Posts Tagged: police brutality
Who Is The Good Guy with a Gun?
Last week on the night of Thanksgiving, a shooting at the Riverchase Galleria mall in Hoover, Alabama killed a 21-year-old black man, E.J. Bradford, home for the holidays. Official media coverage of the shooting reported that the police had killed Bradford, because he was the initial shooter. However, in the following days, local social media reported a very different story: Bradford did not shoot anyone. He was simply one of the very many Alabama citizens who pulled out their guns at the sound of a gun going off. Regardless of your feelings on guns, Bradford wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was the “good guy with the gun” and he was black. And not only did that lead to his death, it lead to warped media coverage, because the police lied… Read more »
How Ro Elori Cutno’s Message is Harmful to Black Women
As a black woman, I have a deep-seated anger for people who attempt to emphasize the qualities that all black women should have to be more desirable on social circles. Those who criticize their poise, their grace, their idea of elegance use blatant misogynoir to disprove the humanity of black women. This dissatisfaction of black women comes from many people, including black men and black women. One black woman who is gaining momentum for her views on black women, equality and sexual and reproductive freedom: Ro Elori Cutno. Ro Elori Cutno is the author of Man Leads, Woman Follows, Everyone Wins that claims to be a manifesto for black woman to keep a man. While Cutno claims to be an expert and professional consultant of culture and language, her rhetoric… Read more »
The Perils of Black Motherhood and Police Violence
“We are black people and we shouldn’t have to feel like this,” “We shouldn’t have to protest because you all are treating us wrong. We do this because we need to and have rights.” “Our fathers and mothers are killed and we can’t even see them anymore,” “It’s a shame that we have to go to the graveyard and bury them. And we have tears, and we shouldn’t have tears.” Zianna Oliphant, a young girl from Charlotte, NC spoke at a city council to bring awareness to the injustices black children are facing due to state-sanctioned violence against black bodies. Zianna is seven years old, and is already well aware of the inequalities she, and her friends, will face. When I see young black girls like Zianna, I feel a… Read more »
The Night I Realized How Much I Benefit from White Privilege
Trigger warnings: police brutality, racism, violence I have a 20-year-old hand-me-down car that I absolutely love. Its name is Flacco, after my NFL team’s quarterback, and it’s a ’95 purple Ford Thunderbird with a V8 engine that I might get a little carried away with on long, empty roads sometimes. Like any older car, it requires a bit of extra maintenance. Shortly before my grandparents gave it to me, they had a new engine put in. Fairly recently, I replaced the battery. Even more recently, one of my headlights went out. Unaware of this fact, I drove to the gas station about a mile down the road one night. On the way back, I saw the lights start flashing and heard the siren and for the first—and so far, the… Read more »
We Shouldn’t Have to Fear the People Sworn to Protect Us
I got pulled over by a police officer for the first time earlier this year. I was driving down the highway with my best friend, who was in the passenger seat. I had music playing loudly, and it was kind of late, around 10:00 pm. We were on our way to meet up with some friends in the city. I was admittedly speeding, but did not realize it until I heard the sirens. When I saw the familiar but foreboding flashing blue and red lights in my rearview mirror, my hands started shaking. My best friend is so much better at composing herself and emotions than I am, so naturally, I looked at her with widened eyes. However, I saw the same thing being mirrored in her eyes as well, before she… Read more »
