I send my condolences to Michael Brown’s family and all people worldwide feeling heartache as a result of police brutality.
Now, I have something to say about the looting at the protests… … …
Fuck those stores!
The bad guys aren’t the people looting those stores. The real bad guys are the people putting liquor stores & McD’s there in the first place. It shouldn’t even be there. Every hood you go to, you can’t find a library or community center, but there are liquor stores and poisonous foods in abundance. Parasites in the community. Then Black folks are proud of people for protecting these business that tranquilize (liquor) and poison (McD’s) their own neighborhood, while the media pits the “good negros” against the “bad negros”.
1) Those aren’t Black businesses
2) Protecting the financial interests of “community outsiders” isn’t a win to me
3) There are better things that can be there.
A Black neighborhood in which the Black dollar isn’t circulating and “others” set up businesses is basically a colony. There should be no surprise racist police are put in these places to protect the investors’ money. If you go to Chinatown in Philly, you don’t see chain stores, only Chinese business… and guess what? Chinatown also has a Chinese Police Dept, Chinese Fire Dept, a Chinese Bank, etc. Economic power IS power. It’s bigger than population, that is why there are whole Black communities that are powerless. For example, look at the Jewish community in this country. Small population but a lot of power, because economic power is a form of true power.
I’m not saying to loot or not. I’m saying that it doesn’t matter. Respectability politics won’t get us anywhere.
“Why didn’t you loot and you are protecting this store?”
“I wanted to show them we ain’t all ignorant niggas”
SHOW WHO?!
Getting beat upside the head, shot in the streets, and still trying to earn the favor of people who will treat you like less than a dog anyway. Risking your own wellbeing to protect a LIQUOR STORE, a parasite of the community, to “show them” you’re better than the rest of your people.
Cut the bullshit.
In the grand scheme of things, none of this takes away from the fact an unarmed Black man (Michael Brown) was murdered by a police officer last week. In the midst of all this media hoopla, let us keep that in mind (ironic I say this after this long post, but I didn’t intend for it to be this long. I didn’t even intend for it to be a whole post). No amount of liquor stores or hair supply shops can justify what happened to this young man. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
Peace.
-Nova Sankofa
What do you think? Feel Free to comment.