Before I get to these relevant issues, I want to make something clear. Even though I recently did those video projects and promoted the new Ospreyshire track, it doesn’t mean that I have been ignoring what’s going on. Being able to do videography gave me joy even with the hard work involved, but that euphoria has wavered before crashing when more things happened.
I’m sure you all know about Jacob Blake from Kenosha, Wisconsin by now. He’s a Black man who became another victim of racially-coded policing as he got shot 7 times behind his back in front of his kids in his car. Thankfully, he’s still alive, but he’s paralyzed for the waist down and could possibly be wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life. Yes, I heard about the story about how there was allegedly a knife on the driver’s side floor, but he was unarmed on his person, and I have suspicion of that knife being planted evidence. The cop who shot him is on administrative leave and the others with him didn’t have their body cameras on. The only reason people know this is because of that cell phone video. Recently, Blake’s dad found out that his son was handcuffed to a hospital bed when he visited him. ARE YOU SERIOUS? I’m sorry, but America has no right calling other countries out for human rights violations when devilry like this happens. What kind of a psychopath would handcuff a PARALYZED MAN to a hospital bed? It’s not like actual murderers get treated better than this. Yes, I’m being sarcastic and the next paragraph proves my point.
Protests erupted in that Southern Wisconsin city to the surprise of no one. However, there was a so-called militia that walked around armed to the teeth. One such member was the 17 year old Kyle Rittenhouse from Antioch, IL. This thug shoots three protestors and killed two of them. There was video of him walking around right by Kenosha PD, and nobody does anything to him! He didn’t get arrested until after the fact and he’s now being charged with 1st degree murder among other crimes. I’m glad they pressed charges, but I’m not celebrating until there’s a conviction. If Rittenhouse is convicted he’ll be in jail for life without parole. So let me get this straight…someone gets paralyzed for breaking up a fight, but a double murder suspect is arrested while unscathed? This destroys the credibility of Kenosha PD and I’m glad people are seeing the stark contrast in treatment. As one can see the meme above, it also shows that if you’re Black with a toy gun, you get riddled with bullets no questions asked. But someone with a real gun can kill people and is treated so much more humanely. Rittenhouse is a hardcore blue lives matter supporter and was radicalized online, so that explained a lot about his actions. Do you think an armed Black or Arab teen would get the same treatment in that case by gunning down people?
I do have an interesting perspective on this situation because I have actually been to both Kenosha and Antioch before. I don’t know any of the people involved in this case, but I do have familiarity with those areas. The thing is I used to live not far from both places during my teenage years. Lake County, Illinois is the northeastern-most county in the state and it’s also the 2nd wealthiest (DuPage is #1 in the Land of Lincoln). When my family lived there, it was because of my dad’s job as a pastor and we lived in a parsonage in one of the suburbs. My family would’ve never been able to afford to live in most of the towns in any other situation. We were middle-class from an annual income standpoint, but we were one of the poorest families in where we lived. Not all of Lake County is like this, but I’ve visited towns with more McMansions, Benzes and North Face jackets than I would be accustomed to. Antioch is a majority white (88.79% according to their last census) town that would be considered upper-middle class. It’s also not far from Kenosha, since it’s right on the IL/WI border. Some of you that actually read my books would know that one of my characters Rozenn Padgett from Hollandus Landing is from that town, but I digress. So many people I’ve met from the more affluent parts of the county have come off as fake, entitled, and racist to me with dog whistles and more overt reasons. There have been times where I’d shop in some of the stores and I’d be followed around even though I was going to buy something. During my high school years, I would hear stories of teens doing hard drugs and drinking, but never got punished since their parents were school board members, cops, lawyers, city council members, etc. Kenosha on the other hand is a more diverse place. It was closer to get to than Chicago during those times, and parts of it felt like a mini-Milwaukee. I didn’t have too many issues over in that city, but some people treated me worse than others. It’s just a shame that this tragedy just ripped apart that city.
I’ve been so angry at what’s going on in the 4th largest city in Wisconsin, let alone this country. You’d think that after what happened to George Floyd or Breonna Taylor, that people would have more sense when it comes to race relations, but to say we have a long way to go is an understatement. I’m trying to be as civil as I can in this post because I have so much internalized rage from hearing these stories that I don’t bust a blood vessel or anything like that. Is justice too much to ask?
Ospreyshire's Realm 