To Be Black Is a Crime In America

Gunshots and tasers aimed at the back tracking the movements and memories of unsuspecting dark-skinned citizens marked by the scars of a history denied For Rumain Brisbon, 34 it was crime to be black in Arizona For Tamir Rice, 12 it was crime to be black in Ohio For Alonzo Ashley, 29 it was crime to be black in Colorado The Federal Bureau of Investigation say young black men are 21 times as likely as their white peers to be killed by police who use deadly force first with impunity For Kajieme Powell, 25 it was a crime to be black in Missouri For Ezell Ford, 25 it was a crime to be black in California For Trayvon Martin, 17 it was a crime to be black in Florida Predators in blue or green or grey are looking for you if your skin is black brown or beige ever eager to escalate minor infractions into family tragedies For Tyree Woodson, 38 it was a crime to be black in Maryland For Victor White III, 22 it was a crime to be black in Louisiana For Yvette Smith, 47 it was a crime to be black in Texas This is not new or shocking to those who live with this in their daily lives but a revelation to the feckless peers wearing the white cape of entitlement For McKenzie Cochran, 25 it was a crime to be black in Michigan For Miriam Carey, 34 it was a crime to be black in Washington, D.C. For Jonathon Ferrell, 24 it was a crime to be black in North Carolina To protect and serve themselves to serve superiors who lie and obfuscate to hide behind denials and fabrications nurturing the shield of the thick blue wall For Johnnie Kamal Warren, 43 it was a crime to be black in Alabama For Ervin Jefferson, 18 it was a crime to be black in Georgia For Chavis Carter, 21 it was a crime to be black in Arkansas This is the bloody trail left behind from the Original Sin the pain and horror in the bottom of boats and later in chains on plantations and now in private prisons For Eric Garner, 43 it was crime to be black in New York For Sandra Bland, 28 it was a crime to be black in Texas For Samuel Dubose, 23 it was a crime to be black in Ohio Newspaper headlines scream and shout officers go free as gullible grand juries are misled by dissembling prosecutors proud to defend craven uniformed killers For Eric Harris, 44 it was crime to be black in Oklahoma For Walter Scott, 50 it was a crime to be black in South Carolina For Freddie Gray, 25 it was a crime to be black in Maryland Not all of them are like this but there have been too many times too many dead and too many watching