Repeated History.

It was August 28th, 1955. 

Eye gouged out, teeth knocked out, tongue hanging out of his mouth, sagittal slice to the skull and brain with an axe, gunshot to the head. Beaten beyond recognition. 

He was 14. 

His crime for such a gruesome death?

All he did was whistle. 

Except he was a black teenager who whistled at a white woman. 

His body became a headline as his mother mustered up her strength, insisted that his casket remain open and spoke to the public about injustice. She sat through that trial. And watched. As his murderers were acquitted. And appeared unfazed. 

You say, well that was then?

Well I rebutt. Because his murderers had children. The jurors had children. Those law enforcement officers had children. And while I pray that his children didn’t inherit a legacy of hate and indifference, I fear that the evidence speaks to the contrary. Because I keep seeing Emmett Till everywhere that I go. There’s Rodney, Trayvon, Oscar, Sandra, Breonna, Eric, Botham, Ahmaud, George, Philando.

But don’t forget about the Emmett’s who are slowly dying. The ones jailed for similar offenses compared to their white counterparts, the ones who are trying to outlive the chokehold of poverty but can’t break into the echelon of the middle class because they weren’t chosen to be part of the “talented tenth” all while their counterparts pat themselves on the back for accomplishments and material achievements granted because they’ve had free access to spaces since they were born. 

You say, these aren’t health issues? 

I rebutt once again. Because the sharecroppers in Tuskegee whose bodies were ravaged with syphilis were never informed of their condition and had treatment withheld. Then there’s Ebb’s radiation and Henrietta’s cells, lead poisoning in Flint, acute coronary syndrome without revascularization, higher deaths related to heart disease, higher deaths related to breast cancer, higher all cause mortality. 

You say, be happy, be patient, there is progress? 

Well, I see the same story of oppression with a rotation of the choice of weaponry. Instead of axes, today its lack of access. And be not mistaken, some of the weaponry has lasted the test of time. Men with triggers continue to end lives and remain acquitted for their crimes. 

And until there is change, I will continue to proclaim that black skin is not a crime.

Despite your shackles, I’ll break free and still I rise.

Because if Emmett’s mom could bravely walk up the stairs of the courthouse to recount her son’s gruesome last days while white children shot at her with toy guns, I refuse to disrespect her legacy and stay silent about injustice. 

And if you continue to try to pacify and muzzle the unheard, then you are breaking the first line of the oath you pledged to uphold. Because this is the kind of harm that lasts for generations.