See, this is what happens when folk –- Black folk –- get too comfortable.
Citing Jena –- which I did in a prior "Blogging Amerikkka" –- was only scratching the surface. To date, more than 30 –- THIRTY! –- reported incidents of noose hangings occurred throughout the country, with more sightings in view.
(Care to guess how many unreported "noose sightings" there have been around the country? Hmmmm. . .)
And if you're surprised, you haven't been paying attention to this country's history.
But what is it about NOW, about THIS TIME IN HISTORY, that makes folk so very comfortable wearing their Confederate shirts. . .hanging nooses. . .locking up Afrikan descendant children for incidents that are dismissed as "pranks" or "acting out" when white children are involved?
What is it about NOW that has bolstered the comfort level of a new generation of racial domestic terrorists intent on reeking havoc on those of Afrikan descent?
What is it about NOW that has emboldened "the white authority" to very bluntly declare open season on Black America with barely a ripple of sustained public outcry?
Many of us are comfortable in our gilded cages, with good jobs, houses, savings, and all the trappings of "success" in amerikkka.
But no matter what the trappings, no matter where you are on the "success" ladder, here is the "real deal" that we as A People must ponder as racial terrorism continues its surge in amerikkka. Let's learn the lessons from Jena. And the rise in noose hangings, if nothing else, remind us of the following (from "Underneath the Sacred White Tree" by Adar Ayira**):
In America there are towns
with plenty of Sacred White Trees
and a seat is reserved there
for everyone except
the ones who look like me
Branches ready for decoration with
21st Century Strange Fruit beckoning to me
with tightly knit knots of the deadly noose
While the town of Jena still claims
it doesn't know what the history of the noose means
they still knew enough to tie a noose of up high and very tightly
Underneath their Sacred White Tree
They know enough to continue to deny seats
to those who look like me
to arrest those who look like me
who just want to be free to sit in any spot, even up
Underneath their Sacred White Tree
Bob Marley spoke of One Love
but I wish you would tell me when will we love ourselves
what will it take, before we love ourselves enough
to stop assimilating into hate
Before we begin to love ourselves enough to become
the masters of our own fate or will we continue
holding out hope for change until change comes too late
Moving Forward,
Adar
**"Underneath the Sacred White Tree" can be heard on
Adar Ayira's poetry CD, "Baby, We Need to Talk" dropping soon!
