The recent shooting in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district on June 22nd that left several people wounded was a sad reminder that even with the pandemic of covid-19 running rampant amongst us there is always room for not only police brutality, but for community violence. It’s horrible enough that we hold on to our families with paralyzing fear of police terror, we also have been cornered by a few unconscious folks from our very own communities that traumatizes us as well.
In our hoods, there has been violence committed against elders at random, assaults on minors by adults and way too many unnecessary brawls where in some cases elders have egged on the youngsters, instigating fights that could have been avoided. Calling the police to deal with some of the issues had proven to be an epic fail as testimony from those in the community ranged from being treated fairly by very few authorities, to being made to feel inferior by officers who didn’t take the situation seriously and in one case, a cop smirked at a resident because he thought that the person was faking an injury. The question is what do you do when you have community conflict but no confidence in an institution that has taken an oath to protect and serve you? Who can broken people turn to when we cannot rely on a broken system that BROKE all of our spirits in the first place? How do you solve problems within the hood with only the input of just the hood?
Indeed there was a time when strong, fierce but wise elders had taken on the duty of being the mediators and regulators in the neighborhood and the younger generation did not show disrespect to the solutions the elders set forth, nor did we disobey them. If there were serious offences then the fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins and grandfathers would stand up as enforcers to ensure everyone’s safety. Everyone came together to guide the children in the right direction and no crime a youngster had done, especially in the presence of an elder went unpunished. Young girls rarely went out after dark without being accompanied by a male relative and we were taught to be an upgrade from the previous generation by not following in the footsteps of the elders’ shortcomings. Unfortunately that way of life slid through the cracks of community responsibility and has gotten lost.
Police departments from California to Georgia have been catching heat for the recent deaths of unarmed black citizens and others of universal majority and poverty status. Protests erupted across the nation and worldwide condemning a crime that has been committed against black folks since the kidnapping of our Ancestors from the motherland centuries ago. However, if
we are to address the violence our neighborhoods endure, we have to go across the whole board and name every angle whether it be a cop or a miseducated knucklehead that affects our communities and our lives. To turn the other cheek to the crimes that are being committed against us out of fear only enables wrongdoers, no matter who they are, to stagnate progress and continue to violate us with impunity.
As far as the hood goes, I overstand that there is an indescribable amount of pain, trauma, anger, tragedy, ptsd (post traumatic stress disorder AND post traumatic slave disorder), poverty, death, addiction and homelessness but the fact is that we must come together collectively and heal from these community ailments. We must re-learn to unpack the generational layers of inhumane treatment that have some folks possessing the mindstate of beastiality similar to the oppressors. Educate the children with wisdom and teach them right from wrong, skool them on why it is important that we show up in large masses whenever there is an issue of unjust instead of showing up by the dozens to spectate a boxing match. It is a difficult task but with a deep breath and logical thinking it can be accomplished.
Queennandi