I Got Shot

I got shot

I wrote this a while ago as a lament for the numerous black men and women gunned down by police officers while going about their daily lives. Today, with the rest of the country, I once again mourn the loss of children I did not know but whose deaths echo across the land along with their too many departed siblings. Once again we are told by those who call themselves our leaders to send thoughts and prayers, but let's not politicize this horrific tragedy by making it about gun legislation. What a load of crap! This is political. How we order our lives and live as communities is the essence of politics. And we are failing. The families and friends of the people killed at that church in Minnesota don't care if you are democrat or republican. Your thoughts and prayers sound good but they're not going to fill the holes in the hearts of this community, devestated by these deaths. And the same is true for when it happens the next time, and the next, and the time after that. So yes, make this political as hell. Take action. Tell your elected and appointed officials that it's time to shit or get off the pot, and out of office. God has heard our prayers and comforts those who mourn. When will they?

I know it's still early but today, I got shot. Yesterday, I got shot. My history and experience tells me that tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow I'll get shot. I stopped, I got shot. I reached for requested documentation, I got shot. I had my cell phone in my hand, I got shot. I had a legal weapon and said so, I got shot. I ran in fear, I got shot. I was 12 years old playing alone in a park, I got shot. I was driving an old car that backfired, I got shot. I was asleep in my bed, I got shot. I was relaxing, alone in my home, I got shot. A neighbor was concerned about me, called for help, I got shot. I committed a non-violent low level felony with no indication of a weapon, I didn't get shot. I got suffocated. I carried a sign saying stop shooting me. I got shot.

White men kill police officers or parade participants or church goers or protesters and get their day in court and maybe even lunch, or a glass of water and a thank you, for good measure. I get handcuffed while dying in the street. The rivers are becoming salty from my tears. But it's okay, because it's my fault. I got shot.

I was six years old, I got shot. I went to the grocery store or the movies, I got shot. I went to church or temple or synagogue. Surely those are safe places. But I got shot. We had an active shooter drill in school today and I got shot. I was sitting in a college classroom and I got shot. Again. I was having fun with friends in a night club. I got shot. Elected officials say "Let's not make this tragedy political by talking about gun legislation and they get shot. 

Why? Who did I hurt or offend? I hear that the officials are sending thoughts and prayers. That's nice of them but there's an empty place at the dinner table tonight, because I got shot. 

 

Let's Talk

I recently shared a Facebook post about the occupier's threat (and yes, that's what it was) to send National Guard troops to Chicago and I commented that we knew he was coming for us. If you are in doubt, by we, I meant black people in America. 

   I won't even comment on the sheer insanity of the pleas from African American women "Oh sir, please come and save us!" Wtf is he smoking and can I get some? If you believe that interaction happened I have a bridge I'll sell you. Real cheap. So okay I lied, that lunacy deserved at least a small comment. 😉

   Anyway, back to my point. When I made that post, someone I know responded with a link to a clip of Jeanine Pirro on Faux News (couldn't resist a little bit of snark) going on about the huge numbers of black children killed in Washington D.C. and she then played a segment showing a black man spouting numbers of black children killed in D.C. and the dramatic decline after only a week, a week mind you!

   Before I proceed I need to say that I am trying very hard not to demonize people who voted for the current occupier of the House that Slavery Built and who still support him. I am sure she only meant to educate me on my ignorance of the facts being hidden from me by the main stream media. Trust me, I have problems with the main stream media too. But Fox news is your source! Really?

   The same Fox News that was found liable in a court of law for millions in damages because they knowingly broadcast false stories about fraud in the 2020 election. Jeanine Pirro, who has been proven to pull exagerated claims out of the aether? During their coverage of the 2024 Democratic Convention I watched Tucker Carlson talking about how somber and joyless the people at the convention were. I still don't know if he was aware that right behind him was a video of enthusiastic Democratic Convention delegates, cheering, dancing and having loads of fun. As for the young black man spouting dire statistics, who was he and where did he get his numbers? How current was his information? Was he aware that law enforcement numbers say that crime is down in D.C. and nationwide and continues on a downward trajectory? 

   So I really need my Facebook friend(s) to think long and hard before accepting the Fox News narrative that black people are thugs and criminals who need to be brought to heel by a show of force, and that places where black people live are hotbeds of crime and violence. 

   To Jeanine Pirro and the occupier, if you are so concerned by the number of black children shot and killed, what are you doing about reducing the number of guns, not just in D.C. but in the whole country? What are you doing about the poverty, lack of food and adequate shelter, inferior public education and the other societal inequities that are known to be the causes of a lot of crime?

   Now, my favorite part, a little history lesson. Let's look at the document that the occupier and all of his minions, both elected and appointed, swore an oath to uphold. It's a little bitty ole thing called the Constitution. Bear with me if you know this. The 13 colonies were having problems with their official government. Everybody knows that there was a beef about taxes. 

   But did you know that they were also kinda peeved about how King George III was using his military forces. (By the way George was crazy and having imaginary conversations too you know. Just sayin'.) Well, George and his minions were getting worried about the 'crime rate'. You see, things were fine when people like those ignorant 'redskins' were getting killed and made homeless, but then those pesky colonists started messing with the flow of money into the royal coffers. They even had the nerve to dump a shipload of tea. Right there in Boston Harbour!

   Well King George sent the military to take control. Not to patrol the frontier where there was danger, or to fight the French and Spanish enemies who they were at war with. Nope, he sent them right into peoples' towns and villages. Let me make it clear, the colonies had lawyers and judges, and a system for dealing with criminals. But crazy King George said they weren't doing enough.

   The colonists were mad enough about that military thing that when they became a country of their own they said "We're not having that again." So they amended their brand new Constitution.

 Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Annotation by Ray Raphael - The presence of British soldiers in Revolutionary times continued to rankle. The Constitution authorizes Congress to "raise and support" a standing army, but soldiers should not run roughshod over civilian populations.

   I must confess that my reaction to the military being brought in to police a civilian population during peace time is visceral. Let me repeat, the military has been brought in to police a civilian population during peace time. Sit with that truth for a moment. When the government of Chile or El Salvador did it we called it authoritarian and used words like junta. But because the occupier of the White House did it, it's crime fighting!

  I was a child in the 1960's when "civil unrest" caused National Guard troops to be sent into Cleveland. One of the most vivid memories of my childhood is standing on the street corner with my sisters and neighbors watching them march down the middle of Superior Avenue. I will never forget that day. It was a somber and frightening moment. 

   Why were there soldiers marching by where we usually played? Why were all of the adults around us so scared and quiet? What did this mean? Could we still go out to the corner of Superior and play? There were "riots" in Cleveland that summer. We stayed in our house afraid, but nothing terrified me more than watching those uniformed men marching by. After the fires and looting were over things went back to normal, but on that day I knew things would never be the same again. 

   History and experience around the world has shown us that there are reasons why leaders of governments send military troops into civilian populations. Think about where the troops are sent. The official line is always that they are there to bring order. Because of course those people are thugs and savages who threaten the nation's stability. They are there for the protection of the people. This is always a lie. 

   Those troops are there as occupiers of hostile territory. They are there to frighten people and crush their spirit. They are there because for some reason the power structure needs them cowed and afraid. The poor and oppresed are the example to the rest of the nation of what to expect.

   When Professor Raphael wrote his annotations to the Constitution in 2016, he thought the Third Amendment sounded archaic. Let's ask the people watching National Guard troops march past their homes in 2025 how archaic it is.