This piece features my outlook on how the Black community has been treated after recents mass shootings and hate crimes.
I am triggered.
Police brutality constantly finds its way into the lives of the unexpecting Black community. The same community that built the cities and towns we now inhabit. The same community that built the nation as a whole. The same community being oppressed by, and ultimately killed, out of fear. The same fear that led to the capturing and enslavement of my people 400+ years ago. The same fear that led to segregation of my people close to 160 years ago. This perpetual fear is not new. This fear has festered, becoming more of a force than a fear.
I am triggered.
The Black community has to suffer at the hands, even the knees, of the fear driven, “protect and serve” law enforcers due to their lack of motivation to understand the same people who put them in the positions they are in. Politicians and elected officials always demand the Black vote, but what about the livelihood of the, actual, Black voter? The livelihood of the Black man? The Black woman?
“I am triggered.”
What scares me is that the face of racism and bigotry is unrecognizable. The racially inept wear a mask that conceals ignorance and allows for opportunity. Even though the fear is hidden, in the right circumstances, the mask comes off, and we see people for their true selves. Like Derek Chauvin. George Floyd’s murderer.
I am triggered.
My people are dying at the hands of white police officers. White bystanders. White, fearful, people. It is only a matter of time before there’s a “Karen” or a “Ken” calling the police on me for sitting in my own car, for living in my own apartment, for exercising, for even breathing. This is no longer just a few “bad apples.”
I am triggered.
Now, this is personal. This is a perpetual cycle of systemic fear and racism that trickles down from the highest power offices to the countryside of the dirty south. I am tired of my people being affected by the irrational behaviors and policies put in place by white people for white people. Why are they so fearful of us? How can you achieve equality if every act is motivated by racial fear or what color I am? Every chance the Black community touches a sliver of hope it is quickly snatched by the white law enforcers and white politicians who have no idea of what it is like to Black in a country where it is almost a crime to be a certain color.
I am triggered.
My newfound anger towards those who seem to abide by the new Jim Crow and whitewashed laws will breed a new voice for not only the city of Fayetteville but for the Black community as a whole. The new age Fred Hamptons, Malcom Xs, and Stokely Carmichaels of our time are sparking something greater than previous movements of our predecessors. I write this article with them in mind. I write this article to spark change. Change for my community, my people. My people are dying, and I am triggered!
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