Why is Florida so Cloudy for African Americans?
Is Florida The ‘Sunshine State’ For Negroes? If it is, why has it become so cloudy for African Americans – or was it always that way and we just never took off our sunglasses to find out?
So unless you’ve been living on a deserted island for the last 2 years you would know about the tragic tales of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis and the outcomes that followed. I understand we all have to defend ourselves but I’ve never understood the overkill of an individual. How about the absurd notion of you having a gun, I have fists and you have to shoot to kill me? Here ‘s my gripe: Why is it that the families of these young men haven’t started any type of proactive, non violent mutiny? There hasn’t been any rallying, boycotting, you know… shutting sh*t down.
I watched the press conference of Martin’s parents, and they forgave Zimmerman and wanted to move forward. Sorry in my eyes, it’s not that easy. The problem here is this: they seemed to neglect the reality of the matter and should have done the same things that were exercised during the Civil Rights Movement. Let their voices be heard. Why have they seemingly ‘turned the other cheek’? Are we reverting back to the old slave mentality where blacks were oppressed and had to take any substantial punishment they were given? You know, them being whipped by their masters (and society as a whole) without fighting back?
I’m not expecting there to be a repeat of the 1992 LA riots, but damn you can’t sit idly by and watch these things happen. Why all of a sudden there’s this enabling of homicides perpetuated against African Americans – or was it always there? Why suddenly everyone is leaning on this ‘stand your ground’ law? So is it okay to kill someone in self-defense if the other party has no weapon; or in the case of Michael Dunn continually shoot after you hit your victim 3 times?
When Susan Smith killed her children in 1995 and blamed it on a black man, there was a nationwide search for this faux killer. Back in 1989 when Charles Stuart murdered his wife and blamed it on a black man, the projects of the Mission Hill housing of Boston were raided in search of this imaginary homicidal mad man. The police even went as far as to actually capture one. His name was Willie Bennett. You’re telling me two (most notably) young black men were murdered by a Caucasian and everyone knew who did it and NOTHING happened?! In the case of Dunn, there was a *ahem* mistrial so he’s apparently off the hook for now.
I can’t blindly ignore the fact that young brothers and sisters are murdered everyday by each other without much of a whimper. The reality is it’s a shame we’re not as together as we should be. If we’re all supposed to stick together, I’d like to know where the glue is coming from. Can someone enlighten me?
In his track ‘I wonder if heaven got a ghetto’ Tupac said the following verse: “Here on Earth tell me what’s a black life worth, a bottle of juice is no excuse and the truth hurts”. The bottle of juice was a reference to 16 year old LA resident Latasha Harlins who in 1991, was gunned down by the owner of a convenience store after a scuffle for being accused of stealing a bottle of juice. Oh and by the way, the owner got off with probation.
Well just like the bottle of juice was no excuse, so were the skittles and Arizona Iced tea while walking down the street minding your own business. So was the loud music being played in a vehicle. So are a lot of nonsensical things that a lot of young brothers and sisters are accosted for. Think about it.
peace and stay blessed
“…Smart Men Rock”
01/15/19 Post title updated. Original title, “If Florida Is The Sunshine State, Why Is It So Cloudy For African Americans?”
Cortonio
My motto is, "Live, love and laugh". Check me out in the "Men Behind The Pen" section on OpinionatedMale.com.
8 Comments
Mr SoBo
No place is safe for African Americans. Black folks aren’t even safe amongst themselves. We currently exist as more of a threat to our own survival than any perceived or real threat by any other ‘race’ on this planet. For every Black death at the hands of a white hand, there are hundreds more Black deaths at the hands of another black hand. Where is the outrage for that? Why are we okay with this?
Where are the protests, marches, boycotts, pickets in the hood when Raheem kills Jerome? When Devon and his mans n ’em drives by the block dumping out their clips at their rivals AND the little girl playing by the corner, where is the call to arms then? Sure, there’s a vigil, a moment of silence, tears, a church gathering and stuffed animals left at the scene for the innocent life lost, but then what? Oh thats right – shhhhhh…snitches get stitches or found in ditches.
We are the dark cloud hovering over ourselves. We bring the rain, the pain, and the suffering in our communities. That storm cloud is us, the brother man, not the ‘other man’.
If we can’t even value our own lives, can we really get mad when others can’t seem to either? And if they’re so wrong for that, then what the hell are we?
So here in da ‘hood you tell me what’s a black life worth? Fcuk a bottle of juice, whats our excuse – and is it better or worse?
Yeah, NOW the truth hurts.
Jamal Craft
Well you know Florida is still the South. And don’t forget that, slaves worked out in that sunshine probably more than any state. Seriously these incidents happen all over America.
Cortonio
they do, but i don’t know of any other states that have that ‘stand your ground’ law…i may be wrong, but im pretty confident
bernasvibe
Actually 24 states have enacted the stand your ground law..Florida though was the first to do so in 2005..It has come to light, badly, in Florida I believe because it is part of the dirty dirty South(and old ways of thinking are hard to break…) Bottom line is these days people are using it as an excuse to wipe Black , specifically Black men, out. With little to no reason …I’ve respectfully got to disagree with Mr. Sobe; for I don’t feel Black on Black crime has a thing to do with certain people(White) using Stand Your Ground Law as a reason to murder Blacks with no cause..Odd isn’t it you don’t see nor hear of anyone of color standing by this law to murder people? I’ve lived on the West Coast for the past 20 years until moving to Florida almost 3 years ago..I’ve seen first hand a different mind set here. I’d not call Florida even 1/3 of a progressive and overall liberal state as California. Total opposite..There are laws on the books that never should’ve been passed. The Stand Your Ground Law is one of them. Leaves too much happenstance and whim & fancy of the person that winds up using this law. And I agree Cortonio it is almost as if all of the progession made from the Civil Rights Movement is very quickly reverting backward.
Cortonio
it is and it’s sad indeed. Why do you think Florida is being publicized though?
bernasvibe
Good question..There are outdated & incredibly stupid laws on books in many states..I’d agree though that Florida is high on the list of the worst..Arizona is running a very close 2nd
Gray
I’m a Floridian, born and raised. I’d love for you to list the cities or areas where rallying occurs for injustices. It only takes one organizer who believes wholeheartedly in his actions. How many have you organized? Injustices happen everywhere. These incidents are horrible and in an ideal life they would have never occurred, but the reality is we live within an era that there is little to no respect for humanity, period (regardless of race). I don’t believe blacks react any differently than other races.
The Martin family has participated in several rallies, as well as going directly to the Governor in protest on the grounds in Tallahassee. This family hasn’t been silent. In addition there have been loads of people along with them. Everything doesn’t make it to mainstream.They have to survive and it’s my understanding they have additional kids to support. In addition, black people have gotten off with stand your ground as well. Unfortunately, the two incidents mentioned seem like they should be open and shut cases. Sadly enough anyone can claim to feel threatened, and no one else is able to question that their feelings were something different. This is sadly why Stand Your Ground succeeds.
Cortonio
First off, allow me to welcome you to Opinionated Male and thanks for your insight. You are right injustice happens everywhere, and it’s unfortunate that many people don’t take stands. Whether it’s by too much grievance to do anything, maybe they have little knowledge on how to do so, or whatever their reasoning is. We all know it’s been well documented that there were boycotts and sit in’s during the civil rights movement in addition to all of the marches and protests because of miscarriage of injustices against Afro Americans. I feel that the same thing should have happened with Martin and Davis. Media finding out or not, there should have been profound results due to lack of businesses and other customer service outlets in Florida. Trayvon Martin wasn’t just a Florida thing, it became nationwide, especially since Zimmerman got off the way he did. As far as other cities and areas that rally against violence, I have been to Boston and I know people there. There is an organization called “Mothers for Justice and Equality”. They are a group of mothers who have lost their children to senseless homicides over the last 2 decades. And many of the homicides perpetuated weren’t at the hands of a Caucasian man that got off. They have an office set up and every year they have have marches, rallies, and protests as well as peaceful fundraisers. There have been peace rallies by anti-violence organizations in New Orleans, LA, and Chicago just to name a few. And they were all spearheaded by mothers who have suffered the same fate of losing a child(ren). There have even been marches and rallies against violence organized by students in Chicago as well. However, with all that being said hopefully one day we can live the dream of Malcolm, Martin, Medgar, and countless other activists who fought and strived to have a peaceful society.