The Beast Side

One night, I participated in a peaceful protest near downtown Baltimore. My fellow protesters and I were standing in solidarity with the citizens of Ferguson, Missouri over the murder of Mike Brown, an innocent African-American teen who was on his way to college when he was cut down by a policeman's bullets. It felt good to unite with so many different people for the same cause, a diverse group with handmade signs and a shared sense of outrage. But even as we shouted for justice, I knew it wasn't enough from my experiences in rallying for the Genesis and Trayvon Martin. I do have an immense amount of respect for protesters, marchers, and organizers, but in the end, after all that chanting, marching, and lying down in traffic, Darren Wilson, the cop who murdered Brown, still went free, and cops in America still feel comfortable killing innocent black people. Every time a black body falls at the hands of a rogue cop, the same protests erupt on one side, and the same naive voices echo the same nonsense on the other. Well, if they were innocent, why did they run? Why did they attack an officer? Why didn't they obey? I get where these confused voices come from. In a perfect world, innocent people should not have to run or protect themselves from the people responsible for protecting us. However, America is far from perfect, and African Americans are about as safe as a chunk of steak in a den full of starving lions. It doesn't matter if you stay or fight back or run, because either way, they'll murder you. Freddie Gray in Baltimore ran, and when they caught him, he was murdered. Walter Scott in South Carolina ran, and he was murdered, too. Oscar Grant in Oakland was face down on the ground with the cuffs on, and they murdered him. John Crawford in Dayton was minding his own business, shopping at Walmart, holding one of the store's BB guns, and an officer opened fire within seconds of interacting with him. Mike Brown in Ferguson, who we were rallying for that day in Baltimore, put his hands up and the cops blew holes through them. Sean Bell in New York was just trying to get married, and the police killed him. Eric Garner in Staten Island pleaded for his life after he was in custody, on video, in public, broad daylight, and they still killed him. Irvin Edwards, mentally ill and partially deaf, had his pants hanging low, so police tasered him to death after he was in custody. Jonathan Farrell in North Carolina wanted some help because he was in a car accident. Cops shot him to death as he reached out to them for assistance. Tamar Rice in Cleveland was only twelve. Being a kid can't save you because he was gunned down, too. Thaddeus McCarroll in St. Louis was killed because he had a knife and a Bible. Rekia Boyd in Chicago was killed by an off-duty cop who fired into a dark alley. Trevor Marley Graham in New York tried to run into his home, and they got him. Katherine Johnston, a ninety-two-year-old woman in Atlanta, was relaxing in her home, and police stampeded in like cowboys and killed her in a botched drug raid. Akai Gurley in Brooklyn just happened to be in his stairwell minding his own business with no weapon, and was killed for that. You can be from Africa, like Amadou Diallo in New York, or known as a nice guy around Baltimore, like Tyrone West or Anthony Anderson. It doesn't matter. No black person is safe. Kids, grannies, city workers, hustlers, church boys, prom queens, junkies, whatever, they'll murder you.