This post has been brewing for awhile now. This is for all of the white privilege denialist's who cannot come to terms with the social shame of privilege and with those who need proof of inequality beyond statistics. I will go against my better judgement and post my youthful indiscretions for the world to learn from.
Good or Bad
The truth shall set me free.
or
Get me placed on a government list.
In today's America, if you aren't on some government list then you should be ashamed of yourself.
"The Tourette Incident"
About 10 years ago I was drunkenly apartment shopping in the area of Armor & Gillham in Midtown KCMO. As I walked alongside my child's mother, an unmarked crown vic rolled by. Considering my history of being choked while handcuffed behind my back by cops of the very same precinct - I threw up two middle fingers high and proud at the cop car. My Child's Mother (We will call her Coco - as to not divulge her real name ) grabbed my arms down as fast as she could. I boldly threw them back up. Double middle fingers in the air at the cop car. The Car tires SCREECHED as the car spun a U-turn in the middle of the street. The car drove up on the sidewalk and the cop ran out and put his the tip of his nose to my cheek. I could taste his breathe in my mouth. He said "Is there something you wanna tell me fella?"
Now, faced with the prospect of waking up in jail without teeth didn't appeal to me. I suddenly realized exactly what environment I created. Perhaps one could call it survival instinct or perhaps my improv experience as a thespian that dictated my response to him.
I started twitching & ticking while stuttering "I'm s-s-sorry s-s-sir I h-have t-tourettes (tick) (tick).
He stepped back and looked at his fellow officer then looked at my partner Coco who was crying by this time. Then the officer said "You may want to be careful about who you do that to because you might encounter someone who isn't so understanding"
WOW, It WORKED??!!
They got in their car and drove off.
I thought I was just so awesome.
I used to tell this story as a funny story at parties. Then once , I told the very same story at a poetry reading and I heard someone in the audience say "that would have never happened if you were black"
WOW, so very very true.
I can only imagine how those white cops would have approached me had I been a person of color and how differently the outcome would have been. Perhaps I was so used to my privilege that it made me feel I could react that way to seeing a cop car. I learned a few lessons in all of this.
1. cops don't like the middle finger.
2. how they react is not equal.
I'm not going to try & ad all of the times that I didn't get pulled over for a DWB (Driving While Black)
I don't need to quantify my privilege with some algebraic equation. I saw my privilege in the fact I still chew will all my original teeth.
The deaths of Mike Brown & Eric Garner are just two drops in an an ocean of Broken Families left by the strong arm of our growing police state. I keep hearing white people rationalize that because white people are also getting killed by police that means its a police brutality problem and not a race problem.
It's BOTH a race problem and a police problem. If black men are 21 times for likely to be killed by a cop than a white person is, there is most surely a race problem. The fact that there are so many police killing people, killing family pets & killing our freedoms means that the police are becoming a domestic threat to the quality of life in America.
Since 911 cops have killed more citizens than war.
The police state has turned the American Dream Into a Nightmare.
Has the American Dream ever even applied to all Americans?
Definitely Not Equally For Non Whites!
Definitely Not It's Native Population...
I hear people say "not all cops are bad". Ok, fair enough perhaps not.
However, as long as "good cops" remain silent while they enable the bad cops behavior- then there are no good cops.
If police ever want the trust of the citizens there will need to be a change in the mindset that creates the us V.S. them mentality.
Cop gets immediately fired for choking a white person
Not even charged for killing a black man
Cops deal with 10% of the population 90% of the time. There needs to be a way to show the police that we are not all criminals.I know now that the middle finger might not the best way. So what will change things? Our government is bought and payed for by the lobbies. The citizens have no lobby, therefor we have no government in place that meets the needs of its citizenry. All That remains are elected stooges that act as a scapegoat for the bureaucracy of which we are all complicit.
I challenge you to take to the streets.
Voice your opinion everywhere.
Block Traffic, Block Sidewalks
Boycott oppressive corporations.
Because Boycotting Black Friday Worked.
If we cant defend ourselves from tyranny then let us hit tyranny in the wallet.
If this trend doesn't change soon, the protests will turn into an uprising, which could possibly be approaching a new civil war much sooner than we think.
The police are obviously ready & lusting for it.
The police are obviously ready & lusting for it.
LET'S UNITE.
YOU CANNOT SPELL COMMUNITY WITHOUT UNITY...
I'll see you in the streets...
Solemnly,
Professor Nightlife Jones
KC Poet Tree
