:: hashtag • JUSTICE for ...

It appears, though this is NOT anything surprising, that the lives of our black youth are disposable. The very fact that I can state with such ease how unsurprising this is, is remarkably upsetting because one would like to believe that such senseless acts would have eased up - because we all know, such acts would NOT just stop all together. Nonetheless, the simple act of being black in the wrong place at the wrong time seems to reign as the supreme law in good 'ole America. The very act of being born with a darker hued skin is an act of treason on a country they say is the land for the free.

We, as I am black, are criminal. Guilty until proven innocent.

That constitution... that declaration... full of statute of limitations just beyond us. How must we actively be in pursuit for happiness if we are constantly looking over our shoulders searching for bullets that could strike us dead in our tracks?

With that said, we must shine light on the story of Jordan Edwards. A teenager. A young black king. With grand aspirations. An exceptional student. But, primarily, a teenager. His life was just beginning. The world was just at the cusp of opening up to him. However, he will never get the chance to see what was intended for him. His life was stolen from him on a night of fun and partying. Carefree, living life as any teenager should, Jordan Edwards and his brothers were met with the brute force that so many officers before and after seem to possess when they deal with any person of color, be it child, woman or man. Ceasing to stop driving at the request of an officer's demands, the teenagers, proceeded to leave the party, a party which was being shut down due to sound complaints and underage drinking. However, that same officer who demanded the boys to stop, without any true reasoning for why he needed them to NOT leave, withdrew his gun and shot at the car that Jordan Edwards and his brothers were in. Missing the boys, the first round, the second round hit Jordan.

Taking his life.

Just like that.

From that point on, it was business as usual. Jordan's brothers, witnesses to his death, firsthand, are pulled from the car and arrested. Again, no reasoning. Just procedure. All the while, their dying brother, remains in the car for well over twenty minutes. Bleeding to death. No ambulance rushing to the scene to aid him. No explanation. Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

An entire LIFE. Just gone. For what? No reason. No REAL reason.

Siblings left in the dark. Not sure if Jordan is truly dead or not. Confused as to why they are under arrest. Fearful of what is to come for their own lives. Now must grow up the remainder of their lives recollecting the events of that day. Forever. A brutal cross to bear for such young men to be. A painful reality every parent FEARS to hear or go through when it comes to the well-being of their children. A gut wrenching injustice.

Another young black king lost to the hands of law enforcement, Jordan Edwards became just another Trayvon Martin. Yet another "justice for..." hashtag. Yet another soul lost. Yet another display of how the lives of our black youth are just optional. However, though lost, he won't be forgotten. For what they fail to realize, since we lost Trayvon Martin to a man who decided to take law enforcement into his own hands, we have NOT FORGOTTEN the names of any of the victims that we have lost since then. We were awoken. And with the age of technology, what they have been able to do in the dark and get away with it, is NOW coming to light. The countless names of the many black kings and queens taken from us ring loudly with us. Their families continuing their legacies as we, as a black community, make sure to always REMIND those who try to forget. Yes, we will move on and pick up our heads up. But we will also continue to keep these tabs on the injustices pressed upon us. We will do this until we can no longer do it. Because there will come a day in which they will have to answer for their atrocities. And on that day, we will present to the King Almighty, who will pass the ultimate judgement, all that they did to a body of His people. And we cannot say He will take this news too greatly. We cannot say He will be happy. We cannot say He will show any mercy. We simply cannot say.

So, while they continue to peel the very lives God gave us all from us, we will continue to quietly rise and build an irrefutable case against them. And when judgement day comes, we will have the GLORY we seek. Though, it pains me to say we will not see the justice we seek until Judgement Day, it is a sign of the times. We are living through the worst of it all now because the BEST of it all is to come. But to see the light, you have got to make it through the night.

Sparing an excessive rant on how the very men who are there to protect us are also the very men in which we fear. Sparing the "all lives matter" until "black lives matter" rant. Sparing it all. I will simply say this, God has not and will not give us more than we can bear. If He knows we can SURVIVE this, then we must have that same faith in ourselves that He has in us.

—

To read the full story on Jordan Edwards, follow this LINK. You can also listen to account of Jordan Edwards' story on the Tom Joyner Morning show HERE.

As always, one cannot do better if they do not know better. So, read and share. Bringing awareness to an issue is vital. Without awareness, the issue ceases to exist to many who choose to remain willfully and blissfully ignorant.

Again, read. Share. Repeat.

—

:: Post Rationalizing(s)

"What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.”

— Charles Bukowski—