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The killing of unarmed Black boys is not new. It predates all of us and is even recorded in Biblical times. King Pharaoh, a nefarious politician to his core, was a man who wanted his regime to remain in power even after his reign as ruler ended. He felt threatened by the minority population, the Israelites, because they were growing in number and one day, could potentially take over. King Pharaoh tried quite a few heinous yet familiar political strategies to marginalize and stifle the growth of the Israelite community, like slavery and incarceration. He also ordered all male Israelite children to be killed. Pharaoh thought that if he killed all the boys and imprisoned all the men that the Israelites would eventually become extinct. But one Israelite mother stood out in this story. Jochebed stood against the orders of Pharaoh and hid her newborn son Moses in the woods. Later, she put him in a basket and sent him down the Nile River. Moses was “rescued,” and when he grew up, he returned to his birthplace to deliver his people from Pharaoh’s wicked regime.
Fast forward to 2015. Progenies of Pharaoh are still out for blood. They hold many different titles and wear a plethora of different uniforms. They can be found in various cities, from Ferguson and New York to Cleveland and Baltimore. They are sworn in to protect and serve their communities, but some of them are dedicated to fulfilling the ideology of Pharaoh: to kill our Black boys and men at all costs. They are police officers, security guards, vigilantes or what I like to call “The 2015 Pharaoh Regime.”
The deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, and now Freddie Gray, have managed to make national news, but there are so many Black boys and men (and women) who have been killed by the police who never make headlines. According to a USA Today investigative report, a Black person was killed by a white police officer twice a week in the United States during a seven-year period that ended in 2012. Black parents are having to face the frightening notion that their sons could die by the same hands that are supposed to protect them. However, parents, specifically Black mothers, are still doing what they can to guard and educate their kids just as Jochebed protected Moses. Think back to the viral video of Toya Graham passionately and aggressively disciplining her 16-year-old son when she saw him amongst the crowd participating in the recent uprising in Baltimore. Graham said in a CBS News interview, “That’s my only son and at the end of the day I don’t want him to be a Freddie Gray.”
No mother wants to see her child fall victim to this war against Black boys. Black mothers everywhere are very uneasy whenever they hear the news that another young man of color has been killed by police.
“Being a mother of two young men, it is very disheartening to continually hear that another young male was killed by the police,” said a 41-year-old mother, Yalanda. “My heart breaks for the parents and leaves me utterly speechless.”
Melissa, 31, shares similar sentiments. “It is heartbreaking, devastating and infuriating all at the same time. To see mothers having to bury their children – the thought is unbearable.”
Carrie, 63, has an adult son who has been stopped several times walking home and coming from the subway station in Washington, DC. She shared the advice she gave her son on what to do when confronted by the police. “Never resist. Answer their questions. Do whatever they say. I’ve told him this since he was a pre-adolescent. I remember him arguing, ‘But some of the police officers are Black.’ I told him, ‘They are not your friends. Don’t forget that!’”
Melissa recalls how the police antagonized her son even at the tender age of 6. “When I was pulled over by the police for a traffic violation, they shined their light in his car seat and questioned him. It was infuriating. You don’t need that much light to look at a car seat. Leave him be! He obviously wasn’t driving.”
Melissa feels that even at the age of 6 she has to have conversations with her son about interacting with the police. “I encourage him to be aware of his surroundings. We talk about the current injustices, but also historical ones, like Emmett Till. We talk about what Trayvon was doing, Eric Garner, and now, Freddy. We talk about what the police did to them and that it’s not just guns. We talk about making sure that he is always with someone, to be respectful and say no if he feels wronged. I would do anything to him. But it is evident that my Black son is not safe anywhere in these so-called United States of policehood.”
Yalanda experienced the effects of police brutality and the toll it takes on the Black family. Her uncle died of asphyxiation while in police custody.
“My uncle was killed by a police officer while attending a Janet Jackson concert. The officers involved were never convicted because the grand jury decided that there was not enough evidence, even though the medical examiner’s report stated that he was strangled from behind while sitting in the front seat of the police cruiser.”
Because of this experience, Yalanda made sure her sons were prepared if they were ever confronted by the police. “They were told not to display any aggressive behavior, make sudden movements or speak with a harsh tone when communicating with any police officer. They were also told that if the police asked for their identification they are to supply their legal shield card along with their driver’s license. The purpose of the legal shield card is to let the police officer know that they have legal representation on hand.”
With new cases surfacing every day, the list of Black boys being killed by the police continues to grow. People are tired and crying out, enough is enough. They feel their peaceful protests are being ignored, their questions have gone unanswered, and justice most certainly has not been served. The country is in social unrest and people are lashing out. The 2015 Pharaoh regime has perpetrated an all-out war against our boys and our Black mothers are not going to tolerate it.
Carrie affirms that “There is definitely a war on Black men. If it’s not the police harassing them, it’s the unavailability of jobs or the over availability of drugs. It’s the system saying they’re ADD or ADHD and need medication or they can’t learn. It’s their being expelled from preschool as four-year-olds under no-tolerance policies. And literally, one million are locked away from society in the nation’s prisons. The goal is to destroy them at any cost. I’m not sure how far I would go to protect my son. I’ll just say, ‘Don’t try me!’”
The problem is evident. But resolve doesn’t seem within reach. Will this war against our Black men and boys ever end? Or will history continue to repeat itself?
Carrie and Yalanda are both cautiously optimistic. Both mothers feel that in order for change to begin, the police must be held accountable for their actions. Yalanda says, “This problem did not start yesterday and will not be corrected overnight. The police department has lost the trust of the public and it will take some time before that trust is regained. The only way a feasible solution is found is if the police, including the grand jury, stop trying to cover up the corruption and hold police officers accountable for their actions.”
These Black mothers and Black mothers across the world, like Jochebed, have gone to every measure and taken every precaution to protect their sons from this genocidal mandate against our race with our Black men and boys at the center of it all. They have educated and prepared their children for the worst. They have prayed for their children. And when they see a Black mother crying on television because of the loss of her son, they cry with her. Just ask Carrie.
“I can’t breathe’ T-shirts that quote Eric Garner’s last words reflect what I think a lot of mothers feel. I wore the T-shirt not only in protest of the Garner situation but because truly, I can’t breathe. When my son is not home, on some level I’m worrying, not breathing. When he crosses the threshold I still can’t breathe because I know the police can barge in at any moment and take him if they want to. Is he a criminal? No. Has he done jail time? No. But I know that doesn’t stop them. Police in this country pretty much do what they want, when they want, unfettered and unapologetically. It’s got to stop.”
