By Chida Darby – Managing Editor
Imagine looking at your brown skinned son as a baby, and realizing that what God created in him will one day soon, be a threat. His ability to stand tall, his masculinity, his darkened skin, his understanding of the blood that runs through his veins, his potential contribution to society and his ability to continue a race of people will all be a threat and attempted to be eradicated – courtesy of the police.
Some may consider the thought of intentional eradication far-fetched, others may say it’s a coincidence, but a report entitled Operation Ghetto Storm – conducted by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, released in 2012 states a Black man is killed by law enforcement every 28 hours and that the figures could actually be much higher.
On Saturday, August 9th, 18 year old Michael Brown was gunned down by a police officer, citing that Brown attacked the officer in his car and tried to take his gun. On Tuesday, August 12th, Ezell Ford, a 24 year old Black man was shot three times in the back by an officer while lying on the ground and complying. Just a few weeks ago, Eric Garner, unarmed and nonresistant was killed by a police officer by an illegal choke hold. He was 43 years old and a father of six. The killing of Black men is becoming as common as breathing air these days, with no viable reasons being produced. They’re usually unarmed, and still considered dangerous.
In the Operation Ghetto Storm report of the extrajudicial killings of 313 Blacks in 2012, we find that 124 (40%) were between the ages of 22 and 31 years old, 57 (185) were between 18 and 21 years old, 54 (17%) were between 32 and 41 years old, 32 (10%) were 42 to 51 years old, 25 (8%) were children younger than 18 years old, 18 (6%) were older than 52, and 3 (1%) were of unknown ages. These figures were calculated between the months of January and July.
Daniel Johnson, a small business owner in San Diego says “The news of these deaths is a reminder that we are in a state of emergency and there is a war against young African American males throughout the nation. We are mandated to begin to strategize in a war type manner to protect our families and communities. Reach out and link up with your fellowships and your brotherhoods and band together to protect one another.” Since the news broke of the apparent homicides, vigils have sprung up all over the country in solidarity against the behavior of the police.
Kahalifa King, founder and CEO of Harmonious Solutions says the police brutality brings back memories all too well. “In the 60s and 70s when we were young men coming up, the police would grab us and handcuff us. There were places that they would take us, like to the lumber yard off of Commercial,” he recalls. If you weren’t taken away in seclusion, you were simply “beaten down” where you were. “I’m one of those that got handcuffed and beat down right off of Market Street around the corner from Chollas Elementary School,” King said. He went on to share that it reminds him of times when they were accused of things by the police, but the police’s word was taken over theirs. “When I reported that I had got beaten by the police I was told to take my Black ass out of there for filing a false police report. Where do you have any faith in the so called ‘Protect and Serve’?” King says all these incidents of police brutality are done at the hands of “legal” gangs in badges and guns. “The first time I went to jail, a rookie planted a barbiturate in my pocket.” King had already been searched and released, but at the insistence of the rookie cop, he was searched again, and mysteriously the substance appeared in his pocket, all in front of his wife and young son. King was only 19.
The recurring question that some continue to ask is when are we going to to stand in solidarity against those in our community doing the killings, as well as against the police? Charles Alexander of I am My Brother’s Keeper shared “It’s important for other ethnicities to see that we don’t only protest when the police are killing us, but when we are killing each other. It sends a strong message. We truly need to come together and fight the killings on both fronts.”
Statistics show that approximately 7,000 Blacks are murdered each year and 94% of those homicides are at the hands of other Blacks. While the issue of police brutality is on the forefront of our minds, we need to discuss more, collectively, how we will preserve our community from the inside out, as well as the outside in.
