Do Black Lives Really Matter?

This has been a tumultuous year for the overall black community. Sandra Bland, Christian Taylor, etc, the list of black people dead at the hands of law enforcement is overwhelming. I'm pretty sure tragedies that have been tagged as "race related" will continue in America. As I was taught 20 years ago, "you're going to see a lot things happen when you all become adults." Mr. King wasn't lying but some others are. For the past couple of months, maybe longer, we've been introduced to the hashtag, "Black Lives Matter." For the average person, it's very easy to jump on the bandwagon, go to protests, march, and voice our outcry against injustices toward blacks. As I look deeper into the black community (also the move from Texas to Alabama helped), I'm seeing a lot of hypocrisy in my community. The revamped notion of "the white man" is in full effect. I agree, there are still signs of racism in this country. Truthfully, there's racism in all races against other races in this country. Now the Black Lives Matter campaign is climbing the mountain top in a pseudo MLK fashion (which most of our "newer" black generation don't know). But we don't see Jackson or Sharpton walking through the streets of Chicago to simmer down the senseless killings due to black on black crime. - Side note - Hell, thesdopportunists were disallowed in the Ferguson situation. - We don't see black social (empowerment) groups in the South demanding TV time to address the AIDS/HIV problems in the black community (mostly from 16-24). We don't hear black preachers condemn other preachers/churches from swindling "the saints" of their time and money just to please "Jesus." Black communities aren't coming together to put public school systems in check to provide better educational resources for their children. Unless Oprah touches it, the black community is very hush on the rampant sexual abuses of our children. As soon as a cop (no matter the race), "kills" a black person, we tear up black and/or locally owned businesses that support a community than tear up the places (government buildings/etc) that are perpetuating our broken legal/penal systems. Unlike the stars of the 60s and 70s, which were doers, we Facebook/Twitter "reporters" are bullshitters. We have become slaves to sensationalized media and unable to form individual opinions. As W.E.B. Dubois once said, "we do things to impress others", meaning we become members of groupthink than be our own man/woman. You see, I know that black lives don't matter to blacks no matter how we spin it. Growing up in the 80s' crack/cocaine/AIDS epidemic, I see those same problems still don't matter to us now (get it). Just last week, a white kid was killed by a cop for no reason. Are we acknowledging this? What about the illegal immigrants being funneled through the sex and drug trade? Do their lives matter? For us "black folk", we're the only folks deserving justice including a pacifier and 40 acres with a mule. Fuck that. It's time to change the way we think and it starts by educating ourselves. But knowing us, "black folk", self-education without externally forced behavioral modification, will not happen. In my opinion, there are poor whites and other races/ethnicities that have or are worse victims than us. All Lives Matter, a perspective coming from a man whose been across the world. Don't you see the American citizen, no matter the race, are persecuted by the same maniacal force? To the average black person, we're the only victim.

Till next time....