Today, images of black death are all about spectacle. With every shaky cameraphone video and every blurry dashcam clip of another black person senselessly killed at the hands of the police, who are supposed to protect them, the indignity of black death in America comes into sharper and sharper focus.
136 black people have been killed by police this year alone. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Two more black men killed in about as many days, their final moments forever captured on cameraphones.
Their stories have gained traction because of the visceral and disturbing videos of their deaths, deaths that echo so many others over the last year that have barely been acknowledged. But what will seeing videos of these men do? Will it make those in power believe that this is an epidemic? Will it make the system change? And if not, is it truly worth it?
Trauma in the black community is a constant reality we have to face.
We especially feel it when an unarmed black man is killed by a cop, a black woman dies in police custody or an officer walks free of charges after killing a black child in the park. In America, our skin color is a daily reminder that we, and our loved ones, may not make it to tomorrow.
The unfortunate reality is that Sterling and Castile weren’t the first and they won’t be the last to lose their lives to police shootings. But while we fight for them and stand against the despicable cycle of black death at the hands of cops leading to non-indictment, we must take care of ourselves.
If you ever find yourself in the United States of America, you might end up getting shot by a police officer.
It doesn’t matter if you live in what you consider a safe place: Police shootings aren’t correlated with a city’s violent crime rate, and can happen anywhere from Honolulu to Oklahoma City to Washington, D.C.
After watching Alton Sterling and Philando Castile die at the hands of police this week, we thought we’d offer a quick rundown on how to reduce your chances of being shot by police.
Here’s our primer, in two easy steps.
Philando Castile had worked for the school system since 2002 at three different locations. He began at age 19 as a nutrition services assistant and was promoted to nutrition services supervisor in 2014. He was working in a public school over the summer.
“I am deeply sorry for his family and for their loss. He’s worked in SPPS for many years and he graduated from our district, so he was one of our own,” said SPPS Superintendent Valeria Silva.
As a nutrition services assistant, Castile was responsible for preparing food, keeping students safe, helping students make healthy food choices and making sure that the food facilities were safe and clean. Once he was promoted, his duties included training colleagues and developing relationships with school and district officials.
Castile was “quick to greet former coworkers with a smile and hug,” said Toya Stewart Downey, a spokesperson for St. Paul Public Schools.
“Kids loved him. He was smart, over-qualified. He was quiet, respectful, and kind,” she added. “I knew him as warm and funny; he called me his ‘wing man.’ He wore a shirt and tie to his supervisor interview and said his goal was to one day ‘sit on the other side of this table.’”
RIP Philado Castile
Follow HuffPost on Facebook and Twitter
©2016 The Huffington Post | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from the Huffington Post
Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe
No comments:
Post a Comment