For the Fallen and Heaven's Ascenders

This post is not political. This post is not post-racial. This post is not meant to stir the pot. I write these words to make sense out of the absurd. I write these words to bring myself closer to comprehending atrocities that did not begin yesterday; and will not end tomorrow. I write these words, heavyhearted and dismayed for yet another life cut needlessly short. I write these words for Oscar Grant. If you have never heard of Oscar Grant, you can learn about him here. His name may be forgotten less than a year from now, but there is a permanence about the manner in which he died that marks us all. This is the ugly tear in our social fabric. It has yet to be stitched. Oscar Grant. Amadou Diallo. Anthony Baez. James Byrd. Sean Bell. Names. Just a drop in the well of lives that were drained violently by racial injustice. So whether it was a fatal choke hold or 41 shots- one thing remains true; these lives were expended with little or no accountability whatsoever. This is our past. This is the future. This is the reality. As brusque or dismal as that may sound- it is the undisputed truth. This much I'll say. Yes, I am angry. Yes, I'm wide awake. No, we are not extinct. We have lived to count another day. I understand all too well that today may be all we get. Through my veins pulses the blood of resilience that my people possess. All we know is how to push on. There is no 'quit' in us. We know no other way. And there is a sobering, tragic beauty in that. FOR OSCAR FOR US LEST WE FORGET