So much tragedy, destruction and despair has come upon us in a very short amount of time. The events that recently occurred has pretty much put my feelings and emotions in a ‘different’ place now!
I sat and watched a ‘brother’ of my color forcibly placed on his stomach, handcuffed, and ignored while he called out to his mother (who passed away a couple years before) for help! The brother was calling for his deceased mother because he had 4 police officers over him… pinning him down; one of the officers had his left knee and the full weight of his body pressed against the back of this brothers neck……………. FOR ALMOST 8 MINUTES!!!!! So you understand the full scope of this…. While the brother was face-down & handcuffed,.. one of the officers had his knee on this brothers neck, another officer had his knee on the brothers butt, another officer held the brothers legs pinned to the ground, and the remaining officer was standing guard. This brother pleads, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.. my stomach hurts,…. Mama, Mama, help me please, they’re gonna kill me”. His pleads were immorally ignored by the 4 officers. Approaching the 8 minute mark, you can see this brothers body go limp.. while the full weight of the officers knee pressed against his neck. You can also see the officer who was holding down the brother legs reacted to a bystanders comment, (“Let him go, he’s limp,.. you killed him”) by walking over to the brothers head to check for a pulse,… and this is while the full weight of the other officers knee on his neck. I’m in a great deal of pain right now; even though I already knew the outcome, I screamed at my television, begging the officer to get off the brothers neck! I saw this brother dying right before my eyes. What I didn’t see….. was an ounce of concern, empathy, compassion or moral compass from any of the 4 police officers!!!!! The brother, ‘George Floyd’ was pronounced dead moments later! Adding to my heartache……. I see a ‘brother’ bird watching in central park… he notices an individual who had her dog unleashed in an area of the park that requires all dogs to be leashed. The brother asked the individual to leash her dog; once the brother saw the individuals demeanor, he began to video record her and the situation. The individual got extremely agitated and aggressively approached the brother, demanding that he stop recording her. The brother asked her several times not to come close to him; while literally strangling her dog, the individual proceeded to take her phone out and threatened the brother she was going to call the cops. The brother then begged her to call the cops; then the individual said the following statement to the brother, “I’m going to call the cops and tell them that an African American man is here threatening me and my dog”. The brother replied, “ please call and tell them whatever you want”. I don’t know if it was her feel of self-privilege, or her unexplained ignorance….. knowing she’s being recorded, the individual proceeded to call the police and say the following, “Hello, I’m in the park and there’s an African American here threatening me and my dog… please hurry”; the individual said this 3 times,.. and each time, her ‘performance’ heightened into an utter life or death situation,.. thus screaming in fear in the phone! Mind you, the brother never moved from where he was standing,… and the individual had walked about 15 yards away from the brother while on the phone with the police. During her entire time speaking with the police, her poor dog was literally getting strangled. The individual finally leashed her dog, and the brother said, “Thank you” and went on about his way. I don’t want to think had this brother stayed at that location when the police arrived.. and NOT recorded this individual (white female) and her Oscar level performance while speaking with the police on the phone,… What would have been the outcome??? I’m sorry to say, this is a rhetorical question… NOTHING good would have come out of the situation for this brother! Until things change (starting from the TOP),.. this is a black mans ‘Normal’ in America! ENOUGH!
1 Comment
Glenn Steinmo
6/1/2020 09:52:10 am
You might not remember it Vernon but I do. I lived on 10 Glenwood ave. One of my friends growing up was you but you were a couple yrs younger than me then. I remember talking to your mom Jackie all the time. You had a good mom. There was no race issue then for me growing up on Staten Island. I always tried to get you to come out and and play with us when you were home. I have very fond memories of you. I remember when your mom came up to my house with your sister Charlene and asked me to be her Godfather. Something you probably didn't know. Anyway You were always fun to be around and have you as a friend. We played a lot of basketball i front of your house and street hockey. We used the gate for the driveway in front out your house for the goal. And mostly the football right in front of your house on the street. It's not right what's happening in our society today with this racism and hatred. It's not how God intended it to be. Racism is not natural, it's taught. This should not be the new norm for Black people. God created us equal, being either race, male or female. We need God' great grace amongs't us to get past this. Because when that happens it's not due to our own efforts of trying, it becomes a divine unction of his Spirit to accomplish this. We as Americans need to get involved in each others lives and cross the lines and get to know each other. We're not different. We have mostly the same problems we deal with every day. By finding out about each other we will learn love and respect for each other. This is only a readers digest version. This goes ways deeper. There's people trying to instigate race. It was white people that broke windows and started fires to draw more hatred. It's go to stop. What happened in Miami yesterday was very touching. Anyway, thanks for listening. Glenn.
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