I’m not a political activist, but there are situations that obviously garner a lot of attention that people take concern over, and with the murder of Trayvon Martin and the unfortunate trial that happened afterwards, I don’t think anyone would have thought that there would have been another situation like that again, right? Wrong. And it happened in the same state that Trayvon-Zimmerman occurred – Florida. Also the same state that had the infamous Casey Anthony case. I’m sensing an unfortunate pattern here, and hopefully the result would be different. Now, my understanding of the situation is that Jordan Davis was in a car with a bunch of his friends at a gas station, and they were playing loud music. I mean, black people love listening to music loud, I don’t think anyone can deny that – and where people may think it’s an unfortunate, when you’re in public in your own space, what difference does it make what the volume of music is at a gas station? There’s 1 objective at that location: get your gas, and leave. It’s really a 5 minute process that should have been straight forward, but of course, someone (Michael Dunn) felt the need to tell them to turn down their music (mind you, they’re outside in their own vehicle listening), and then since he feared for his life because no one had a gun on them and it happened to be 4 black men in one vehicle, he opened fire on them and unfortunately Jordan lost his life. Something that’s an everyday activity had to end in misery because one man felt threatened, just like how Zimmerman did when a boy who was minding his own business wearing a hoodie was walking home from the store before he was followed out of ‘fear’.

In Canada (and other states in America), there isn’t a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, because if there were (along with a strong right to bear arms), I guarantee I’d probably be dead by now because I live in a predominantly white neighbourhood where almost 5 years of living here, I still get looks like ‘what am I doing here’. It’s annoying, but what can I do? I am the skin I’m in, and I’ll live my life as such. After Trayvon and all of the uproar, I would have thought that people would see such an idiotic event and do more to really prevent such foolishness to occur again, but no, Florida has seen more events because of this law and evidently, white men are ‘getting away’ with murder because ‘they had the right to act in self defense out of fear of unarmed black kids around them’. The impression that I’m giving off is that I’m not making any sense and I’m rambling out of anger, but the truth is, it’s exhausting and frustrating to look on the news and see that another black kid got murdered by the hands of scared white people. I mean, for such an ugly history of enslaving Black people and treating them like they were less than dirt for hundreds of years, you would think Black people would grow to be afraid of them, yet it’s the total opposite. Being a Black man in Canada is a completely different story as opposed to being Black in America, but that doesn’t mean that I’m exempt from the same ‘fear’ that is attracted to the people that live here. People still lock their doors when I walk past their cars, women still hold their purses extra tight when I walk past them, and I still get looks of uncertainty whenever I walk into public locations where ‘I don’t belong’. When will it end?

It’s 2014 and there’s still racial tension while there’s still evidence of black people being oppressed. Two. Thousand. And. Four. Teen. Can society grow up? The media is falling face first into the mud whenever someone comes out and announces that they’re Gay, and that’s always front page news, but when some black people get murdered, it’s pushed to the back because it’s not convenient. Is that 100% truth? I’m sure I’m wrong about some things, but if not now, then when will people learn to understand that you have to learn how to live around the people that surround you? I’m not pushing for racial equality and whatever, because I know that’ll most likely never happen in my lifetime until a good percentage of the population is mixed with so many different cultures, they’ll be a new shade of Beige. If a Black teenager in America can’t wear a hoodie or listen to music in a car at loud levels without having to fear that it’ll be the end of their lives that night, I don’t want to be a part of that world. The world that I was raised in taught me to appreciate others, and where there are flaws with everyone, there’s still good in others when you don’t automatically assume the worst of people. This is going in so many directions, but the point is that we’re human, folks. I may be darker than you, but if you consider me as a threat to your well-being, who’s really the insecure one? Because these two major incidents involved white men killing Black kids, of course that’s going to be my main focus of frustration, but does that mean they’re all bad? Of course not. Does it mean that I still have to watch them a little closely because of what history and aforementioned events brought to light? Of course I do. I hate that it has to be that way, but who’ll be next? Am I going to find myself riding my bike in the wrong neighbourhood and someone will call the cops on me because I’m endangering their well-being while they’re ‘safely’ locked behind secure gates? In this world, anything is possible. It’s like they want Black people to embrace racism and hate others, when simply we’re just trying to get by. We have so many obstacles that we have to endure as it is, but wondering if we’re going to take our minds. I’m frustrated and fed up. Do better, world. Do better.

That’s My Word & It STiXX