Happy Friday, Y’all!
I’m doing it because I like to do it … T.G.I.F.!!
More people shot … African American men … shot dead … by police officers!! Yes, yes …. I know … African American youth are killing each other, too! Just don’t get it twisted … trying to relate the two … because they are two socially different phenomena!! The killing of unarmed (and armed) African American males by police officers should NOT be justified because African American youth in “the Hoods” all across America are … killing each other. Like I said … don’t get it twisted ’cause I’ll help you straighten it out!! Both need to be terminated as acceptable social behavior in America. There are a lot of other factors coming into play … causing youth to want power and fame as children and even talk like they are more experienced “at life” than you or me!!!
Often, I look at some of other people’s Facebook posts as well as others responses to these post. I see these comments like: “Cops don’t go after law abiding citizens!” … as if to say that … everyone who got shot by the police … got shot … and/or because they were NOT law abiding citizens. Come on, that’s the same logic employed by those who say and believe that the “brothers” who kneel while the crowds in the stands are standing and listening to “The Star Spangled Banner” are disrespecting fire fighters and police officers … and whomever else you want to throw in there!! Brothers go through this type of stuff so often, it is ridiculous! We go through it not once ,,… not twice … but every darn time somebody wants to prove a point and appear “powerful and important”! While in some cases “the shooters” are filled with fear of blacks in the first place OR they are people who feel “small” when compared to or around African Americans. So, here’s the chance to feel powerful and important!! “Shoot a N@gg@r!”
I have been looking for apartments and rooms in houses to rent. I found one on Craig’s List in a section of Ft. Lauderdale called “Victoria Park”. I’ve only ridden through the main part of “The Park” with lots of cool houses and some “Key West” – style complexes and units. The efficiency was like a spacious hotel room, no stove, but a two burner hot plate and a micro wave … a refrigerator, a bathroom and a desk, closet, table and chair as well as a queen-sized bed. I had sent e-mail to “Marcus” after he replied to my e-mail inquiry about the unit. We exchanged numbers, he never asked me how long I was at my job during these conversations by phone, e-mail and texts! When we finally talked to arrange the viewing of the apartment Wednesday morning before I had to be at work at 11am, (I decided to meet him at 10am), we joked about the number “13” and how it was lucky for both of us, since it’s the day in July that I was born on and purportedly the number “13” was in the street number of some of his properties! This guy was a trip … very friendly … until he met me in person. Maybe he thought I was white … maybe even gay … over the phone! When I got there, he never even offered me an application and I told him I had the fee of $40.00 as well as a deposit to hold the unit! Again, he refused and said he needed to talk with his “business partner”, since I had only been on working on my new job for two months!!! “Marcus” acted like this was a major problem even when I showed him my pay stubs from my previous job and two from the new one. I even told him I was beginning to get money each month for early retirement!!! He danced around that one, too!!! Why do you think he was nice by phone … and so “formal” and cold in person .. heh?!? He sent me a text Thursday morning reiterating the reason for refusing to rent the efficiency to me was that I hadn’t been on my new job for more than two months. Us “brothers” deal with this type of double standard from time to time … just because people feel like putting us through it … and get away with it! Now, in one shooting incident of a black male by a police officer, attorney Crump has to prove that the window of his car was closed and that he COULD not be reaching for any object inside the car … as blood dripped down nearly the entire car window at the crime scene!
“Not once, not twice, not three times (thrice) but four or five … six or seven!” It is not easy out here being a brother sometimes! I appreciate the times when people trust me and give me the same opportunities as any other human being! It is only fair …
Peace,
Educational Excellence 