This burden

"The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander."

How many names are not called out because of little to no media attention? How many have been kept out the limelight, swept under the rug and ignored? How many have been shamed and shunned into silence by the same forces that committed the evil upon them in the first place? How many told that no one will believe them? Told you can't win in the courts, or in public opinion so you may as well give up and go on about your business?

How many more names will be added to this list in our generation? When in our lifetime will we all admit that there is a problem here? That being black in America has never meant free, no matter what we were taught in schools or what ideals we like to proclaim that we have? That no matter our status, social standing, degrees of learning, economic status, political affiliation we are still subject to a level of inequality and distress not visited upon those absent of melanin. That no matter if we are quiet or defend ourselves; if we are calm and rational or agitated and irrational we are seen as a threat first by the majority of people in this country. Especially those that do not look like us. As a result we are dealt with as a threat first. Only when the threat has been "minimized, and neutralized" in their minds by those in power, are we ever given a chance to prove somehow that we are worthy of being treated fairly, justly, and with respect to our human condition.

The time for silence is over. We must speak the truth to those in power. Our voices must be heard. We must no longer duck our heads, fade into the background of the day so as not to make those around us uncomfortable with the realities of the day. Divide and conquer has always been used against us to keep us on the sidelines so as not to appear too radical or out of touch with the "american dream." "You are not like them" is not now nor ever been a complement. It is a war strategy, designed to weaken our unity. It is to divide us against ourselves, to set one group against another, to pit the house against the field, to give illusion that one group is better than when in reality we are all regardless of position or social standing despised the same by those that harbor hatred, evil, and blood lust in their souls.

Light is the best antiseptic. We must cast light on the evils of the day until a change happens. if not us, who? If not now, when? Use your voice to cry loud and spare not. Use your song! Sing till the angels come to inquire about the state of men and the ancestors of past struggles bones come together bone to bone with those who struggle now. Use your pen! Write poetry, spoken word, essays, blogs, letters and posts with clarity of convictions yet with compassion towards those that are merely caught up in the riptide of evil having no ill intent towards any one. Use your mind! Think deeper than the surface and media manipulation to know that the truth like great riches is often hidden from the lazy. Shine the light bright! Where there is political injustice, speak! Social injustice, speak! Racial injustice, speak! Miscarriages of justice, speak! Don't wait for change, work for it and be it!

Speak life!

"We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."