Silence the Violence

Yesterday our class met with Rekia's class. She played the song Strange Fruit, Nina Simone's version. We talked about the lynchings of Black people and how many Black men were lynched because of the often false accusations of raping white women. The point that I also wanted to drive home about lynchings is that they were family affairs. White mothers, fathers, and children attended the murders of Black people. In Akom's class discussion about youth activism, Donshenya turned our discussion toward how we can end the violence in our community. I have been thinking about guns and how they have been used historically for oppression. They are machines of cowardice. They are tools used to separate one human being from his or her prey. Given the historical context for violence towards Black people, why are we killing each other? Was violence less prevalent in Black and Brown communities when they had a common enemy of white supremacy?