WTF Are You Thinking: In Real Life There is No “Talk” for Black Parents to Give Their Children

I know many writers are taking to ink after yet another police officer is acquitted of murdering a Black man, a human being. And I don’t con myself into believing I have the skill to adequately put into words the aching that is felt, not just in my heart, but in the tormented hearts of millions of Americans. For that reason, I won’t deny that others can see the injustice here. But this threat is not a threat to all Americans. We are all witnessing the assassination of Black people.

Many are appalled that Diamond Reynolds’ live footage of Philando Castile’s murder was not enough to garner a conviction, but for Black folks, this is the reality in which we were conceived. It is the nightmare into which our ancestors were stolen.

When any person can search YouTube, finding multiple vignettes of Black people being extinguished at the hands of law enforcement officers in any city across the country, it is certifiable that this is the Black American’s birthright. Law abiding citizens paying taxes to die at the hands of ones who are supposed to protect them IS the American way.

I am appalled that in error folks look to social media as the great social equalizer. Nay! This is no Selma. In real life it is just the mass transmission of entertainment for white supremacy. A cult. A Rocky Horror Show. It is a veritable menagerie where white folks get to stare at the captives of their Great American Safari experience. Meanwhile white lawmakers kneel to pray over the shootings of their white colleagues when it is within their grasp to affect the change we need.

And not even 10 minutes after the verdict was announced and Philando Castile’s mother’s statement was broadcast, there were several articles cycling through social media sites, encouraging Black parents to have “The Talk” with their children. I do believe in conspiracies and I am sure this is a seed of passivity intentionally planted in the minds of Black folks.

There is NO fucking talk.

There is nothing a Black man, woman, boy or girl can do to call off the racists. We could be beautiful, strong, smart, rich, kind, Christian, stylish, law abiding, and submissive all at once and it would not deter a racist’s intent to kill a Black person. Philando, Mike, Sandra, Tamir, Trayvon, Terrance, Aiyana and all the others were examples of this.

It is as if, even after Mother Africa, we are being stolen away all over again. Here today, gone tomorrow, never to be seen or heard from again, leaving mothers and fathers grieving when they shouldn’t have to, staring at the places they last saw their beloved. Meanwhile, our black communities quickly fill with altars of memories prematurely deployed as the legacies we hoped for.

So instead of pruning back the beautifully created flower of Black children before they have begun to fully bloom, we must empower them by NOT planting psychological chains of step-and-fetch-it slavery.

And for the many Black parents saying they want their sons and daughters to be compliant no matter what, hoping to pursue justice at a later date:

What real justice is that for Black children? What justice was there for the daughter of Philando Castile who saw her father murdered only inches from her grasp?

It is happening live and in living color as folks stare at the horrifying images for merely an instant, going right back to their “lives,” less free and barely living.

Wake up y’all. There is no talk. No, there is NO talk.