We Are All Oscar Grant
Article written by Timothy Prolific Jones
I’m not a journalist. These days, I can barely still call myself an activist. I’m not a politician. What I can say that I am, is the same thing I have been since birth. A black man, and a proud one at that. I have held my silence on several issues long enough, in the interest of unboxing myself from being “angry”, “overly political”, “revolutionary”, or “militant”. I’m going to be me. The gloves are off.
Where is my President? The one I voted for, not this shell of a Manchurian Candidate that does his best to appease both sides. I’m referring to the candid, fiery, anti-status-quo Washington Candidate Obama who said he would stand up. I see him sitting a lot these days.
I’m sorry Rosa Clemente. I’ve met you. We’ve been at the same organizing events. I didn’t vote for you because you and Cynthia McKinney didn’t have a chance, even though you stand for everything I believe in.
This sh*t is all my fault.
And by my fault, I mean our fault.
All of us.
We failed Oscar Grant.
Forty years later, the killing of unarmed black men at the hands of police officers continues to yield unjust results. There are individuals that consider the fact that Officer Johannes Mehsersle is facing charges and a minimal amount of time to be a marker of progress, a minor victory. We do not need such minor, trivial victories. We need justice. We need competent jurors, we need equity in the courtroom for the tears of the prosecution witnesses versus those of the defendant. We need a trial to not move across California to a diverse city, only to find a Pleasantville jury.
Anthony Baez deserved justice.
Amadou Diallo deserved justice.
Timothy Stansbury deserved justice.
Sean Bell.
Oscar Grant.
You.
At the end of the day, this comes back to us. Not the police, not the system, us. We are as much of the problem as the very conditions that have oppressed African people on three continents for over 400 years. The Civil Rights & Black Power Movements opened doors through which we could have stepped into a greater deal of control of our communities. The crack epidemic did help to close that door, and paralysis set in. Our people are frozen between fear, desensitization, and apathy, the latter of which is carcinogenic.
Inaction is killing us.
Which brings me full circle to President Barack Obama, who may not be a “black leader”, but is the President of this nation. As such, I want to say that I have an expectation for a statement regarding this issue. However, the more I think of it, the more I realize how alone he is in that office. His cabinet posts sealed that fact. Congress reinforces that fact, particularly the Senate, which is bent on preserving every ounce of privilege it can for this country’s elite at the expense of all others. When elected, our President challenged us to service, called for us to stand up. He organized his campaign for the grassroots. We cried that we needed him. He has always stated that he needs us. We need to become Congressmen & women, Senators, judges, District Attorneys, community leaders, and yes, police officers. As citizens, the government is supposed to work for us. It will not when we do not participate outside of a general Presidential election – one that does not affect us as visibly on a local level.
The police must be held accountable for what amounts to the terrorism of young black, brown, red, & yellow men & women. We need to be a consistent force in doing so. For decades, national community organizations like Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Critical Resistance have engaged in “Cop-Watch” programs, and decisively organized against The Prison Industrial Complex and police brutality. This work has gone unsung, unrecognized, and unsupported by the general populous. They do not have Steve Harvey or Oprah’s advertising budgets, and will not swag surf their way into your living rooms. But they do exist, as do many others. Like national and local politicians, these vital community organizations need the support of we, the people.
I dedicated much of my early 20s to utilizing art as a vehicle for social justice. I am one of the least decorated members of Blackout Arts Collective, and nowhere near as active as my mentors Ella Turrene, Taij Moteelall, Nigel Greaves, Jennifer Cenana Armas, Piper Anderson, Bryonn Bain, and the Hon. George Martinez (who is running for Congress in Brooklyn’s 12th congressional district).
I do not separate my inaction from yours.
We need more than this. The tears of Kadiatou Diallo and Phyllis Clayborn (Timothy Stansbury’s mother) have each stained my shoulders. The wails of the Bell family resounded in every ghetto, every city, and every countryside filled with African people. And although the Diallo family did receive a $3 million settlement for the civil suit, money will never take the place of justice.
Raising our fists and voices have never been enough.
“A tiger does not shout its tigritude, it acts.” – Wole Soyinka
Get involved.
Organizations to check out:
Check out The Union Square Awards for recent award-winning social justice organizations in the NYC area.
–
Timothy Prolific Jones
