Justice Served?

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Black Lives Matter

Today (April, 20, 2021), a jury in Minneapolis found Derek Chauvin – a former police officer – guilty of killing George Floyd. Chauvin was an active duty officer at the time of the killing. It is certainly to be celebrated that the jury reached the verdict that it did. The verdict is to be celebrated because we have seen time and time again that either no charges are brought against those who kill Black and Brown people, or when charges are brought, the accused will not be convicted.

It is difficult for be to be in such a celebratory mood, however, because I don’t know if this is actually a sign of change. I didn’t watch the trial religiously as some others did, but there were many police officers and police-affiliated witnesses who testified against Derek Chauvin. I ask therefore, why is he being “sacrificed”? Is there an actual crack in the blue wall? Was it the nine-plus minutes of Chaivin with his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck that made a difference? The jury was asked to “believe their eyes,” which I guess they did. Makes me wonder why the Rodney King jury did not believe their eyes? That was a different time, for sure, when there was not as much rage among so many people about social justice issues.

I do hope that this verdict signals a greater change in our society and that the Derek Chauvin verdict is not a fluke. We will watch to see what happens with the Kimberly Ann Potter (who shot and killed Daunte Wright) case, and unfortunately, the cases that are still to come. I could go on about the need for police reform and the need for general respect for the lives of Black and Brown people. I certainly hope I will see the day when such respect is demonstrated on a routine basis. For now, I guess I will accept the fact that there is some sense of justice for the Floyd family and hope that we won’t be here again.

#BlackLivesMatter

Will We Ever Learn?

I came across the text below as an image on Instagram and I wish I knew to whom attribution could be made – except for the people named in the piece AND those who were unnamed (because sadly, the piece would be much too long to name all the Black and Brown bodies that have been killed or harassed in similar ways). I’ve said this before, but we put out statements or we issue hope and prayers, and we say things like, “hate and racism have no place in this neighborhood/school/city/country.” Maybe it’s a good thing we aren’t making a lot of statements anymore because these statements all ring hollow when we see no change in the behaviors of the people who keep killing us. What’s the point of a statement when the actions that lead to them do not change? Yes, these statements are just performative and there is no real desire (or seemingly no desire) for the real structural changes that are needed to enable Black and Brown bodies to simply LIVE! And if racism and hatred have no place in our society, why do we keep seeing it play out every day? (A rhetorical question, for sure).

And now, as if trying to live wasn’t enough, assuming the governor of Florida signs the HB-1 bill), in Florida:

• • Protesting will become a felony (leading to the removal of voting rights)
  • “Aggravated rioting” will also be a felony
  • Protesters will be denied bail
  • People who kill or do bodily harm to protesters will be immune from civil prosecution
  • Pulling down or damaging confederate statutes will be a crime
  • The state (FL) may override any local municipality that decreases police funding

If this is not a harbinger of things to come in other so-called “red states” I don’t know what is. And if you don’t see a problem with this legislation, I am not going to attempt to explain it here. 

I, therefore, ask, again, “will we ever learn?” Will we learn to treat Black and Brown people with the respect we deserve? Will we ever be treated like the human beings that we are? Will it ever be safe for us to walk, to jog, to shop, to play, to breathe? I sure hope that day will come when we can do these things and feel safe doing them.  

Today I make no call for action. I’ve done a lot of that. This is merely a reflective post as I wait to see what happens in Florida; as I wait to see what happens in Minnesota (with the Chauvin case); and sadly, as I wait to see when another Black or Brown body will be killed simply for being!

The text of the Instagram Post:

“I need to drive my two-year-old to daycare tomorrow morning. To ensure we arrive alive, we won’t take public transit (Oscar Grant). I removed all air fresheners from the vehicle and double-checked my registration status (Daunte Wright), and ensured my license plates were visible (Lt. Caron Nazario). I will be careful to follow all traffic rules (Philando Castille), signal every turn (Sandra Bland), keep the radio volume low (Jordan Davis), and won’t stop at a fast food chain for a meal (Rayshard Brooks). I’m too afraid to pray (Rev. Clementa C. Pickney) so I just hope the car won’t break down (Corey Jones).

When my wife picks him up at the end of the day, I’ll remind her not to dance (Elijah McClain), stop to play in a park (Tamir Rice), patronize the local convenience store for snacks (Trayvon Martin), or walk around the neighborhood (Mike Brown). Once they are home, we won’t stand in our backyard (Stephon Clark), eat ice cream on the couch (Botham Jean), or play any video games (Atatiana Jefferson).

After my wife and I tuck him into bed around 7:30pm, neither of us will leave the house to go to Walmart (John Crawford) or to the gym (Tshyrand Oates) or on a jog (Ahmaud Arbery). We won’t even walk to see the birds (Christian Cooper). We’ll just sit and try not to breathe (George Floyd) and not to sleep (Breonna Taylor).”

Author unknown
(subsequently identified as David Gray)

Distractions and Courtroom Re-enactments

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Black Lives Matter, Police killings, racism trials

Everyone is undoubtedly aware that the trial of Derek Chauvin, accused of killing George Floyd, has begun. If you were not aware, then try Google. Of course, for me, the testimony is not at all interesting. The prosecution is making an attempt to show Mr. Floyd as a flawed, but decent human being (like we all are), and just how relatively happy he was just moments before he was killed. Of course, they had to bring up his drug use (the defense certainly would have if the prosecution didn’t – and they still will). But this brief blog post is not so much about the details of the trial, but about my skepticism about the American Justice System and me already wondering about the outcome of trial, even though all the evidence and testimony has not yet been presented.

It has been reported that half of the jury is non-white because this will allegedly do what? Lead to a hung jury? But I’m jumping ahead to speculate about what may or may not happen.

There is one thing I have found to be particularly striking in the opening remarks of the defense. They claimed that the large crowds and video recording, etc. was distracting the police from doing their jobs, and, as a result they couldn’t pay attention to the man they were killing. AND, of course, Mr. Floyd was a substance abuser, which really caused his death. This information comes directly from the playbook of “let’s demonize the victim,” so we can say that he (or she, or they) deserved to die because presumably it was just a matter of time before they did something even more egregious. We’ve seen this tactic over and over again, haven’t we? I continue to pray that I never get stopped (again) or, heaven forbid, killed by the police. They will surely talk about that pen I took home from the office when I was an employee at a department store office when I was a teenager. Maybe I should send a box of pens to the department store now as restitution?

But you know what might actually be a good form of restitution? A good courtroom re-enactment. I’m not a court-tv fan, but I do watch a lot of legal dramas.😛 I haven’t seen a good re-enactment in a long time. I’d definitely watch this one. If, as the defense claims, Mr Floyd died not from the knee in his neck, but rather from the drugs in his system, I say, let’s have Chauvin lay on the floor in the courthouse with a similar level of distractions (we know the case is being recorded and live streamed) and have someone put their knee on his neck for 9+ minutes and see if he will still be alive. If he is, then maybe, just maybe I will believe that Chauvin didn’t kill Mr. Floyd. If the prosecution has not yet thought of this idea, you can have it – NO CHARGE!

Leadership and (Racial) Crisis

In this country, we have watched, and some of us have experienced, racism in its many forms for many years. The economic, employment, health, education, housing, technology, wealth (and on and on…) disparities exist and some may say (now that these are being brought to light in different ways) they are shocked by hearing this “news.” But to many people, these disparities are not shocking; they are real – they are a way of life. The impact of these disparities is felt each and every day. That they are brought to the surface – again – after the killing of George Floyd, however, seemed to be a wake-up call for many people – including many leaders.

In defining leaders I’m not talking about those necessarily in titled positions. I watch as some of those titled leaders refuse to / choose not to / don’t have (or make) the time to acknowledge their colleagues who are hurting. I watch as these titled leaders roll out the seemingly obligatory statements. I watch as some of those titled leaders find it so difficult to say three words, “Black Lives Matter!” I watch as some of those titled leaders feel they are being attacked because people are demanding justice. I watch, and I ask myself, “Is this leadership?”

However, I see leadership in so many other places. I see it in a friend of mine who called to say that he has “found his voice” and he’s been speaking up at his place of work in order to effect change there. I see leadership in the students at many institutions who are demanding justice for Black students (and faculty and other traditionally underrepresented groups) on their campuses. I see leadership in the people who organize protests to draw even more attention to the systemic problems of racism and calling for changes in these systems. And I see leadership in my friends and colleagues who demonstrate their activism every day in so many ways.

These leaders understand that to change the systems of oppression, we must all be vigilant in our words and actions as we hold ourselves and those in positions of authority (myself included) accountable for our collective actions. In the last week, I have seen several references to “performative activism” and “keyboard activism,” both referring to the fact that, for some people, their words/actions will not be sustained. And certainly, there is reason to believe they won’t be sustained as this is not the first time we’ve been here. My fervent hope is that this time, with sustained pressure and action, especially from the often unsung heroes – these leaders – we will see positive changes for Black people in America.

#BlackLivesMatter

Let’s all rise in response to the third question in the cartoon below…

Leading Change Cartoon [Source: https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/change-management-comic-strips/]

 

Statements and Accountability

Since the brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis, we have seen the entire country – indeed the entire world – rally for racial equity and justice. We have also seen many institutions of all kinds release statements “in support of Mr. Floyd and his family,” or “against racism and oppression.” For far too long and way too often we have seen and read statements like these. My own place of work has issued not one, but two statements in the last week. Some statements though, ring hollow as if they are done under duress (and maybe they are, I don’t know), while others seem to be sincere and give a sense of hope that there will be some action taken towards a better, brighter future. There are several of the latter type that I have seen, but I will draw your attention to four in particular. My reason for choosing these, when you read them, should be obvious.

• • Society of American Archivist’s “Council Statement on Black Lives and Archives.”
  • Arizona State University Libraries’ “Preserving history, telling stories: in the service of justice and equity.”
  • UNC Chapel Hill Libraries’ “The University Libraries’ Role in Reckoning with Systemic Racism and Oppression.”
  • OCLC’s Skip Prichard’s “Remembering George Floyd with Reflection and Action.”

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that we all stand together to end racism and I believe in the (what I hope are good) intentions of these statements and the often heartfelt sentiments behind them. I do find myself asking, though, when will we move beyond the statements? What ACTIONS will we take to move towards this just society to which so many of us make reference? What does that just society even look like? In a conversation with a friend recently we asked that very question. His response to me was a very simple one; “We don’t want to be killed by the police.” It seems simple doesn’t it. And when, as in this case of George Floyd, the police officer responsible for the death of a Black person *is* arrested and charged, as the Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison puts it, “history shows that trying and winning a case like this one is hard.” [MN Attorney General Ellison Press Release, June 3, 2020, accessed June 4, 2020].

Is “not being killed by the police” enough justice to end the systemic racism and oppression we see and some of us experience? Where is the accountability behind these statements? When we say in these statements that we will do this or we will change that, how long does it take to make these changes or to do these things? This is hardly the first time we have made these statements at our various places of employment, so what have we – collectively, as a society – done since the last time we issued one of these statements? Where is the ACTION? Where is the CHANGE? We can call out racist rhetoric, for example, and then in the next (or even the same) breath also say we must protect “free speech.” What message does that send to the person against whom that rhetoric was directed? It says you don’t care!  At least, that’s what it says to me. This is a very simple example of the type of change that can happen, but doesn’t. And it makes me angry. And it makes me sad.

And yet, with all these emotions (and more) and with the most recent acts of racism occurring while in the midst of a pandemic, I push on. I go to work, I share my thoughts, I encourage my colleagues and friends and they encourage me. And some of the people I expect to care, or who I’d think would (or should) care, are silent. But, I push on! These two pieces below have been circulated a lot – at least in the circles in which I travel. I’m not sure I could have said it better.

• • Shenequa Golding’s “Maintaining Professionalism In The Age of Black Death Is….A Lot.”
  • Danielle Cadet’s “Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re OK — Chances Are They’re Not.”

In 2004 when Janet Jackson won her “Soul Train Music Awards” award (OK, don’t ding me for keeping this quote), she said in her acceptance speech, “Black women possess a special indestructible strength that allows us to not only get down, but to get up, to get through and to get over.” And here we are, in 2020, as Black people, trying to get through. And we do get through, with the help of great allies and friends, and family and faith. Despite the fact that there are so many people who don’t take the time to understand the impact – physically, psychologically, emotionally – being Black in America, especially at times like these has. I see these people, and I hear these people and I want to say, “WAKE THE HELL UP! LISTEN TO ME! HEAR ME! SEE ME!” And then I think, what’s the point? They have no desire to, or they can’t, or they simply choose not to.

At those times, I can hear the words of a long time friend, saying, “don’t let anyone steal your joy.” And while I remain grateful for all that I have – MY LIFE, my faith, my family, friends, food, shelter, and other basic necessities – sometimes it just feels like there isn’t a lot of joy left to be stolen.