
Change the Fucking Channel because Shit is About to Get Real!
To My African Sisters and Brothers across the Diaspora. Keep telling your Stories and Never Forget!!
Astonished, Bewildered, Disgusted and with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach were they emotions that unsettled me when I first heard the Not Guilty verdict in the Trayvon Martin case. I could not believe that the Jury had found George Zimmerman Not Guilty. Did these 6 women some of whom must have children, grandchildren or nieces and nephews not see the tears and hear the wails of Trayvon’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. Were they all deaf, dumb and blind?
Surely it was a mistake. I had reserved comment and judgment on the case because I truly believed with all the evidence against him George Zimmerman would be on his way to prison. Not so. Once again in our Criminal Injustice System the dead victim was on trial and he lost. Racial profiling, racial stereotypes, bias, bigotry, prejudice and racism win again and another family is left in sorrow and grief.
Two Lynchings nearly 60 years apart but same outcome. Two innocent young men lost their lives over bias, prejudice, stereotypes, perception, bigotry racism. Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi on August 24, 1955 when he reportedly flirted with a white cashier at a grocery store. Four days later, two white men kidnapped Till, beat him, and shot him in the head. The men were tried for murder, but an all-white, male jury acquitted them. Till’s murder and open casket funeral galvanized the emerging civil rights movement.
When will the insanity end?
Bastille Day. Frances Independence Day when the poor and disenfranchised rose up against the elites and the monarchy. How sad that today also signals no justice for Trayvon Martin or his family. My Heart and Prayers go out to his parents and siblings. The ugly face of Jim Crow once thought vanquished has returned to rear it’s ugly head and laugh in our modern liberal faces.
Some ask what of the Kenneth Chamberlain case as well as Eleanor Bumpers, Amadou Diallo, and Sean Bell. As in the case of Emmett Till there were maybe Black men lynched who names are now lost to history. Maybe the Trayvon Martin case like the case of Emmett was more highlighted because Trayvon and Emmett were children. They never got to live their lives. They never had the opportunity to attend college, get hat first job, get married or have children of their own. Maybe as the Emmett Till case was a lightening rod for the nascent Civil Rights Movement so will the Trayvon Martin case be a reminder not just to Black people but all Americans that someone with no authority or even the right can decide in a moments notice whether you or your loved ones should live or die.
I do not put myself in the position to say one murder is more important or more significant than another. All were human beings. All deserved to live, however this case is a watershed to bring all Americans with good sense together to fight back. The bias and bigotry is so thick and ingrained that the jury could acquit this murderer even with all the evidence against him. This rent-a-cop who was told to stop following the boy. He disobeyed and created an incident that resulted in this boy’s death.
For one moment put yourself in his parents shoes. How do you think they feel. As soon as Zimmerman continued to follow this boy that in and of itself was premeditated murder. Certain people cite the Stand your Ground laws as a precedent. Well Nazi Germany had laws too. Hitler made all types of laws, rules and regulations that resulted in the deaths of 12 million people, Jews, developmentally disabled, physically disabled, gays, etc… President Andrew Jackson made a law that not only displaced thousands of Native Americans on the Trail of Tears but many Native Americans died on their long march. Laws, rules, regulations, statutes made by made by evil men cannot be allowed to stand the test of time or as an excuse to allow murderers like Zimmerman to go free inciting other racist nuts to follow in his wicked footsteps.
Genesis 4 The Mark of Cain After Cain slew his brother Abel, YEHOVAH God set a “mark” on him, and sent him to the land of wandering.
Zimmerman bears the Mark of Cain. He will find no peace or rest on this world or in the next. Trayvon Martin’s innocent blood cries out for Justice. Cain’s mark protected him from vengeance. Zimmerman’s mark dooms him to wander trying to escape the Justice he so richly deserves. If he is not convicted in a Civil Rights case he will be forced into hiding. There is a price on his head. He will never be able to find a job anywhere, he will always have to watch his back & even Edward Snowden has a better chance of amnesty or asylum than George Zimmerman. Yes he may smile and grin now but the life he has created for himself through his evil is not a life anybody would want to live. Soon the Devil will come to collect his soul. Zimmerman is damned for now and eternity. We won’t let Trayvon Martin’s death be in vain.
A Murderer has escaped Justice. Help Get Justice for Trayvon Martin
Tarabu Betserai Kirkland at home in Los Angeles with his mother, Mamie Lang Kirkland, 109, who fled Mississippi at age seven. 2017. (Photo: Kris Graves for the Equal Justice Initiative)
Dindga McCannon (American, born 1947). Revolutionary Sister, 1971. Mixed media construction on wood
Espiritu en Fuego/A Fiery Spirit 