African American
Related: About this forumWe're only in the 4th month of the year and we've lost over 300 black lives. Let that sink in.
12 Powerful Responses To People Who Think The Baltimore Protests Are UnnecessaryProtests over the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland gripped the city this week and prompted a series of news reports and social media posts reflecting the unrest that has unfolded.
Gray died on April 19 after sustaining a spinal cord injury from an arrest -- and his death has fueled protests, many peaceful but some violent, in response to the ongoing issues of police brutality and officer killings of black men and women.
Much like the reaction to protests in Ferguson, some naysayers suggest that the police "made a mistake," that police protect themselves in "self defense," that if black men didn't commit "so many" crimes, none of this would happen. These same people deflect the blame for poor police treatment on black communities rather than addressing the underlying systemic issues disproportionally affecting black lives. In so many words, Freddie Gray is responsible for his own death.
Those troubling theories are exactly why the protests are necessary. Demonstrators have raised their voices against those misconceptions through protest, and have reinforced their thoughts online and on TV.
A police officer throws an object at protestors, Monday, April 27, 2015, following the funeral of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Gray died from spinal injuries about a week after he was arrested and transported in a Baltimore Police Department van. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
See More/ Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/baltimore-powerful-posts_n_7181822.html?1430422654&utm_hp_ref=black-voices
There is a tumbler feed at the link. It is a media interview from vice news. Go see what they focused on. The interviewee is understandably pissed. No clue how to bring it here.
****************Sorry, I meant to post this in GD. It's not like you don't know about any of this, you live it.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)There is nothing worse than ambivalence.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)sheshe2
(83,319 posts)Your thread....my computer was not loving loading 500 comments. So I had a hard time posting.
However, you are one of the gentlest sweet souls on DU. Yet, so fierce! I so love you.
Sorry we have been out of touch....a lot of stuff on my end. Hell, I lost people, having a hard time dealing. I am just sad.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)I spent a year literally not talking to anybody when my baby died. Couldn't. I just didn't even want to hear 'are you okay?' No! Of course it's not okay.
Thank you and hang in there. We all have our battles to fight.
sheshe2
(83,319 posts)Never lost a baby. My heart goes out to you on that, so many tears.I will never know that pain.Yes, you told me about it and my heart bleeds for you.
Mine is different, I know. The recent deaths dad BIL, heartbreaking. Two and a half years ago my nephew died on his wedding night from a fall. He was dead when they picked him up on a med flight. They brought him back. It took months in ICU and rehab. He is good, can't remember his wedding night, some brain damage, yet he is good. So beautiful. I could not love him more if he was my own.
Three years, we have dealt with so much. I am tired.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)qwlauren35
(6,108 posts)There are white people. There are many communities. We don't actually need all white Americans on board. Half would do it. A simple majority.
But even among my black friends, there seems to be more outrage at the kids' violence than at Freddie Gray's death.
It was a BUNCH OF KIDS. I'm not going to call them thugs, terrorists, etc. A bunch of high school teenagers gone wild.
Sometimes teenagers are mad at the world and they express it in some jacked up ways. They need to be marched home to their parents and "disciplined" old school. Or lock them up for one night then drop the charges and send them home.
I hope people realize that nothing more than that is appropriate.
sheshe2
(83,319 posts)It is way past time. I wish more people would stand up and say that. Thank you.
We need to account for our accountability.
We need to stand together. As a woman, I so understand. No one loves us or stands for us.
There just are no words. And I don't mean that I can't find the words, I literally mean, the words don't exist.
While I it is not on the same scale, it's Rwanda. It's genocide. It is a systematic, purposeful, massacre. And the words to describe the emotions because of it, just don't exist.