Spectacular Mag - Dec 2014 | Page 23

UPDATE: BLACK MAN MURDERED BY COPS! AGAIN!! THIS MUST STOP!!! By Jaymes Powell The police killing of Michael Brown has inspired a heinous beauty across the country, but still hasn’t stopped the epidemic of police killings and violence against unthreatening AfricanAmericans. The shooting of unarmed 18year old Brown in Ferguson earlier this year sparked uprisings and ripped the veil of law enforcement brutality against minorities away for much of the world. The time inbetween has beautifully congealed the AfricanAmerican community and showed others the struggle for racial equality continues. But still, dead and unthreatening African-Americans have covered American streets as law enforcement has killed even more black people since Brown’s death. From Cleveland, where 12-year old Tamir Rice was shot down by police, to New York, where unarmed Eric Garner was strangled to death by police on video - black life is uneasy and often unattainable. Across the nation, African-American organizations are building coalitions to combat the killing of black men, which goes to the nation’s founding 23 and even the shores of Africa. From Washington D.C. to New York to grassroots to Capitol Hill - make sure these killings stop,” Fleming said. the world to protest the treatment of black people by America’s law enforcement. White, Hispanic and other races from Los Angeles to Paris have joined in the worldwide movement to finally stop what has been true for centuries – that black lives don’t matter. “Blacks Lives Matter” has become the new mantra of a movement that slowed during the post-racially desiring period of the 1980’s and 90’s, when unarmed black people like Rodney King and Amadou Diallo were brutalized by police. “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “I can’t breathe” have become international chants as the names of abused AfricanAmericans like Hammond, Indiana’s Jamal Jones, who police was tasered and beaten in front of his family. The officers in that case were not indicted and have returned to duty. Former Ferguson officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for shooting Brown, but is no longer with the force and is in hiding. The officer who choked Garner to death has not been charged. Nor was the officer who shot 12 year old Rice in Cleveland. Durham to Oakland, protests for black life have begun. In North Carolina, the state Democratic Party, its AfricanAmerican Caucus, Legislative Black Caucus and other leaders have decided to form a coalition to stop America’s habit of victimizing black people. Willie Fleming, President of the African-American Caucus of the North Carolina Democratic Party said all Americans must stand together to stop injustice. “By building a coalition between all of these groups, we can - from the Concurrently, the rise of anti-black, racial violence may have risen and resorted to pre-World War II style, when African-Americans were usually killed by private citizens instead of paid officers. Unarmed, 18-year old Lennon Lacy may have been lynched in Bladenboro, N.C., leading the FBI to investigate after local law enforcement ruled the death of the college freshman football player a suicide. “Building coalitions with all groups to stop these injustices is a way to empower our community. By combining our strength, maximizing our voices and voting power, we hopefully insure the next generation of black people matter. Because, obviously, to much of America and North Carolina, we currently don’t.” The advent of social media, the gruesome images of black people being brutalized and going viral may change the nation. AfricanAmericans, who have long been divided, have come together all over SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE | December 2014 | www.spectacularmag.com “These incidents of questionable interactions by law enforcement have been too long been glossed over and not addressed,” said N.C. General Assembly member Rodney Moore, who recently introduced legislation to stop law enforcement profiling and create community review boards in cases of police violence. “We must do all we can to build trust by addressing these disturbing trends against blacks and other minorities. Law enforcement needs to be seen to as protectors, not an occupying and destructive force.”