This past Sunday racism stirred in Baltimore was real as Standing 4 Kaepernick https://www.standingforkaepernick.org/ had a press conference, joined by Baltimore Greens (party) and we protested around the M & T Bank Ravens Stadium for their opening, joined by other cities with NFL football teams countrywide. At many points, we took a knee. This was sooo powerful and I though Selma, hoses, German shepherds, slavery. My sign read: “White Silence is Violence.” I added Hire Kaepernick!.
Also highlighted was the fact that Colin Kaepernick, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback was voted most valuable player and not even signed to a team as of Week 2. Hopefully S4K’s meeting with the NFL will prove productive to the community. This reminded me of a work two of my Morgan professors Vincent Stringer, M.M. (poetry)and Dr. James Lee III (music), wrote and performed a year ago Mother’s Lament. Allow me to share Mother’s Fear from that work.
He could be crucified at twelve years old
On a playground with his toy gun
Like Tamir Rice in two seconds flat
Shot down by a Cleveland cop.
He could be kidnapped at fourteen
And crucified in woods by a southern stream
Like Emmett Till whose hopes were killed
His dreams of summer float cold and still.
So many names know,
So many lost sons,
So many broken hearts.
So many lights dimmed.
He could be dragged behind a truck:
Dismembered limb from limb;
Like James Byrd Jr., crucified
By angry, hateful, racist men.
He could be murdered at seventeen
While walking home one night
Like Trayvon Martin while on his street
Confronted by a would-be-cop.
He could be crucified in broad daylight
Like Michael Brown, Shot down unarmed,
Assailed by a Ferguson police
That feared his brown skin and his might.
So many names know,
So many lost sons,
So many broken hearts.
So many lights dimmed.
He could be crucified at twenty-seven
By a policeman on a L.A. Street
Who’d find his autistic movements threatening,
Like the ones of Steven Eugene Washington.
He could be killed at twenty-eight
Shot down right near a garden gate
Like D. Roderick Cook who never rose
On that Easter Sunday Morn.
So many names know,
So many lost sons,
So many broken hearts.
So many lights dimmed.
The threat is very real out there.
But who’s the bigger threat?
My son, our community, the police
Where exactly does the danger lay?
My son could leave and not return
Except in a coffin, in chains or an urn.
Could I lose my child, my flesh and my blood
His life be cut down by hatred?
Obama was victimized by HATE. Trump exacerbates HATE. Our world is producing multi-ethnicity. We must pass laws to include all: transgenders, queers, follows of all religions, WOMEN; EVERYONE is welcomed!!!!
