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Some Things Never Change
I am not a Black man. Never have been. Never will be. But as a Black woman with a younger brother, and uncles who have been done wrong by the police, I fear for Black men when I think about how police have been known to treat them. And apparently how they continue to treat them.
All of us remember Rodney King. If you are from New York (or not), you may remember Amadou Diallo and Abner Louima. More recently, you may remember the shooting death of Sean Bell. And you probably didn’t even hear about this shady story. All of these men were victims of some sort of egregious brutality at the hands of those charged with “protecting and serving”.
In 2009, just a few weeks before the first Black president will be sworn in, proof that nothing has changed rang through a train station in Oakland, CA. Please watch the following video.
Warning: It’s disturbing to say the least.
I’ll give you a second to let that sink in.
When I first saw the video, I was at a loss for words. I have probably seen it about 10 times since I first got it, partly because I can’t believe they got it on tape, and partly because it just seems unreal. Like. Who does that? Dude was clearly on the ground, and no longer a threat. Your colleague had his knee in the man’s neck. So you get the bright idea to draw AND fire your gun, putting the young man, AND the other officer at risk. If I was Officer Other W. Guy, I’d be pissed. But I digress.
We are all familiar with stories about these kinds of events. But to see it happen, even as a distant YouTube viewer, is extremely upsetting. I can’t say for sure that these types of things don’t happen to young White men, but based on the aforementioned names, anecdotal evidence, and the names that don’t ever get any national news play, I’d venture to say its unlikely. Do note that all of the officers involved in these incidents were not White. Some of them were Black and Latino. However, contrary to what the precincts like to claim for the cameras, race is always a factor. Not always racism, per se. But race, hell yes.
Please don’t take this as a strike at all police officers. There are way more well intended, level headed officers serving our communities than there are shady, unstable ones. However, there is something to be said when Black men just so happen to bear the brunt of police brutality. Or at least what makes the news. There is so much more that happens to Black and Latino men that never make the headlines. Sigh.
There probably isn’t anything concrete that can be done to prevent things like this from happening. Telling your brothers, cousins, nephews, and uncles to just be easy, not make sudden movements, or keep their hands in clear view when they get stopped by police doesn’t seem to be sound advice. Don’t sleep folks.
Please share your experiences, stories, and reactions. I’m sure we all have something say about this one.
**Admin note: Though this is a charged topic, let us be mindful of what and how we say (read: type) things. Let’s keep it respectful. Cuz that’s sexy. Like me**
27 Responses to “Some Things Never Change”
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this is so disappointing. it brings me back to Crash regarding the cops. the cops are supposed to be the ones that we trust to help us, not to do us more harm. it makes it so hard to trust cops when we are in danger because of how much harm they’ve done to how society sees them…
more importantly is the damage that is being done to society via the media too. we always hear about the crime’s that are committed by black people which automatically gives the stigma that blacks are criminals.
**smh** this is so disappointing and sad…
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My real problem is the likelihood that the cop will come out with a statement something along the lines of “I felt endangered” and gets off with a slap on the wrists. I understand that the police exist to protect and serve but when an officer fails that duty, he/she should be prosecuted as such. Not be protected by his/her brethren…Its the reason why so many people do not trust the police.
Does anyone know if the officer has released a statement yet?
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Sowhatiff Jenkins Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 1:28 am
According to CNN, he is refusing to be interviewed by investigators, or speak to reporters. Surprise surprise.
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Anyone who knows me know that I am a Pro-Black, revolutionary. Often times, I have expressed my dislike and some would say hate towards white America and it’s ideals. When I say white america, I am not speaking of white people, I am speaking of the culture and psychology of those people. Oppression and imperialism seem to be the letter of the law. Police take their given “Power” too far. And you wonder why people kill cops. In my city, it is kill or be killed. No matter if you are a cop or a regular person on the streets. I have no idea why this man was shot. He was not a threat, he was restrained by several officers. Other than noise, there was no chaos. I have no idea of why they shot that man. I did fire arms training with the FBI and they taught me that you only fire you service weapon when you or someone else is in eminent danger. There was no danger. He shot a man on that ground with his hands in the air. What the hell!?
This is why we have to organize the people’s army. We can not let things like this, Sean Bell, Dialo, Jena 6, and hundreds of other hate crimes committed by the Holice. We need to protect ourselves. Because at the end of the day they have us off focus and scared. They distract us with shit that is material and make social idol out of buffoons. We have to step our game up. We have to get organized and get focused. Barack Obama in the white house does not mean it is time to relax. Now more than ever, we have to fight. Some people will stand by and let this shit happen. Some people might even be willing to fight for it. I am willing to give my life so that future generations don’t have to deal with this. I put my heart into this! I want my people to have a future and not have to live in fear. But it starts with us. We are the ones who have to change. We must be the change that we wanna see. We must say that I will not be a victim. I will not allow them to force feed me ignorance and hate. We will not let fear silence us. Another world, another life is possible. The future started yesterday; and we’re already late.
So will you take up the fight!?
~Merck
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As someone who lives in NYC and has lived through some of the most infamous police brutality incidents (Abner, Admidou, Sean) and most recently police officers sodomized a young Latino man in a brooklyn train station I can say I’m not surprised at the cops behavior. More importantly i’m outraged that these crooked cops keep getting off.
How can anyone expect people of the Negro persuasion or colored folks period to trust the police? BTW who is the Blanquito telling us to take this one step at a time or soemthing to effect of “be patient negroes”?
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We must have been thinking the same thing last night. Goodness.
http://rantsofawildchild.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/nwa-was-on-to-something/
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I am not a fan of cops…. they seem to be hot head gangstas with a badge… and they are completely incompetent.
Once a cop was following me and my girls and I’d pulled over to park in front of their house (she lived in the black side of town). He must’ve wondered why I pulled over and suddenly turned his lights on, then proceeded to make up some crap about me running an imaginary stop sign. He proceeded to take all of our IDs and said he had to check to make sure we weren’t serial killers… People were out on their porches watching… Long story short, when we got out the car to walk into her house, there were about five police cars behind us. (R U SERIOUS?)…
Then I got in a car accident about two years ago and went away in an ambulance…. These fools lost my car. They didn’t have any records of where they put it and an ex boyfriend was the one to find it.
And that’s only the beginning of my experiences with these fools.
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Yeah Whatev Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Nicki your stories make me want to pull a 187 on a muthatrucking cop! On Saturday, I remember saying “F*** the Police!” to their faces. My friend had to cover my mouth. See when I get a little more than tipsy the truth sure comes out. Gratefully they didn’t arrest me for belligerance. They would have probably if I was a black man though. I had a few run-ins with The Law. Once when I was living in the podunk town called Shithaca, when two teenaged, black girls supposedly robbed a video store. My friends and I were walking back from the movies. My two friends happened to be white and white latino. The cops stopped us asked my two friends to come over ignoring me. He proceeded to interrogate them about my whereabouts, whether they really knew me, and whether I was with them all night. This was my first incidence of racial profiling. I felt pissed off and disrespected. Second time happened just about 4 months ago, I decided to go to the movies by myself, but I couldn’t make up my mind whether I wanted to get icecream or go to the movies first. So I was circling the parking lot trying to decide when I noticed a cop car was following my every move. I finally stopped and parked. He stopped right behind me and asked me to come over. He asked me what I was doing. I told him I couldn’t make up my mind about icecream or movies. He said “Ok you just looked lost. I ran your tags and you are legitimate.” He was a BLACK cop. Why did he think he should follow me while there are real crimes going on?! Beats the EFF out of me. There are some good cops out their though, but it seems maybe the crooked outnumber the good ones at times.
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I am more than appalled by the state of the American police force.
This makes me even more certain that I hope something more is done to ensure that the police go back to what they were before (think 50s) and not the corrupt characters they have become.
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I still haven’t been able to watch the video, because I know what’s on it and how it ends. It’s really sad. I hope that we (Blacks) really open our eyes and realize that racism exists definitively North of the Mason Dixon line and we all need to work towards equality.
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Slim Jackson Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I still haven’t watched the video. I tried, but was like ehhh…I’m good. Don’t need any visions burned into my mind. Racism is definitely alive and well.
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I for some reason think that this cop isnt gonna get off. I guess thats a good thing. I have enough faith in the American justice system that when this shiznic is caught on tape, ppl go to jail.
I’m not up for all that ppl’s army crap. Real talk, I aint got time to be organizing some local army just for us to get killed by Marines. Not me not now.
Lastly, the cops have forever been a plague to my family as a whole. Growing up in the projects and being black, members of my family have always been the victim of the normal police nonsense (i.e. the random traffic stop, the random ass stop and frisk, Project CONDOR). But the police have also went above and beyond in many instances against me and my ppls.
Situation #1: I was in about 2nd grade. My little brother had a seizure at around 1am in the morning. My dad was at the time a token booth worker for the NYC MTA. He rushed out of the booth to catch a cab to see my lil bro. He jumps in a gypsy cab (a NY thing I’ve noticed, an unmarked, unlicensed cab – usually a normal guy giving ppl rides in his car for a few extra bucks) to the hospital. The car gets pulled over. My dad is sitting in the back. The cops claim that the car is stolen. My pops has no idea. They run both my pops and the driver’s info. They let the driver go with the car. My pops is explaining that his son is in the hospital and he needs to go see him. My pops was thinking he was fittin to get a police escort. The cop tells him “You aint goin no where, ya ni99ers dont know who ya kids are anyway”. My pop is livid now. Not physically fighting the cops but definitely screaming and arguing. The other cop walks behind him and beats him with a police flashlight. They then take him to the same hospital as my brother. But instead of going to see my brother, he is being checked in. Not only do me and my mom have to deal with our brother/son sick we have to deal with our father/husband handcuffed to a bed in the same hospital.
Situation #2: My mom is driving, well below the speed limit, down a single lane one way street in Bed Stuy Brooklyn. My mom is always cautious when she sees little kids playing on the sidewalk b/c she had a brother who was hit by a car when he was young while chasing a ball into the street. She’s almost at the corner, when an unmarked police car with no sirens speeds around the corner. The cop car hits my moms head on. Totaled our Ford Taurus. The car was speeding with no sirens, no police markings on it, down a one way street with kids playing on it. B/c it was a hot summer day, there were dozens of eye witnesses. The worst part is that when we had the hearing the cops really tried to lie, saying that my moms was the one going the wrong way and she was the one speeding. They really attacked her character. Sh*t was real disgusting.
Situation #3: Me and my dudes from school were studying for finals freshman yr of college. It was about 5am on a Thursday morning. We were making a McDonald’s/Red Bull run. We’re finished in the McDonald’s and we’re going into the grocery store to get the Red Bull. All of sudden, there is a dude behind us telling us to freeze and to put our hands up. This dude is not wearing a uniform and has what looks to be a plastic 9. We thinking we being robbed in the middle of the grocery store. We cussin him out and then some other cops come around the corner screamin at us. We finally shut up. There is about 30 cops in a grocery store for 2 dudes. They throw us down on the ground, rough us up and cuff us. They take us outside to about 10 ft from a van with tinted windows. We can see that there is someone in there but b/c of the tints we cant see. The person allegedly says we werent the ppl who robbed him. The cops uncuff us and walk away w/o saying a word. If it wasnt for our complaints to the school’s police department and to the Pres of the University we would not of gotten more info on the situation. Apparently, some white girl was robbed by 2 blk guys and a white guy. They also, allegedly, watch these guys enter the grocery store the same time we did using the University’s close circuit cameras. They claim we also fit the description of the 2 blk males: 5’9 185lbs with low hair cuts. This is where they bullsh*tted us and played us for dummies and straight up disrespected us. If they were really using their damned cameras they would have saw us come out of the dorm and to the grocery store. Secondly, I dont know who knows me but I am no where near 5’9 185 and neither of us had low haircuts. I was about 6ft 290 with a mini fro and my boy was about 6’4 320 with shoulder length locks. No way we fit some damn description.
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Seattle Washington Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I agree with Sir Peyso. There’s video footage, no struggle by the detained men and it happened in Oakland. If that officer gets released without any repercussions, there will be a riot. The local government knows that, they’ve already had trouble controlling small demonstrations. He will get his.
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Nicki Sunshine Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
““You aint goin no where, ya ni99ers dont know who ya kids are anyway”. ”
My GOD… that is a$$ whooping right there… and bc they are the cops, you have to keep your mouth shut.
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Sowhatiff Jenkins Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
let’s not forget, the cops in the Rodney King case got acquitted, then came the riots…
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I was discussing this story with a homeboy last night. I will not be able to view the vid until I get released from 9-5 prison but my soul already aches.
(luckily I wasn’t wearing a dress)!!!! While I was face down the cops had roughed up one of the dudes that were acting up, threw him up again the wall
Yes it is important to acknowledge that our men are being targeted and have been targeted from birth under the system of white supremacy we currently live under.
Our men are also conditioned to turn against one another.
Police brutality does not affect the white man the same way…cuz I see them get away with speaking all this bs all the time on the show COPS while they damn near murder the brothers?? I know its TV, but it’s as close to real life as some will get lol
I had a small brush with police brutality when I was in my late teens. I was on my way to a party, outside a train station waiting for the bus with some friends (all melanin dudes!!). I guess some of them had been acting up (one had been pre-drinking heavy), not hurting anyone, just real loud and the police were called to the train station…pls tell me why they had all of us face down on the concrete for ½ hour…no hand cuffs…no questioning…just face down on the concrete in my party clothes
for the hell of itto subdue him?! After the mini-ordeal the drunk dude was taken away and we were “released” from the concrete . I mean it’s a minor incident but I’m sure if we were a group of white teenagers, we’d get a stern look, slap on the wrist and go on our merry way…..Reply
This is the first time I watched the video. It is as horrendous as I heard it was.
I too am not an African American man and have never the desire to be. However I was in a co-habitating relationship with one for 12 years:
My ex is about 6’4″, 215 lbs, with a baskeball player’s body. He worked the 2nd shift (3pm – 11pm ) as a nursing attendant at the Hospital (about 2 miles from our house). During the summer time, as part of his cardio conditioning he would ride his $600.00 bike to work. He wore his uniform, minty green surgical scrubs, sneakers, and usually had a black backpack. Most times he had earphones in his ears.
One evening about 12:30 am my ex was not home yet, so out of concern I started calling him (blowing up his phone) I eventually called the hospital and they confirmed that he had left at his usual time. I started to stress out, calling his family and my family, his friends…About a half an hour later, I see lights flashing in front of my house. So I run out figuring the worse possible scenario, only to find my extremely irate ex complete with state police escort. I asked him if everything was ok and he said yes but he didn’t want to talk about it. The police waited until we entered the house and then left.
A couple of days later he informed me that as he was pulling out of the parking area where he locks up his bike, he noticed the state police vehicle started following him. He drove into one of the “urban” neighborhoods cutting down side streets and such and then realized this car was really following him, as he pulled out to cross one of the two major streets on his route home the officer turned on the siren and started flashing the lights. For the next hour and 45 minutes my ex sat on the curb (at one point in handcuffs) while the patrolman ran his license, checked his employer to verify that that in fact is where he was coming from, all based on the premise that he “fit the description” of a suspect that had been stealing equipment and other stuff from the docking bay where my ex happened to store his bike.
Now the fact that he was dressed in scrubs, had his hospital ID, license, a clean record, was coming from work had no baring on any of this.
What I did not know was that this was not the first time that this had happened to him on the way home. I was shocked and angered.
What can we do, unfortunately other than take down the name and badge of the officer involved and write the police chief with a cc to every rep, congressperson, the mayor, senator, and attorney general explaining how your rights have been violated, and hope and pray that enough people do the same.
It is a crying shame that when some people get power they simply use it to destroy.
***I have another story to post but I have to look for the story because I can’t write about it without becoming emotional***
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This is an account of the shooting of Cornel Young Jr.; Cornel and I went to school together from K-8. I attended his funeral.
Sergeant Cornel Young was shot and killed by other officers who had mistaken him for a suspect.
Sergeant Young was off duty at a late night diner when a disturbance was started by other patrons. Sergeant Young, who was in plainclothes, observed a suspect with a gun confronting two officers. With his gun drawn, Sergeant Young approached them to offer assistance. The officers did not recognize him and ordered him to drop his gun. When he did not drop the weapon, the officers fired, striking him. Sergeant Young was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
The suspect who first confronted the officers was charged with murder in connection with Sergeant Young’s death.
Sergeant Young was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He had served with the Providence Police Department for 3 years and is survived by his parents. His father also served with the Providence Police Department at the time of the incident.
http://home.pacbell.net/rsdotson/sources/Record%20shows%20chaos%20of%20shooting.htm
http://www.providencephoenix.com/features/top/multi/documents/03544089.asp
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Sowhatiff Jenkins Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
My heart goes out to you and Cornel’s family. It’s unbelievable that things like this really happen…
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Last Thursday is the first time I saw this footage. It was to believe then that the man on the ground was in hand cuffs, so for him to impose a threat is virtually impossible. It’s disgusting that this even goes on. And I watched CNN every night since then and haven’t heard any kind of coverage. And not to mention apparently they’ve been rioting in LA. And I haven’t heard anything about that also.
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UPDATE:
http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_11431439?nclick_check=1
* shout out to Lanny for providing the link!
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i saw the vid on the news and it thoroughly disturbed my spirit. someone told me that the shooter (aka the cop) was trying to get the taser gun but shot his real gun by accident. regardless, it’s a lame excuse and i hope justice is served. this newest story def reinforces my fear of cops.
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Seattle Washington Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Yeah that’s what the article above said as well.
My question is, why did he need the taser gun at all? The young man was already subdued and posed no threat.
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Sowhatiff Jenkins Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Its cuz he was black man. He was scary even with an armed man’s knee in his neck.
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Vanessa aka Miss V Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
word…. makes absolutely no sense.
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The hatred of ” White America”, not white people, is a point that Clarence brought up. I will venture to say that we’ve all been there. Hell, most of us deal with this on a daily basis. The problem is that too many Americans have accepted this naive concept that the election of Barack Obama as president of our country has finalized the divorce of America with White America. We supposedly live in a “post-racial” America now where everyone is required to drape themselves in the American flag, hold hands, and stand around the campfire singing Kumbaya. SMDH
I leave you all with this:
” and they ask ‘ When will the violence cease?’ When yo troops stop shootin niggas down in the streets” – Tupac Shakur
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