#justiceforduante

[heavenseed76]

Say Their Names, revised

Rodney King took a beating in 1991

Hold on, dear friends, we’ve just begun

1999, Diallo wasn’t the rapist

Took 41 bullets, too bad he was Haitian

Eric Garner in 2014

was just selling cigarettes-

Please, I can’t breathe

Trayvon Martin, just newly 18

Shot 12 times in 2014

Walter Scott was killed in 2015

For a broken tail light, no taser was seen

And Freddie Gray died alone

Pleading for help, injury

Philando Castille was too close to home

Young eyes were watching, he was not alone

So too, Jamar Clark, in handcuffs, by police

Bystanders were filming the entire scene

Don’t forget Anthony, an Air Force vet

He was naked and scared, and we’re not done yet

Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice so many names

Oscar Grant, Fruitvale, on the BART train

Say them out loud, they don’t sound the same

Antwon Rose, Sean Reed and De’von Bailey

People of color murdered daily.

And now George Floyd, the kind, gentle giant

Accused of a crime, albeit non-violent

The police became his judge and his jury,

His executioners were in an awful big hurry

To end the life of a person of color

He was our friend, and our partner, our brother

On Memorial Day, the police decided,

The rule of law does not apply

Tensions ignited

Tear gas was thrown

Businesses looted

Minneapolis, where kindness is rooted

I awoke to the sting of smoke in my eyes

Hoping the powers that be would realize

And the pain of my city

Dear god, what a pity

Make no mistake

We have come no farther

Than Emmett Till, his poor mother

An open casket for Emmett

So we would remember

He was lynched, beaten, thrown in the river

And we wonder if this is something to fix

Something broken, not working, turn a screw, grab a hammer

It goes all the way back to ships filled with

Black sisters and brothers

And trails of tears and Pearl Harbor

On and on and on it goes farther

2020, COVID-19

Come together, they said,

We’ll get through it, we will

We social distanced, quarantined and masked and yet still…

Those people on the other side of your screen, they have no idea,

they cannot see what we see.

It is not his blackness that caused him to die

It was racist, white nationalists with law on their side

What then, dear reader, what should we do?

Murdered and jailed and demonized too

Sing kumbaya while six feet apart?

Hold signs, boycott, make peaceful art?

Yes, dear friends, that’s a very good start,

And if that fails, take it all apart

Like MLK said, riots are the cry

Of an unheard minority, why?

We vote and we care for our city with heart

And yet it is OUR lives torn apart

Unless and until we see a sea change

The unrest will continue, yes we will rage

Because the sight of Emmett was not so scary

We will have our day

By any means necessary

Last night

Not even one year later

Not even one degree more

Daunte Wright

Again

Nearly right outside our front door

—heavenseed April 12, 2021

Duante Wright was murdered when he was pulled over for having an air freshener hanging from his rear view mirror. He was a 20 year old father. OUR BLACK SONS ARE NOT TARGET PRACTICE. My black son shouldn’t have to fear for his life when he gets pulled over. I shouldn’t have to question whether or not I need to rethink allowing my children to get their driver’s licenses because a traffic violation may be a death sentence. This kid went to high school with my son. My family is one degree from George Floyd. The school where Philando Castille worked and the intersection where he was killed is less than 5 miles away. You think it won’t happen to you, or in your town? If Minneapolis isn’t immune, no place is. People of color have been demanding rights and justice. To be heard. To be valued. We haven’t demanded retribution. Consider than. Consider what would happen if we did. One day, there might be a reckoning. That’s not a threat. It’s a promise that if justice it’s delivered, retribution will come. And it will be all ya’ll’s own damned fault. The victim can only take so much before the bully gets a black eye.