Knowing Your Place: A Commentary on Jordan Davis and My “Black” Life

The last time I came at you guys was on June 15, 2013. Long damn time ago, I know. I have since taken on a job in Lansing as a full-time Journalist and I have wrongfully neglected this blog site. I just haven’t had the time, nor energy, to keep up with it and for that I greatly apologize. There have been a lot of things worth my attention that I haven’t had the ability to really shoot on like I have in the past, but periodically something will come up that will have my ass tied up in knots and I can no longer hold it in, and that’s why I’m here today. Without further ado, let’s get this started.

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♠ Reality is often more sobering than Fiction ♠

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.”

— Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General.

LANSING, Mich. (JSC) — I come to you all today not as a professional journalist, a broadcaster, or any type of representative of any company, conglomerate, or organization. I simply come to you today as a 34-year-old Black Man who is tired of seeing his thoughts, his life, his feelings, and his mere existence being treated as if it is trivial. I don’t say this without some type of logic or reasoning, and there is no shortage of evidence and examples to back up what I’m saying. In the amount of time since I last joined you, two very troubling cases of White-on-Black crime have come to their conclusion (largely). The first being the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin. The other, which saw 4/5 of the verdict handed down yesterday, was the case of 17-year-old Jordan Davis being shot dead by Michael Dunn, a 47-year-old software designer, on Nov. 23, 2012 in Jacksonville after Dunn rudely told Davis and his three friends to turn down the “thug music” pumping out of their SUV. An argument ensued and Dunn claimed that Davis — or somebody in the truck — pulled a 12-gauge shotgun on him and he felt his life was in danger and pumped 10 shots into the SUV, striking and killing Davis. Dunn, who was so afraid for his life moments earlier, calmly drove back to a hotel, ate some pizza, and walked his dog. Did not call the police. Did not inform authorities. And, might I add, did not actually see a gun. As the above quote from the Attorney General says, we’re still a “nation of cowards” when it comes to race, and Florida is the state that has a law that allows cowards to do what they do best. Let’s Go.