Antwon Rose

by with 2 Comments CultureFeaturedGen Z

Black bodies, young and old, are being cut down by blue hands. This has become the American Normal, an epidemic that many have been fighting to find a cure for. Black Lives Matter is the largest movement of today, potentially since the Panthers. Their aim is to establish equality in the Land of the Free, to show that freedom belongs to Black people also.

Since the abolition of slavery, our chains aren’t visible, but that doesn’t make them any less present. Our movements are restricted through racial profiling, generalizations, and a fear of police. The police force was formed to protect people from people by people. This force is comprised of people who go above and beyond to make our neighborhoods and cities safer to reside in. Lately, I have begun to question, safe from whom? 

What determines someone is dangerous? Reaching for an ID which is being asked for? For having on a hoodie with the hood up? For demanding to know why they’re being detained? For resisting arrest? For being Black? While the reasons behind these deaths aren’t certain, in the last few years, the number of fallen Black bodies has been on the rise. Unarmed Black bodies. Unarmed Black bodies of young men and women, of fathers and mothers, of brothers and sisters.

People make mistakes of all proportions. We are all imperfectly human. What makes a person worth their salt is their ability and willingness to take responsibility for their mistakes.

We have to hold everyone to the same extent of the law, which includes law enforcement. Simply because they enforce the law does not mean that they are above it. When an officer is killed, the person or persons responsible for it are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. When a civilian is killed, sometimes the officer is fired, maybe they face jail time, but more often than not it feels as if everyone is getting off scot-free, with a slap on the wrist called an acquittal.

Antwon Rose II was seventeen when he and his friend Zaijuan Hester were pulled over for driving a car that fit the description of one that just did a drive by a mile and a half away. Why did they run after being pulled over? What Black boy in this America would sit still when they see the boys in blue in their rearview mirror? And that officer is White, which is, unfortunately, the common scenario for these wrongful deaths? Get away or die trying.

There was footage taken from an apartment window of the shooting. As discussed in court and what can be plainly seen, Rose and Hester were running. All of a sudden ex-Officer Michael Rosfeld was shooting. There was no pursuit, just three rounds echoing in the silence in East Pittsburgh. I watched this video at least twenty times, trying to see anything other than another unarmed Black body hitting the ground with injuries that proved fatal. Each time I jumped as the shots pierced through the air.

There were three people in the car that was seen in surveillance footage that fled from a drive-by shooting. When Rosfeld and his partner pulled the car over, it would make sense to wait for backup since there was no telling how the situation would unfold. It was a choice to engage the teenagers without waiting. It was a choice to not pursue Rose and Hester as they fled. It was a choice to shoot at them, and those three shots landing into Rose’s back. Rosfeld was charged with criminal homicide, which includes murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter under Pennsylvania law, according to CNN.

As of March 22nd, 2019, Rosfeld was fully acquitted of all charges that could have been upheld. The nation, and especially Rose’s loved ones, are in uproar over the fact the jury’s deliberations lasted less than four hours. Rosfeld was given the proverbial slap on the wrist for murdering a teenage boy, like many others before him.

Race relations in America gets bleaker by the day. America shouldn’t be a battleground. Lives shouldn’t be lost due to itchy trigger fingers and bad snap judgments. We are losing our young people who will make a better tomorrow. While these lives cannot be revived, we can at least in their own effect positive change so that no more bodies join theirs in the statistic of Black lives lost as a result of police violence. 

Similar Read: Dancing With the Devil… A Brooklyn Perspective on Gun Violence 

Don’t Question My Love, I Didn’t Have a Choice

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The interracial dating debate is alive and well. Can you be pro-Black and in an interracial relationship? I’ve seen so many pieces on the matter and to be honest, they all make me cringe a little. Some less than others, but there isn’t one post I’ve seen that I could get 100% on board with.

Related: Can Someone Be Pro-Black and Date Someone Who is Not Black? 

You see, I’m a Black woman who is married to a European White guy (I distinguish the difference because he makes it a point to do so, but that’s an article for another day). I was raised by a strong Black mother and father who supplied me with the same “you have to be twice as good as your White counterpart to be considered equal” speech that just about all Pro-Black parents give their kids. For college, I only considered going to an HBCU because after seeing my sister’s experience at Spelman, I knew I needed something similar to really understand who I am as a Black woman in America. I say all of that to say that I’ve been conscious my whole life.

Eventually, I met my husband. We were co-workers and friends. I always thought he was such a cool guy and we had so much in common. But never once did I consider the possibility of dating him simply because he wasn’t wrapped in the same brown skin that I have. After two years of knowing each other and him occasionally asking me out and getting turned down, I finally agreed to a date. I figured I’d go watch this movie with him to prove that there could be nothing beyond friendship between us. Now, it’s 10 years later and we’ve been happily married almost 5 years.

After that date, there really wasn’t a choice for me. I knew then that I loved him. I mean, we had already grown a really strong friendship to this point. Getting the opportunity to spend quality time with him alone really showed me that I was cheating myself out of an opportunity. And for what? Because this amazingly caring, funny, handsome, charming man wasn’t born a Black man?

So back to my issue with the think pieces on interracial dating. Of course, there are people who choose to date outside of their race because that’s just their preference. Or maybe they just don’t want to limit themselves to one race and prefer to keep their options open. But for most of us, just like same race couples, we didn’t have a choice about who we fell in love with and that’s what’s missing from so many of these articles I’ve seen. I’m glad so many people were able to contextualize the conversation so well; but honestly, it’s not that deep. The heart wants what the heart wants. When you meet someone and start falling in love with them, race doesn’t matter. I simply followed my heart to happiness and I highly recommend that everyone do the same!

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“Woke” Dating 101

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In response to Can Someone Be Pro-Black and Date Someone Who is Not Black? 

I pondered over the writer’s initial question, “Can someone be Pro-Black and date someone who is not Black?” In the long and short of it, yes, if you identify as Pro-Black you can date anyone you want. However, the second question, “SHOULD you?,” posed by the author at the end of the article really peaked my interest. In the age of “wokeness” this question of SHOULD a Pro-Black person date someone who is not Black has been raised many times and has led to numerous heated debates. When dating someone with the intent of finding a life partner, one would hope the person you pick is able to understand things about your culture and empathize with your struggles, both past and present. You would hope you can bring them to family and cultural events without them turning up their nose or not understanding the complexities behind why some things just are the way they are (i.e. Black people having a higher level of anxiety around law enforcement).

The majority of human beings are capable of expressing empathy. “Woke” Black people can empathize with descendants of the Holocaust; while, “woke” Jewish people can empathize with descendants of Japanese concentration camps. But in loving your Black heritage in all of your “wokeness,” wouldn’t it be an oxymoron if you preach all things Black but practice all things non-Black in your home? How can you preach about keeping the Black dollar within the Black community when you yourself are fattening non-Black pockets through familial relationships? How can you stress to others the importance of preserving the Black family, when your family is 1/2 Black through your choice of partner or spouse? How can you scream I’m Black and I’m proud but come home and teach your kids I’m mixed and I’m proud? These questions can go on forever. 

I will say the environment in which you are raised plays a major factor in how simple, or not so simple, it would be for a pro-Black person to find a suitable Black person to date. For example, I was born and raised in a predominately Black inner city (and by Black I mean Caribbean, African, and Southern transplants). Here it was easy to find someone to relate to and whom I didn’t have to explain why my friends and family did things certain ways, fought certain fights, or were angered/excited by certain events. However, when I was 15 my parents decided to “move on up” out the hood to a predominately White suburb where I was the only person of color in 95% of my classes. Relating to my new suburban White neighbors and classmates was hard – culture shock even. If I wanted to maintain my dating preferences, I would have to travel at minimum 30 minutes to find a town where the Black to non-Black ratio was more even.

Overall, I think the answer is complicated. Yes, you can be Pro-Black and date someone who is not Black, but you should not want to. With that being said, if a non-Black person is who you fall in love with, as long as they are able to empathize with the Black struggle and help you facilitate Black success then that’s fine; because at the end of the day, to be pro-something does not equate to being anti-something else. 

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The Best Part of Waking Up

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In response to Can Someone Be Pro-Black and Date Someone Who is Not Black? 

How can someone who is on the forefront of fighting racial injustices in America choose to date a white person?

Back in the day, the Folgers Coffee Company became popular due to a very catchy commercial jingle. The famous “the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup” jingle became synonymous with having a cup of morning joe. If younger readership is wondering what I’m talking about, Starbucks effectively took over the morning coffee fix with no jingle, but that’s another article entirely. 

I brought up the Folgers jingle to reference the newest racially oriented hot topic, which is “can someone who is woke date a white person.” Specifically, white, the emphasis on white because white people in this country have done the lion share of oppressive acts against nonwhite people – in other words, history. Knowing this factoid, some wonder if a black person can call themselves “woke” and still wake up to a white lover (by now you should get the Folgers reference). 

This all comes off the heels of Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino’s This is America video which in an artistic and cerebral way displays the many racial problems throughout American history that still persist today. Many people gave huge nods to the video’s representation of racial issues; however, some walked away questioning the authenticity of Glover’s passion for the cause considering he dates a white woman.

On the onset – the notion that a “woke” black person, meaning someone who is not only aware but also actively engages in the fight against racial disparities, chooses to date a white person can be dismissive. I understand it; however, I just don’t agree. It’s easy for us in America to view everything through a racial lens, and rightfully so, given our history of racism and discrimination. And for that reason, I understand those questioning Glover’s authenticity; but I don’t agree, because in my opinion there’s simply no way with true validity to judge another persons passion to fight racial disparities based on who they decide to love. Impossible.

No two people would be together if they allowed the outside world to give their two cents on their relationship.  I also understand “this is America,” pun intended, and everything can be construed as a racial issue. But there are different levels of debate when discussing issues that involve race, and there’s nothing with more in-depth layers and elements than romance. For that reason, I side with love.

Lastly, there are many people checking off black on their census card and don’t have a clue or interest about racial disparities in this nation. That is a more of a concern or problem than someone who has dedicated parts of their life for the cause and decides to date outside their race. 

Do you agree?

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Can Someone Be Pro-Black and Date Someone Who Is Not Black?

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In the midst of the wild events that are unfolding domestically and abroad, I’ve seen the same debate being had on various platforms: Can someone be pro-black and date someone who is not black?

The origin of human beings has long been debated between science and faith groups. Faith-based schools of thought believe that human beings were created by a higher being thousands of years ago. Science-based schools of thought believe that we have evolved over millions of years. I believe that both faith and science would agree that we are human beings, the only surviving species of the genus Homo.

Since human beings began mass populating the planet to the point where we could recognize distinction, we have divided ourselves by tribe, by nation, by wealth, by religion, by culture, by pigmentation, etc. The evolution of this division led to groups believing that they were superior to other groups (even within their own grouping!). This social system took a nefarious turn when humans began the wholesale selling, trafficking, and enslavement of other human beings. It’s evil to enslave your own people but it’s a greater form of evil to purchase and enslave someone else’s people without war. So in order to execute these human transactions, human beings convinced themselves that the group that was being sold was less than human. Most even believed that they were not even the same species altogether. These slaves were not homo sapiens (i.e. human), they were homo naledi (i.e. gorillas).

Fast forward to the 21st century where most human beings still haven’t cognitively evolved their thinking to fully embrace the complexity and nuance of our species while overlaying the impacts of our history and culture as it is applied to our existence. If we did, human beings across the planet would understand that we are more alike than we are different. If we did, we would understand that man-made concepts of “whiteness” and “blackness” are distinctions created to empower one group over another. If we did, we would better understand how the human brain, the nervous system, emotions, and personality all intertwine. If we did, we would better understand that culture impacts who we are but does not change the composition of who we are as a species. If we did, we would ultimately understand that debates around groups of human beings procreating with other human beings based on pigmentation are cognitively beneath us as a species.

Like any other species on this planet, life is all about survival. The empirical evidence shows us that in order to continue the species, we need to eat, sleep, and procreate. The mating process is critical to the preservation of the species. Over time we have increased the complexity of this process by including man-made social constructs into the procreating consideration set. Cynically, I believe that these social systems were developed to divide, control, and oppress us. Therefore, to whittle down my experience as a human being to just being black is a futile attempt to rob me of my ability to think, to create, to build, to feel, to love, to emote, to stand erect and walk, to use my thumbs, and to act in a manner that is not in line with the evolution of our species. When we continue to breathe life into these social divisions we give life to the same ideologies that empowered one group to enslave another.

Man-made social constructs like “blackness” or “whiteness” or “dating” are still relatively new to concepts for our brains to grasp. As a member of this culture, I participate in understanding these classifications but my primal being wrestles to reject them. Specifically, around ideas that I should not “date” and/or mate with another human being that is not also a member of my ethnic grouping. I would be foolish to dismiss the psychological impacts of the systematic oppression of darker pigmented human beings at the hands of lighter pigmented human beings. While I do not dismiss this altogether as it relates to love, mating and procreating; I do not leverage that man-made ideology into the consideration set of whom I choose to be with. So to answer the much-debated question, yes one can be pro black AND date someone who is not black. However, I believe the more evolved question that we should be asking one another is can one be against the oppression of a group of human beings and be with someone who is in favor of the oppression of a group of human beings?

Hope & Fury

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

About two weeks ahead of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, NBC aired a powerful documentary, Hope & Fury, showcasing how far Black Americans have come and how far our country still has to go regarding race relations.

The documentary is an equally unnerving and enlightening account of the horrors committed against Black Americans and their strides toward equality. The documentary is a must-watch for everyone in the country as a reminder of the tenacity in the Black community in the face of vicious prejudice, racism, and murder encountered today, yesterday, and 60 years ago.

As much as we like to think we’re a post-racial society, we’re not. That fact is made clear every time a slur is hurled, a Confederate flag is flown, or unarmed Black man is shot. The notion that racism is a time-old problem of yesterday is inaccurate and borderline offensive to the experiences of today’s minorities and the work of Civil Rights leaders. John Lewis, featured in the documentary and current Democratic Congressman from Georgia, was a leader beaten during Bloody Sunday, and is still alive. Eight of nine students who formed the Little Rock nine are still alive. Although segregation laws and Jim Crow are no longer in existence and the Civil Rights movement made major strides in legislation towards equality, Black people are not equal and the fight will continue until they are.

Hope & Fury is a powerful reminder of how far Black Americans have left to go, of how pervasive racial hatred was and still is in this country, and the tenacity of defiance and hope that lives within the Black community. 

Similar LCR Content: Musings on the State of Race in America

J Lucas – I’m Not A Racist… The LCR Responds

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Whenever most people hear a white person say the word “nigga” or “nigger,” they usually stop what they’re doing and commit their full attention to that person. And if you’re Black, you most likely are instantly enraged and probably ready to physically confront that person about why they thought it was okay to use that word. Well in a controversial video from rapper Joyner Lucas, he presents a middle-aged, overweight, white male, with a Trump-sponsored “Make America Great Again” hat on, who takes it there and is met with a strong response. His diatribe is full of negative stereotypes regarding African-Americans. If you can stomach the first few minutes of this video, and that’s a strong “if”, this might be the one instance where a white man repeatedly using the “N” word gets a pass – or maybe not. Either way, if this video makes you challenge your bias or thoughts of others, perhaps it serves its purpose.

If you haven’t seen it, the video is below. We asked several of our contributors to weigh in, and here’s what they had to say…

 “Spending a few minutes watching a video showcasing a large bearded white man wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while lip syncing disparaging remarks about black people isn’t my ideal form of entertainment or learning. After resisting the urge to cut the video off, I did watch it in its entirety and conclude the message is spot on, for two basic reasons. The viewpoint of many non (and Black Americans) is the ills of Black people today in 2017 are isolated and removed from racism. The second viewpoint is despite self responsibility and/or success, systematic racism still derails Black progress in this country. From beauty standards to credit scores, the nation has structures designed without Black people in mind or specifically designed to go against Black people. Like the video, will people turn it off upon first view and stay the same, or will we as nation watch all of it and use it to get better.” – Independent Texan Male

“As an African American woman, the first verse made me so upset because it was just full of stereotypes. Inside I was screaming I’m not lazy! Where’s your suit? There are plenty of great black fathers! Ever heard of institutionalized racism? Then the second verse came on and I saw where the video was going and my heart rate slowed down and I started to breathe again. This video highlights the essence of what is wrong with America. No one has discussions with others with the intent on seeking understanding. We are so focused and getting our pain out. We don’t take a step back to see what it’s like to live in someone else’s shoes. We cast judgement on a community based on the opinions of those who aren’t a part of, nor living, in said community.  We all need to have more conversations like this to start moving the country in the right direction.” – Left Healthcare Professional

“How can we acknowledge a problem unless we address it honestly and accurately? When something as poisonous as racism is endemic in our society, it has to be addressed. That’s why this Joyner Lucas video is truly art. I was enraged, provoked, challenged, and inspired. Both sides spoke with extreme, intentionally offensive candor to represent the racist animosities that this country should A. Acknowledge and B. Work diligently to abolish. There is truth on both sides somewhere in the fog of historically fueled resentment. We are all races here now and must find a way to not just coexist, but thrive with one another. Despite initial appearances to the contrary, this video is working towards that end.” – Unaffiliated Humanist Musician

“I feel so strong about this video; yet I’m finding it difficult to find the words to describe the reasons why. To me, this was a visual depiction of someone’s comment section under a Facebook status. I’ve seen this argument many times over the last year and some change. When I see people arguing online, it’s clear that the two people going back and forth are not even bothering to read the other person’s comments for comprehension. People are only looking for points to rebut. This is a great reminder to us all that sometimes when you stop and listen, you may be able to at least achieve a level of understanding with one another. We all need to stop coming to the table to argue and instead come willing to listen and learn.” – Center Left HR 

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