#BLACKLIVESMATTER

As I write this post my heart is heavy. I have been feeling a mixture of hurt and rage for the past few hours and I'm still unsure when I will remember to feel anything else. This post may fluctuate in tone as I write it, please bear with me. Also, the videos in this post are quite graphic so view with caution.

As I'm sure you have all heard and seen by now, Alton Sterling was executed by police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on the 5th of July 2016. As we (the public) were trying to decipher the details surrounding the event and processing the reckless way in which his life was taken, news of Philando Castile's murder in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, again, by a trigger happy police officer on the 6th of July 2016, began to spread. Philando, who was pulled over for a broken tail light, was shot in front of his girlfriend and 4 year old daughter.

Rest in peace Philando Castile & Alton Sterling

In all of this, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) who typically would have been all over this case due to the unlawful shooting of a man who is licensed to carry a firearm, are nowhere to be found. Why you ask? Well it's pretty obvious, Philando Castile is black and "gun ownership is largely built on white identity".

I usually steer clear of social media when world events happen because I find the trolls and ignoramuses very draining but today I needed the comfort of knowing that I wasn't alone in my grief. I can't tell you what it was about Alton Sterling's murder that hit me more than the countless others but whatever it was cut deeper than any event before. Although the video is graphic, I am not new to blood and death and therefore not as affected by those aspects as your average Joe might be.

What did affect me could be the fact that as soon as I saw the police in that video clip I knew Alton was going to die. Or the fact that they treated him so aggressively before the shooting. Or maybe it was the ease with which the police officers removed their guns from their holsters and placed them directly on Alton's chest. Or the fact that poor Alton who was pressed down by the weight of two police officers was expected to lay completely still after just having the wind knocked out of him. Or it could have been that as a black woman I know that Alton was fully aware of what a perilous situation he was in and therefore probably only shifted slightly because it was absolutely necessary to free up his airway. Or the fact that the officers who had the guns held at point blank range on Alton's chest felt that one bullet through a vital organ in his chest cavity wasn't enough and therefore felt the need to fire 5-6 shots in order to 'feel safe'. 

That's definitely it. The fact that, for the first time, I realised that these officers are actually SCARED. They see a black man and feel FEAR, so much so that they shoot first. They are not scared of other white people, which is why they have the patience and diligence to talk down a white person brandishing a weapon, but when faced with a black person armed or unarmed, these police officers who have gone through rigorous training (an assumption on my part) become cowards and shoot. I wasn't prepared for that. I wasn't prepared to SEE that. That's when I got mad.

How DARE you be a coward and swear to protect others? How DARE you not just piss your pants like other scared people and instead, handle a weapon? How DARE you use your fear as an excuse to kill another human? How DARE you kill someone in cold blood and make excuses? How DARE you be rewarded with freedom by the judicial system for your cowardice? How bloody DARE you?!

So here I sit, trying to understand why after so many years it seems we haven't made enough progress to protect our lives, when a video of police brutality against black youths in the UK begins to circulate on Twitter. The responses added to my rage. Many white British people said things along the lines of "Nobody died though" and "British police aren't racist like the Americans". And herein lies the problem. That false sense of security that people keep using to excuse injustice against black people. Why must we (black people) DIE before you recognise that our lives, our very existence is being treated with so much disregard! Why do you feel that a black boy held down by 4 police officers and being repeatedly kneed in the stomach is ok as long as he isn't shot?

These are the questions I posed to one such tweeter:

White British Man: Did they murder him in front of his daughter? No. (in justification to the video in question)

Me: You need to see death before you recognise racism? You're part of the problem.

WBM: Hey, did I say it was ok? No it's disgusting, but none of those officers behaved like the American officers

Me: Do you see any respect for these men's wellbeing in that video? Making excuses is part of the problem. As a black person let me tell you that the only difference in the way we are treated by the police is the presence of guns.

(Fast forward a few tweets)

WBM: Hmmm, you're right but I still don't think the British police are as bad as the Americans, it's not really a thing here.

Me: If you don't think it's a 'thing', we (UK) are very good at disguising it. It's defo a 'thing' in my (Black British) community.

WBM: I've never seen it.

Do you see the problem here? I, a black woman, is telling a white man that these videos of the conduct of police officers in the US is only one step removed from the conduct of police officers in England and a white man who has no experience on the matter at hand is telling me British police are better? How? Based on his white privileged experiences. Does that even make sense? Why is it so hard for some white people to understand that if everybody was being treated the way black people are, then racism wouldn't exist and that since it does, white people can never be victims of it and therefore cannot compare their personal experiences to that of a black person?

Let me enlighten you real quick:

*   The ONLY reason America APPEARS worse than England is because most police officers in England don't carry guns, this is about to change.

*   Being 'better' than the US is not enough, this is not a competition of who can treat black people worse. Racism is racism.

*   The ATTITUDE towards black people is the same and maybe even worse! In the US, African Americans are seen as 'less-than' but they are a part of America; in England black people are ALL seen as immigrants (regardless of nationality) and therefore not only are black people seen as 'less-than' but they are also expected to "f**k off and go back to your country" making their rights in England even more fragile e.g. British citizens who are convicted of a crime are being stripped of their nationality and being deported to the countries their parents originated from (which they themselves may have never visited in their lives) after paying their debt to society in prison. Why? You're black so you're never really British.

*   Despite the fact that most British police officers do not carry guns, there is an astounding number of deaths in police custody.

*   Black British communities are just as fearful of the police as African American communities. 

*   In my personal experience, police officers in England are very systematic about removing mobile phones from situations where things might get ugly.

*   White people who are not exposed to this environment are blissfully unaware of the conduct of police officers. 

*   Just because most white people haven't experienced police brutality does not negate its existence. Such is the nature of systematic racism, it doesn't affect white people.

*   When black people are telling you what they face every day, LISTEN!

*   There is nothing worse than people who pretend they don't know racism exists.

*   If you are making excuses for any act labelled racist by a victim of racism, YOU are part of the problem.

*   If you are justifying the murders of black people at the hands of the police, YOU too do not value black lives making you a racist.

*   If you don't understand why a police officer killing a black person is not equivalent to/justified by black on black crime then YOU too are part of the problem. 

*   The information about the treatment of black people in England at the hands of the police doesn't get on the national news until there's a riot e.g. 2011 London Riots.

*   The numbers of deaths at the hands of police officers may be less in England but there are also fewer black people in England (3.5%) than there are in the US (12.6%).

*   Although the deaths of black people at the hands of police officers in America has only recently gained worldwide attention, they have been happening for many, many years.

I am so sick and tired of seeing all these excuses made for police officers who endanger black people! If protecting themselves is more important to them than protecting the communities they serve then being a police officer is the wrong career path for them. If you agree that #BlackLivesMatter then you should be against the actions of murderous and racist police officers. Period.

I do pray that I see a change but if truth be told, I feel helpless. I'm tired of being tired. I'm  tired of black people being reduced to a hashtag. I'm tired of statements made by the likes of Malcom X and Mohammed Ali in the 1950's still being relevant today. I'm tired of the statistics indicating that black people are dying at the same rate in 2016 as they were when slavery was legal. I'm tired of having a target on my back because of my skin colour. I'm tired of people that look like me being killed for no reason. I'm just so tired...

#BLACKLIVESMATTER!!!     #STOPKILLINGUS!!!     #WESHOULDNTHAVETOBEG!!!

Beyoncé displayed the names of victims of police brutality
at her concert in Glasgow, Scotland

A Great Response to Racist Starkey

My last post was fuelled with anger but this one is filled with pride! Nabil Abdul Rashid put everything I was feeling into words and did so in an eloquent and knowledgeable manner. Watch, learn, share and enjoy!

Racism in England is Real!

I am so angry right now I hope I can type coherently but please bear with me if my grammar and language becomes inappropriate *deep breath*

As you all know and as I previously blogged about there has been a series of riots in England that started in London as a result of the London Metropolitan Police shooting and killing an innocent man. The severity of these riots has lead to many 'educated' (I use the term loosely!) people to look into the underlying causes of these riots so that a solution to the mass violent attacks can be sought and a reoccurance can be prevented.

The issue was discussed on BBC Newsnight by presenter Emily Maitlis with historian David Starkey (racist mo***rf**ker!), author and broadcaster Dreda Say Mitchell and author of the book 'Chavs' Owen Jones.

I can't for the life of me explain how ANGRY and OUTRAGED I am at this imbecile's claims! I tell you the rage in my chest went straight to my head!!!

His whole argument that black 'bad' people have corrupted the white 'good' people just makes my blood boil! He's implying that black people are the root of all evil! WTF!!!

Then he brought in the age old argument that rap is the reason for violence. I don't remember any history books saying the slave traders used rap on the slave ships or Hitler spitting some bars before going to kill all those people! Rap also didn't start any of the World Wars so please spare me the 'rap = violence' argument! It may or may not contribute to it but so does bad living conditions and I don't hear that argument being used as a red card or a solution for that being sought! 

I can't even express how angry I get when racist people use such an occasion to be openly racist! I do not in any way condone the violence that took place during those riots but to sweep the government's role under the carpet and blame Jamaican patois for it is just disgusting and f**king out of bloody order!!!! I have to commend both Emily and Owen because if only Dreda had objected to his views her opinion would have been ignored as a 'she's defending her people' type thing.

A very wise Youtube viewer posted this under a David Starkey video:

EVERY SATURDAY FOR NINE MONTHS OF THE YEAR, the police spend thousands of hours preventing guys from smashing up town centres and battering each other at FOOTBALL.

Not too many blacks and no Jamaican patois there. There isn't even any material benefit. But that's OK, eh?

MrDerekMullins

Another pinpointed the part of all this that that the a**e wipe missed:

Whites haven't become black, the reason they mix cultures so well is because they have a lot in common, from sexuality, to music, to humour, there's no difference in the way they are inside. Blacks in white communities become 'white', whites in black become 'black', it's being different shades of the same page. 

scoocheeful

I'm glad some people are looking at the bigger picture here.

Some people are under the impression that racism in England is dead because there are many 'ethnic minorities' living here and this is a prime example of how real and current racism is in our society. Since the riots I've seen many 'go back to your country' and 'they are monkeys anyway' comments on social networking sites. If anything, it's just sad that people like David Lammy (MP for Tottenham) are stripped of their 'blackness' by the likes of David f**king Starkey in order to be accepted as a successful person.

Now that I have got that off my chest I want to share a video that actually shows a speaker whose brain cells are still fully active.

I apologize once again for my language, I edited some of it out but there are parts that needed it in order to convey my outrage.

Not Rude, Honest...

London Riots

I'm sure you've probably all heard the craziness that started in London and that has now spread to other cities in the UK. 

Rioter on front page of newspaper

It all started when the police shot father of four Mark Duggan in Tottenham, North London while carrying out an arrest. The short version of events is that while the police were trying to arrest Mark a police officer was shot at. Believing the shot was fired by Mark, he was shot dead only to later find out that the bullet was fired by another officer and that Mark had been killed for nothing. Many black people have been reportedly killed by police officers whether while in custody or during an arrest and although there has been previous riots, very few of these officers were ever brought to justice.

R.I.P. Mark Duggan

With that background info it seems understandable that the community in Tottenham and other areas of London felt the need to protest in order to change the state of affairs HOWEVER what started off as making a point and sparking a change turned into a complete disgrace and disregard for others.

Tottenham, North London

The protest in Tottenham started off as a peaceful one, turned into a looting frenzy and ended up as straight up vandalism. Maybe because those in that area got away with taking merchandise from the local stores or just because it was seen as an excuse to carry out anti-social behaviour, whatever the reason, the youths in  other areas of London started rioting and looting in their neighbourhoods.

Clapham Junction

To be honest, at first I wasn't too bothered since it was chain stores such as T-Mobile and Footlocker being affected and it seemed like an opportunistic and harmless attempt at committing mass burglaries but THEN these youths started setting things on fire, attacking innocent by standers and damaging civilian property! As a result of all this craziness many stores have opted to stay closed to protect their products and their staff. 

I wasn't taking it very seriously, it seemed kind of surreal watching it on my TV screen, but while driving through areas in London and seeing first hand the damage that had been done I was furious! What sense does it make to damage your own neighbourhoods and attack properties of innocent people? I actually saw people breaking into stores and I was quite shocked at how animalistic and savage these people were. 

Rye Lane, Peckham

The more shocking part for me was also that many of these people were actually children! I'm talking kids under 13 being allowed to roam the streets unsupervised and therefore given the opportunity to partake in the rioting. I wrote a previous post on giving your children far too much freedom and privacy and this is a prime example of the point I was trying to make! There is no excuse for your child thinking it's ok to act like a criminal even if the consequences may not necessarily affect them (it's very unlikely that many people will be convicted because of the large number of people involved). Also, what kind of parent must you be for your child to think it's ok to bring stolen goods to your home?

Child getting arrested. SMH.

The other thing that I have to highlight is the inefficiency of the London Metropolitan Police. Their role is to protect the city yet from what I've seen on TV and witnessed first hand they are too scared to act and therefore are not effectively stopping the madness but rather waiting till the people involved are tired enough to go home. Cowardly much?

Woolwich

This begs the question, why send British soldiers to help bring order to another country and win a war if you can't maintain order in your own and are losing a war where your opponent is fighting with plastic bottles from a garbage bin?

Garbage Warriors

What also annoys me is the fact that everything is being blamed on poverty driven people. Don't get me wrong, none of these people can afford to live lavishly but they are looting in £100 trainers, organizing it on £300 phones and driving away in 2008 model cars! I'd say the drive was greed rather than poverty if you ask me!

Tracksuit: £150, Trainers: £80,
Looting: Priceless

As a city the damage is going to take a long time to be repaired, many people are going to be out of work, a VAT increase should be expected, tax payers that were busy working while fools were getting free merchandise are going to end up paying for the damage, people are going to get criminal records for silly reasons (I hear girls are looting weave from the hair shop!), those who are convicted will be used as an example and therefore receive heavy sentences and window companies are going to benefit the most since they will have their hands tied repairing store windows!

This used to be Footlocker in Brixton

On a personal level, it took me nearly 7miles to find a petrol station brave enough to stay open, all my local supermarkets have been shut down, police sirens can be heard constantly and socializing outside my home seems practically impossible since everything is closed and many routes have been blocked.

Curry's employee arrested

In all this madness some people have completely thrown caution to the wind and started stealing without hiding their identity. This particularly foolish young lady started looting in Curry's while still wearing her Curry's uniform! Stupid much?

Others started thinking of their families and were sure to bring home some rice for their mothers and Pampers for their kids!

Basmati thieves!

Thought of his kid while looting - Peckham

Some fools used their Blackberry to organize a looting session which obviously was later traced by the police. There are reasons why they keep you in school till you're at least 16...

It's sad that what started off as a good cause ended up as national vandalism and that people have been made homeless as a result of these mindless arson attacks. All we can do now is hope it stops and that the police have learned that if the justice system will not hold them accountable, the public will.

A street in Croydon

Not Rude, Honest.