urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:stilllove It's Okay To Show Yourself Some Love Lucille 2008-04-25T14:00:01Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:stilllove:244856 2008-04-25T13:31:18Z 2008-04-25T14:00:01Z A lot of times, as some of you know and some you don't, you probably just think I'm nuts, I write from an emotional place and I don't necessarily concern myself with whether or not I am including all the issues that are going on in my heart about a given issue. <br /><br />I do not believe that there is a conspiracy to kill black men. What I believe is that there is a lot of residual FEAR of Black men. I believe that there is malicious intent towards Black men that is rooted in this FEAR. This FEAR that other people have of Black men places Black men in danger. This FEAR that police officers have of Black men make them really quick to draw and fire.<br /><br />Police officers who carry guns and are tasked with protecting the citizens of a given community, including the Black men do not get to shoot them just because they are more AFRAID of them than anyone else. When they make that kind of mistake, a NOT GUILTY verdict is not appropriate. They need to be held accountable for making an error that takes a person's life and forever transforms the lives of those who know and love that man and forever transforms the lives of those who get to see yet another injustice being perpetrated by the system. <br /><br />How are we supposed to trust these motherfuckers? How are we supposed to view them as anything other than a threat when they come into our communities and kill our men with impunity. The verdict is unacceptable. I'm not saying they should have gotten chair, but they should pay for their crime.<br /><br />This is what I was trying to express when I was talking about the incident that happened to the Black police officer here in Mount Vernon. In that situation, the officers who shot him were not even indicted even though I clearly recall that people at the scene (prior to anyone knowing he was a police officer) were saying it was an injustice that this man was shot. <br /><br />Once again, when people don't riot in the streets about this, America needs to thank Reverend Al Sharpton. That's right, the one everybody scorns. I always say he's the difference between NY and CA.