There is a difference between tragedy and policy. There is a difference between grief and a system that explains away grief. Let’s speak plainly.
There is a difference between tragedy and policy.
There is a difference between grief and a system that explains away grief.
Let’s speak plainly.
The Pattern
When some children die, the question is
“How do we hold someone accountable?”
When Black children die, the question too often becomes
“What did the child do?”
A child at play is not an enemy combatant.
Tamir Rice (2014)
Tamir Rice
Twelve years old. 12.
Playing with a toy gun in a park.
Shot within seconds of police arrival. Seconds.
No criminal charges.
The language used afterward focused on procedure.
On speed.
On technical justification.
On everything but the loss of a child’s life. A son. A sibling. A family member.
Trayvon Martin (2012)
Black adolescence is not probable cause.
Trayvon Martin
Seventeen.
Walking home with candy and iced tea.
Shooter acquitted. Signing packs of candy that Trayvon ran to store to buy like the child he was.
The conversation shifted from who killed him
to who he was.
Who the witness was. How she spoke.
What he carried. How big and strong he was. How “scary” he was in the dark. How his darkness was scary.
To those who are not ignorant filled, Trayvon’s darkness was beautiful and he should still be here today.
Aiyana Stanley-Jones (2010)
A sleeping child……
Aiyana Stanley-Jones
Seven years old. 7.
Sleeping on her grandmother’s couch during a late-night raid filmed for television.
Killed by a police bullet.
No lasting conviction.
Tyre King (2016)
Black boys are children.
Tyre King
Thirteen.
BB gun.
No charges.
Jordan Edwards (2017)
Accountability should not require spectacle.
Jordan Edwards
Fifteen. 15.
Leaving a party in a car.
Officer later convicted.
But only after public pressure, footage, and sustained outrage.
Michael Brown (2014)
Black children are not adults in disguise.
Michael Brown
Eighteen.
Unarmed.
No indictment.
James Baldwin wrote:
“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.”
The rage was not chaos.
It was recognition.
Latasha Harlins (1991)
Black girls deserve the presumption of innocence.
Latasha Harlins
Fifteen years old.
Shot over a bottle of orange juice.
The store owner received probation and community service.
Not prison.
The tape was clear.
The sentence was light.
Laquan McDonald (2014)
Truth should not require exposure to be believed.
Laquan McDonald
Seventeen.
Shot sixteen times by a Chicago police officer.
Initial police reports told one story.
Video told another.
The officer was later convicted — rare.
But it took public pressure and the forced release of footage.
Celia (1855)
Self-defense has always been politicized when the victim is Black.
Celia
A teenager enslaved in Missouri.
Repeatedly assaulted by the man who owned her.
She defended herself.
She was executed.
The law protected the violator.
Children in the Crosshairs of Poverty and Disability
Black children are often read through adult lenses.
Autism becomes “noncompliance.”
Fear becomes “aggression.”
Poverty becomes “criminality.”
Trauma becomes “attitude.”
Black children with disabilities are more likely to be suspended, restrained, arrested, or disbelieved.
Black children in poor neighborhoods are more likely to be surveilled.
When something happens, the narrative is ready:
• “He looked older.”
• “She was no angel.”
• “He shouldn’t have…”
• “Why were they there?”
The child disappears.
The justification steps forward.
And Then Comes the Accusation
When Black communities protest, we are told:
“You’re complaining.”
But what is complaint?
Is it complaint to want:
• A fair indictment?
• Equal sentencing?
• The presumption of childhood?
• The same outrage afforded to others?
Is it complaint to ask why video must go viral before truth moves?
Or is it memory speaking?
The Music Told Us
Strange Fruit
“Black bodies swinging…”
The Message
“Don’t push me ’cause I’m close to the edge…”
Keep Ya Head Up
“And since we all came from a woman…”
The music was not entertainment alone.
It was warning.
For the Bones to Remember
The accusation of “complaining” is a silencing tactic.
Ida B. Wells wrote:
“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
Truth is not complaint.
It is maintenance of dignity.