I am returning to my column after a hiatus which has had me involved in many things in many places. My last column was during the STOP KILLING US (SKU) march from Philly to DC. this past August. I’ve recently returned from Hoover, Alabama where I supported those asking for transparency in the killing of Emantic Bradford Jr. We are demanding that they release the video of his killing, of which he was first identified as a suspect in a shooting that happened while he was in the mall. They later realized he was not the suspect but yet he was shot from behind and killed by a police officer working security. In my time there I have seen the tactics used by the Hoover police department firsthand. While attempting to leave the Hoover mall parking lot recently with two others, we were swarmed upon by approx 12 law enforcement vehicles to include SWAT, police from different jurisdictions, a tow truck, and paramedics. I videotaped this incident and it can be seen online. I asked no less than five times why we were being detained with no answer until the eventual arrest of the driver on a supposed outstanding warrant. This type of thing is not new. During my time there those I have met and supported have been arrested daily and their faces and distortions of the truth have been plastered over the tv and print news. But they continue to be steadfast and seek justice in the killing of EJ Bradford Jr. #justiceforej. Your support is greatly needed and you can be kept abreast of the actions by the information online or by following my Facebook page, Jamal Johnson SKU.
During these times it is important to remember the senseless killings of our own in the street by police officers and those that look like us. As I listen to all the “woke” conversation about white supremacy, I do wonder why there are so few of us in the streets trying to hold these police accountable. I see the verbal venom and emotional tirades that we throw upon one another, and all in the name of love for our black kings and queens. But our youth are being killed and the zeal for justice seems to have dissipated. Additionally, those vanguards of our black culture seem to be in absence in the light of true white supremacy, when it presents itself publicly. At least in most cases, I have seen. The killings in our community continue to rise as the rhetoric increases about conspiracies to destroy the black race. We kill us but we want to blame it on some systematic “purging “ that’s going on. Why would they purge us in secret when they do it in public and we don’t do anything about it except talk? Our lives are at stake and I would challenge you to stop talking about it and do something about it, NOW!
1 comment:
Why didn’t you bother to mention that the person arrested in the vehicle that had an outstanding warrant was a Caucasian male? You don’t think that was relevant to the blog you have written?
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