Reflections on the effects of capitalism and latent puritanism on the working class and the accused.<\/p>\n

Brown Sugar- is written by Angie Cee for Fresh Radio \u00a0itsfreshradio.com<\/p>\n

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Some in our society are more outraged over the destruction of buildings than they are about the state sanctioned destruction of human lives. Like, how did we get here? I took a trip through my thoughts to examine a few possibilities. Some violence is okay in our society, some groups are allowed to respond with rage. However we have never been, we\u2019re told violence is not a solution and that it is counterproductive. Last time I checked no one was spitting that rhetoric at the Dept of Defense but ok. When we watch footage from the 1950\u2019s and 1960\u2019s local and federal officials loveeeeeeeed to tell African Americans not to gather and not to march and not to fight back. However I missed when they gave that message to the Klan and other citizens who were actively murdering and terrorizing us. But we gotta chill? I feel like the narrative hasn’t changed much. We need to calm down but no one is telling police forces hey maybe you shouldn\u2019t be so quick to harass, chase down and shoot people huh? Why because I realized people largely believe we deserve it. They are blind and dumb to the fact that we are targeted and wrongfully arrested on a frequent basis. When you hear people say well if you don\u2019t want to get shot don\u2019t run from the police, you just gotta take a moment and unpack what they\u2019re really saying and thinking there. The fact that we have to share the world with such ignorance and disregard for the truth is enough to make you want to HOLLER. I feel like I\u2019m pretty much alternating between different shades of anger with bursts of happy and chill. That\u2019s not healthy. So l decided to write to vent some of my frustration and help myself sort through the madness.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve been in deep thought since we lost Trayvon Martin. I\u2019ve experienced collective trauma with my social media community with each woman and man lost at the hands of law enforcement and otherwise. I\u2019ve examined events and reactions with the twitters, rebutted folks who have all kinds ideas about violence, racism, and other related issues. Basically I\u2019m tired. Tired and angry. The people on the ground in these cities and online are tired and angry. The families and the communities who lost these brothers and sisters are TIRED and ANGRY and NUMB all at once. But there are many people online and on the news who don\u2019t \u201cunderstand\u201d our anger and our rage. Then there are those who understand but don\u2019t think violence is a valid response. Here\u2019s the thing, I think it\u2019s possible to vary our responses to these atrocities. So I say express the rage and while that\u2019s happening if you wanna pray then pray. And while we\u2019re at it, if you think the community should organize and contact legislature then do allllll of that. We don\u2019t have to diss one to give value to another, they are all NECESSARY.<\/a><\/p>\n

Look at the statistics for Freddie Gray\u2019s Baltimore neighborhood. Besides excessive policing these neighborhoods rarely receive any support from the cities they live in. It\u2019s criminal. On top of this layer racism and years of discrimination and you have rage that has been simmering for centuries. Why are the people of Baltimore so angry? The real question is why aren\u2019t you JUST <\/b>as angry? \u00a0If you know me then you know violence is NOT my default. And while I\u2019m not personally violent I will by no means tell people that their violence is counterproductive or that people in power will take them less serious because of it. That\u2019s nonsense in my opinion. ( I mean the majority of businesses and corporations have insurance, so really we\u2019re upset about the appearance of destruction and the inconvenience of it all?) It just seems to me like someone is always concerned with our violence and not the violence being perpetrated on us. The violence that seems state sanctioned and all too common. The violence that we are reacting to seems to be brushed over and explained away. And really it\u2019s time we find a way (or a few ways) to combat the root causes of our protests and our rage. Build, march, rage, post, legislate, petition, and yes PRAY.