Stop Victimizing and Start Galvanizing

We activists and our cousin victimization addicts are complicit in creating the image of Black men as boogie men... so are we artists (and I'm being far too generous with Chief Keef et. al).  A Black man (or any woman or man) should certainly not become a murder victim for standing up to being disrespected by a punk with a gun like Darren Wilson or a pack of wild bullies led by the likes of Daniel Pantaleo.  Blaming the victim is the first step to rationalizing injustice away.  But how does believing we are victims help us fight?  And more importantly, how we do to prevent the next police murder?  Here are three ideas:

1.  Continue protesting, galvanizing ourselves and gaining allies by powerfully pointing out how the death of these Black men is injustice against all Americans, all people.  Police power being used to enforce submission of the people is dangerous enough.  Police power being used as an expression of fear against the citizens police are charged to protect is horrifying.  Continue to expose the essential contradiction:  people trained in combat, clothed in combat gear, armed with weapons of submission (tasers, clubs, and cuffs) and lethal force (guns), with a posse at their beacon call, a badge and shield, people paid to do the dangerous job of "protect and serve", those people using fear as a justification for killing an unarmed citizen is a complete perversion of the notion of society and civilization.  And Black people are yet again canaries in the coal mine.  Beware: The funny (and not at all) #Crimingwhilewhite will be a distant memory if white allies let this stand unchallenged.

2.  Challenge the other essential contradiction of a justice system that allows D.A.'s and prosecutors, trained to destroy reputations by any means, who work closely with police every day of their jobs, who depend on cops to do their jobs well, whose career advancement depends on a close relationship with cops... any justice system that allows these people to set foot near a grand jury charged with disciplining a cop is a complete and utter foolishness.  Prosecutors who lead the Grand Jury process should be pulled from a pool of defense attorneys, judges, and others completely uncolored by the thin blue line.  Here is a very clear demand with a potential victory that could have some impact on whether cops feel impunity with regard to killing people.  Don't take my word.  Listen to retired NYPD cop Noel Leader in this Essence article.

3.  Control what we can control, which is the narrative we tell ourselves about ourselves and thus generate for the general populace.  We can stop playing in to white supremacy with victimization narrative or rage without discipline, without organization.  We can support and nourish the newly politicized young people with some historical perspective on the current state of things.  Systems thinking folks...  First step?  Read this The Root article:  "More Black Men in Jail Than in College?  Why It's Not True."