I heard him singing. It wasn't his usual, "finger family song," or even his "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed," instead, my three year old son, looking outside our bedroom window was singing Kendrick Lamar's, "Alright."
"We gon' be alright. We gon' be alright."
I'm not sure if it was coincidental that his grandmother and I were discussing the ridiculousness attached to yet another murderous attack on a black life that mattered yet was taken so violently simply because of what? Oh, yeah we forgot, he was simply a black man that just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Many times when we think about deaths of misfortune, particularly one losing his/her life simply being at the "wrong place at the wrong time," we think about freak accidents, stray bullets, or even mother nature's wrath but this situation is quite different.
I'm not the biggest fan of Elijah Muhammad, former leader of the Nation of Islam, and this certainly is not the platform for my explanation of why he is not quite my favorite individual, nonetheless, he made a lot of sense when he said,"The White man did not put anything in the Declaration of Independence for the benefit of the Black man, who was the servitude-slave of the White man at that time." Well hello! Isn't Amerikkka supposed to be the land of the free? Well, it is quite obvious that "free" is applicable to certain groups that are clearly not inclusive of the Black race. You see, I'm sure you know, yes, you, the reader, that the Black man and womban in Amerikkka has been targeted violently and murderously for reasons that the judicial shit-stem claims to be justifiable, yet is rather far fetched by any sort of human rights group that has a basic understanding of the true meaning of "justice." As a response, which is simply innate to human beings, you see, it may sound cliche but every action has a reaction, and of course to add my Caribbean touch, "do fuh do nah obeah," individuals from all over have responded, some verbally, others through writings, some have chosen to organize marches, while others have set communities ablaze, ultimately, whether peaceful or not, we appear to be at square one; left with yet another murdered innocent black life with little answers revealing any sort of justifiable reasoning.
The question now is: What to do?
I do not have the answer and I feel possibly as lost as my ancestors who consistently faced brutality through slavery in the British West Indian sugar cane plantations but what I do know is I refuse to become desensitized. Desensitization? Well ain't that something? It appears to me that many throughout our "free" North American societies, beLIEve that there are "bigger fish to fry" other than paying close attention to the screams of Black "radical" groups, some claim to be reincarnations of the Black Panthers, searching intensely for a slice of freedom pie. Well here is my message to you; you, the desensitized:
This is not a Pharacyde single and we sure as hell refuse to let "ish" pass us by.
"But Kah'teri, stop making it about race. I believe in the human race."
Alright, to those who have this kumbaya belief that it is all about the "human race":
There are now a number of children that are fatherless and motherless; parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters that have to put their loved ones to rest because of police brutality, that's right, the wrongful death of well, a fellow human being...
"The judicial system is rather fair and was created to remove chaos and restore order in our society."
George Zimmerman is a free man for the death of Trayvon Martin, Alton Sterling was murdered for selling CDs, and some white guy who just happens to be a swimming champion at an Ivy league university, rapes a young woman and receives 6 months in jail, can kindly restate your statement on this term "fair?"
As I mentioned before, I honestly do not have a solution that could put these hate crimes to rest once and for all but what I do know is life is a circle. Our ancestors survived slavery, the fight for independence in the Caribbean, the civil rights movement in the U.S., a lack of social mobility, discrimination and segregation in every way possible, racial profiling, the crack epidemic, gang warfare, you name it, and we are still standing. Isn't it evident, "fighter" and "survivor" is written in our DNA?
Think about it.
I'm stressing -- Life is a circle...my three year son has it down pact.
"We gon' be alright...we gon' be alright..."
That's right, baby (Zion), we gon' be alright.
In the words of Bobby Seale, "Power to the People."