Every time (almost daily) I hear of some youth being gunned down in the streets of Philly, I brace myself for the possibility that I'll be going to the funeral of another young man or woman I know, have taught, know of, or met once.
It would be untrue and irreverent to say that I'm relieved when I find out it's no one I know. My outrage is just the same! For it could have been a young man or woman I knew, have taught, knew of, or met once had our paths taken slightly different turns at some point.
More often than not, a young black life.
More often than not, taken by another young black life.
More often than not, a mother left to mourn a lost son.
More often than not, names soon forgotten once the newscast is over.....unless of course it was someone else who did the killing.
{Pauses and waits for the attacks}
That's different Flem. You drank the Kool Aid Flem.
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
This isn't an argument against current social justice movements, most of which have my support. But so, too, do the students I once taught whose classmates took a bullet and left us! They, too, deserve my support.
Flem, it's unfair to say we don't care about those young lives too!
I'd love to retweet.
I'd love to reply with an "AMEN" to those tweets too.
I'd love to "favorite" those tweets too.
{Pauses and waits for the attacks}
This isn't in reply to whatever the latest miscarriage of justice might be; to whatever cop felt s/he should be cop, judge, jury and executioner. I don't know the latest yet.
This is in response to a teenager being shot and killed tonight in Philadelphia. Another one.
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