This weekend over 100 people were shot in Chicago. And, of course, many folks, including Black folks are angry and want vengeance and punishment of the shooters. They are also including them as enemies to Black folks.
But the shooters are victims of racism and perpetrators of racism.
A reminder:
Malcolm X was a thug, thief, violent drug-dealer, and a felon.
And then he wasn’t.
I know, there are sooo many Malcolm’s, in Chicago and other cities in the world caught up in the wrong chapter in their lives.
But it is a chapter in their life and not their whole story.
Dear Black folks:
Don’t give up on our youth.
They are not animals.
They are our brothers and sisters and desperately need our help, guidance, and resources.
This system is broken.
I am willing to stand alone on this one but a lot of the folks who are doing the shooting and killings are also victims of shooting and killings.
It is a vicious, evil cycle, and we all play a part in the uplifting and destruction of us. It just depends on what chapter of our life, we are currently in.
But even the Black folks shooting other Black folks lives matter.
The system is horribly broken.
But a child, and the statistics show us that most of the shooters are children, is still a child.
I know we can’t care about Black lives if we don’t also care and fight for the lives of Black children in gangs and who commit crime too.
Our Black children need our love and advocacy, even and/or especially, when they are least deserving of love.
Black criminals and Black victims of crimes are often the same folks at different points in our lives.
There were over 100 shootings this weekend and that means there are at least 200 victims of gun violence: those who got shot and those who pulled the triggers.
Our children are not animals. Our children are stuck in a system designed to fail them.
Let’s tear down the system; not each other.