#Ferguson
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown
#JusticeForMikeBrown
If you’ve been stuck in a bunker with no wifi or tv access for the past 3 weeks I’ll explain what happened on August 9th 2014 in the afternoon in Ferguson, Missouri (Allegedly). Mike Brown an 18 year old High School graduate was walking with his friends on his way home when he was told to move off the road by an officer, Darren Wilson. Mike Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson explained that they were 1 minute away from their destination. The pig (or policeman) shot Mike Brown and proceeded to shot at both victims in this situation, they both ran away and then Officer Darren Shmurda shot Mike Brown several times, Mike went to his knees hands raised to show a sign of surrender but was then fatally shot in the head TWICE. According to other “witnesses” Mike Brown and Officer Shmurda (I’m calling him this because what he did is murder and thought he could get away with it in silence) had an altercation before Brown’s body ingested 6 bullets. Did I forget to mention that Mike is black…not just normal black he was big, tall and threatening, oh wait aren’t all black people like that? According to logic and reasoning Officer Shmurda should be in jail right now awaiting trial for this travesty. But no, of course not because we live in a world of injustice, hate, insecurities and blatant racism. Let’s try to break down this situation, and understand it in my point of view. I won’t be surprised if you feel offended or if you disagree but understand this: It’s an opinion I’m entitled to it and if you have thoughts on this I suggest you leave a comment or write a blog about it.
I’m not going to analyse this situation in a legal perspective because I only have 1 semester of Law experience and it was Grade 11. Instead I’ll focus on the social aspect and that is the clear racism and stereotyping we find in this case. Let’s imagine for a second Mike Brown was a white male 18 years old, walking down the street with his white friend. Do you honestly think he would get shot 6 times in a matter of minutes? I’ve never heard of a situation like that EVER. When I first heard this story my mouth was open with complete shock, then I realized this story is from the States and obviously involved a black man. If this isn’t textbook racism, I have no idea what is. He had no criminal record and had no weapon on him, according to any lawyer looking at this case with an objective point of view, this is Murder. No self defence, none of that bullshit mumbo jumbo. When you discriminate someone or stereotype a person based on their race, it is called racism. As I previously mentioned, if Mike Brown was white this story wouldn’t exist. If he was Latino, Asian, Native American this wouldn’t happen, but of course the 6’4, 292 pound black man had to be slain because he is the target, he’s the problem, he’s the criminal, he’s the prime suspect. “To top it all off, no one will care, the Police Chief will cover me up and I’ll be back on the street to arrest, assault and kill more niggers in no time.”-Officer Shmurda (he caught a body bout a week ago #shmoneydance)
Let’s learn a bit more about Mike Brown and Ferguson. According to teachers, he was a “gentle giant” and “never caused trouble”. Friends in his impoverished neighbourhood said he was different, dreaming of owning his own business while others had NBA or NFL aspirations. Ferguson, Missouri is one of the most segregated suburbs in America, with a mostly black population it is very strange how 6 out of 7 city council members are white (the 7th being Latina). This might be an issue with black people not going out to vote or not having better representation in their communities, but that’s for another blog post. This vaguely reminds me of Apartheid in South Africa but it’s not a clear divide it’s more subtle. Everyone sees it but no one addresses it. When the people representing can’t relate, it’s very hard for them to know what needs to be changed. When the children are born in an environment where the only hope is to somehow be talented enough to a basketball player, football player, rapper, singer or a drug dealer, its nothing less than pitiful and change is clearly needed. This is the root of the problem, we are products of our environment. Mike Brown tried to end this cycle by graduating and trying to pursue a college diploma in heating and cooling. His own mother, screaming in tears saying “you know many black men graduate? not many! cause you put em down like this.”
So what’s the solution? Ain’t that the million dollar question. For me and most rational human beings this case needs to go to trial and needs to be a conviction of 1st Degree Murder sentenced 25 to life. The biggest gang isn’t the Hell’s Angels, MS-13, Bloods or Crips, its the whole Police Department. They look after their own, so this is probably not going to happen to Officer Shmurda. According to the Police Chief in Ferguson, he is on unpaid leave and has left the city. I’m assuming they put him in some witness protecting type of program, gave him a fake moustache, a convincing wig, a few tacos and told him to fake a Mexican accent. The FBI is investigating this case and the US Department of Justice, including the Attorney General, Eric Holder (A black man who has experienced racism first hand) are doing their own investigation. I predict this is going to be like a Trayvon Martin situation where it drags on for such a long time that the media forgets about it and in about 3 months he is found not guilty by a jury of his “peers” which will consist of a mostly white jury (even though Ferguson is predominantly black). In the depth of my heart I would love to see Officer Shmurda ring on my door bell with his ugly porn moustache, smile and say he’s the new neighbour, I’ll proceed to punch his face into the mushiest Play-Doh you’ve ever seen then stomp on his nuts like Thor’s hammer destroying any further generations of racist assholes. I pray that justice is served and that we can learn from this.
I frequently listen to Podcasts and one that truly gripped me was a recent episode of “Brilliant Idiots” where Combat Jack proclaimed “All We Got Is Us”. He expanded on this slogan by saying black people need to work on our own community before we blame others and the same way Jewish, Asian, Latin people look out of each other, we should do the same. All We Got Is Us should be shouted on the rooftops, we need to understand that if we have positive role models that go beyond entertainment and sports, positive community events and an overall shift of perspectives, Pigs like Officer Shmurda wouldn’t be dancing their way to freedom after killing our future generations. I recently graduated high school, I’m going to be sitting in a Lecture room in a about 2 weeks from now, I could have been a Mike Brown. Despite the perception that this couldn’t happen in Canada, better yet Ottawa, Ontario the nations capital is ludicrous. I’ve had situations where officers question me, I’ve had bad experiences with police men, I’ve felt profiled and I’m not a dangerous person by societies standards. So this is a bigger issue to handle in just one blog post, but at least it starts a conversation. If you’re any other race, you can understand a small amount of what blacks experience so I suggest you ask, listen and try to offer support. To my fellow black brothers and sisters, remember that All We Got Is Us. We can’t just address the problem, let’s fix it internally then walk together to a brighter future. A.S.A.P.
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