By Jon Goode Over killed (Even if we concede the point): I had a chance to speak with Ebony Janice earlier this week. She said I think that we as a people suffer from PTSD Weve seen so much tragedy and evil we can barely process it or speak. People speak of slavery like it was some ancient lands mystical beast But if you look closely at yourself you can still see The marks of the shackles on your own hands, wrists, ankles and feet. And the stench of the oppression served daily that they want us to eat Reeks of hog ears, pig intestines and lungs Dogs, fear and pigs in vests with guns A nation that cares little about the education of our daughters and sons But has interests abroad and invests in guns. And jobs, clothes Gadgets, cars and elevated roles are the dressing thats supposed To make it taste sweet. Theyve got a thousand virgin islands undressing Your sons still working in fields And your daughters twerking in the street. The lesson is oppressions Deceit is in convincing the oppressed its lessened or gotten weak. An older gentleman in the chess park Offered some food for thought That he said maybe I ought not repeat He said, how are African slaves so hurt, huddled and afraid that they dont speak Any different than African Americans that think theyve got it made So enslaved to positions and their comfortable living conditions that they wont speak? So lets speak of Justice and I trust this will not fall on deaf listeners: If Emmett Till did whistle at a white woman, or say something he shouldnt have said Did he deserve to be dragged from his home Shot, wrapped in barbed wire and thrown Into the Tallahatchies river bed? If Oscar Grant had Started a fight on the BART train But once subdued and no longer a threat An officer with his knee on his neck Did he deserve to be shot in the back at point blank range? If Rodney King was drunk and deranged Trying to evade police On an LA interchange Once captured Did he deserve to be beaten and battered in the street? If Tryavon Martin had been suspended for smoking weed Did he deserved to be stalked As he walked home With a phone, tea and candy Then confronted and shot by a lone vigilante? If Eric Garner had been selling fifty cent cigarettes Did he deserve to be choked to death as he begged for breath? If Mike Brown did steal some white owls, swisher sweets, black and milds Did he deserve to be shot in the back as he fled? Then five more to the body the final shot in the head. And what do we say about Sean Bell that was killed with no “and even if he was” or Kathryn Johnston who was killed with no probable cause or Timothy Stansbury that was murdered though he had broken no laws? Jon is not so green as to believe that the fault is in our stars But they want to convince you the fault in fact is ours. That racism is an illusion that were using As an excuse when We point out the true sin Is that its the builders of this nation laborers breach birthed unfortunatley That face incarceration And sit disproportionately behind bars. So I was blessed to speak with Ebony Janice earlier this week. She said I think that we as a people suffer from PTSD. The weve been over killed, it may sound like overkill but its not over still. How do we get off the ground when they stand on our shoulders still? How do we get over Brown when were not even over Till? - Jon Goode Poet.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 10:08:14 +0000
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