Yep, that’s right, I’m writing about Jesse twice in a row. I wish I didn’t have to. But as I sat in my bed, unable to sleep after reading about two particularly awful instances of police brutality and abuse of power, I needed some encouragement.
I immediately thought about Jesse Williams and the BET Awards speech that now has some Grey’s Anatomy fans petitioning for his swift exit from the show.
When Shonda Rhimes said, “nah” to that petition on Monday evening, I felt pride in my people: these talented Black folks who are standing unapologetically for equality.
When Shonda Rhimes said, “nah” to that petition on Monday evening, I felt pride in my people: these talented Black folks who are standing unapologetically for equality.
By Tuesday, just before midnight, I felt equally scared for my people. In a group message I have with three of my girlfriends, our resident Hampton University alumna gave us the few details she had about Kai Kitchen. Kai is also a member of Hampton’s class of 2016 and is in jail without bond after being stopped three times in 30 minutes by the same police officer while on her way home to California. Her paperwork lists "reckless driving" as her offense, and notes that there is "no bond permitted." She was detained for 15 hours before she could call anyone. There seems to be something missing here, and we know that Black women have been killed after questionable traffic stops before.
While those sketchy details came spilling out in our thread, we simultaneously discussed the unbelievable death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old man man was shot and killed in Baton Rouge Tuesday morning. His crime? Selling CD’s in front of a store. It was all caught in a chilling video complete with screams and cries of those who witnessed officers open fire. I only watched the video with sound one time. That was enough. In fact, it was too much.
As we head into the hump day slump, some of us feel heavy not with the weight of a post-holiday week, but with the burden of Blackness. #JusticeforKai could easily be #JusticeforDanielle. Any one of us could become the hashtag – rich, poor, college-educated, unarmed, asthmatic, prepubescent, hooded, record, no record, resisting or not. The common denominator is the extra bit of melanin that makes our skin glisten in the light even as they pin us to the ground. Even as they murder us in cold blood. Even as they go on paid administrative leave and never get indicted.
If today feels extra heavy for you, hopefully some words from Jesse will help you to see how we might one day move beyond this dark, dark time.
If today feels extra heavy for you, hopefully some words from Jesse will help you to see how we might one day move beyond this dark, dark time.
A system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do. | The more we learn about who we are and how we got here, the more we will mobilize. |
This is also in particular for the Black women in particular who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.
Freedom is always coming in the hereafter. But you know what though, the hereafter is a hustle. We want it now. | We know that police somehow manage to deescalate, disarm and not kill White people every day. So what’s gonna happen is we are gonna have equal rights and justice in our own country, or we will restructure their function in ours. |
The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander. That’s not our job, stop with all that. If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest in equal rights for Black people, then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down.
The thing is, though, just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real.
When someone on Facebook or at the office or in the grocery store tries to downplay this latest police-involved death, take Jesse’s advice: nurture yourself first, do not comfort that bystander and remember, always remember, that you are even more magical because you are also real.