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“Unimaginable Tragedies” is the way Corporate Media describes the killings of seven police officers that have recently died in inner-city combat with some of the people they were charged with protecting.
 Yet there are hundreds
of murders in this country on a regular basis that are never reported, never publicly mourned or even noticed by anyone except those people who loved them. A huge number of these deaths were caused by either the police, or by the mentality that supports violence against those that even hesitate, whenever an authority figure appears upon the scene.
This is especially true in the inner-city ghettos, among the poor, the unemployed and the disenfranchised.
This extreme belligerence, by those in uniform, combined with the frustrations of unemployment and rigid social decrees that have nothing to do with keeping-the-peace, but have everything to do with creating the violence that we have hired these same officers to quell. After decades of undeclared war upon the poorest in our communities, there is an unconscious backlash building that should not be underestimated. Now that seven uniformed officers have very publicly been killed; suddenly the public that does not have to live with twisted cops every day have become aroused. To understand this ‘tragedy’ the public will need far more than just another phony crackdown. What is needed is a thorough re-examination of the clearly Criminal, Justice System as well as the privatized prison systems that support it, along with a large number of the force that are twisted, and or, addicted ‘officers’ who wear the uniform, and who, too often commit the crimes.
Because the nation has refused to examine the facts surrounding out-of-control officers; the country is about to enter yet another phase of gun-law legislation, (chest-thumping by the dullest minds in government and the affected communities), who will all miss the truly critical-points in this growing problem – entirely. Here are some ‘rules of life’ to be remembered when trying to survive in The City of Oakland, during this continuing war.
“Have you ever been subjected to a "Traffic Stop", in Oakland, California of all places, and near an alleged "Crime Ridden street corner? One cop approaches your car; while other(s) stay at a safe distance, so to eventually call for back up or cover their partner.
"Step out of the car, License and Registration,” All the while, the cop's hand is firmly holding the gun at his side, just to cover all bases. You panic and try to speed off, the cop grabs your steering wheel through the car window and the cop shoots you dead. Or, you reach for the glove compartment or under your car seat to grab your license and registration, you are assumed to "reach for a gun," and the cop shoots you dead. Or, you comply too fast and make a "furtive move," and the cop shoots you. The cop feared for his life, you’re dead.
None of these deaths were reported as “Unimaginable Tragedies.”
RIP Brother Jody Mac Woodfox, 28, Oakland, 2008; RIP Brother Oliver "Big O" Lefiti, 35, San Francisco, Or, you just run for your life. Wrong move on the Plantation of the "Slave Catchers", the very origin of the Police Department in the US of A. Long Live Surviving Warriors; Tyrelle Taylor, 17, shot 5 times By Sf Bayview PD, 2005; and Laronte Sturdville, 15, Oakland, 2007, who committed the violent crime of pulling up his sagging pants while running from OPD, who "feared for their lives."” (1)
There are also cases like that of Idriss Stelley, slaughtered by SFPD, 48 bullets, nine “peace officers,” June 13, 2001. (2)
Here’s the real problem which is part of yet another double standard, in far too many communities across this nation. This is what happens to different races when they each confront ‘law enforcement officers.’ Unfortunately these encounters too often end in death if you’re not white, but the Constitution still just disappears in the process, regardless of color. Here’s how some of the victims see us and this threat to their all-too-real-world.
“You are ALIVE. You have a future. You will fall in love. You will have more children or get married if you wish, grandchildren, a career, birthdays and anniversaries to come.
You will be at liberty to celebrate New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mothers’ Day and maybe your own Fathers’ Day, or whine about having to pay child support every month.
You will maybe buy a house someday and enjoy your golden years, while Aaron Williams, Amadou Diallo, Kathryn Johnston, Sean Bell, Cau Bich Tran, Julio Ayala, Asa Sullivan, Big O Lefiti, Gary King Jr.,Jose Luis Buenrostro, Casper Banjo, Mack “Jody” Woodfox, Oscar Grant III, Anita Gray, Sheila Amaya, Brown Beret Annette Garcia,and the myriad of Black and Brown Warriors slaughtered by law enforcement in the U.S., pre-and post-9/11, in the Land of the Proud and the Free, the New Land of Hope and Change … are very DEAD. They have fallen and won’t get up when the show is over.
You can lay face down on the pavement, time for a dramatic, self-indulgent moment of fame on Facebook or YouTube, and you get to get up to your feet and go home once the “shooting” is over.
If you are white, and were allegedly drinking ‘n fighting in New Year’s first hours, you got a CITATION. If you are an under-age white minor, you were released back to your parents’ custody, for “boys will be boys.”
As for you, “revolutionary” boogie youth, if you did indeed do something “illegal” or distasteful on that infamous night, Daddy bailed you out IN ONE PIECE in the morning, and Mommy spent the rest of the day nursing your hangover.
As the mother of just one of the thousands of Black kids executed by police, my soul is fuming, as the malaise and hypocrisy doesn’t let up.
The antiwar movement in the Bay Area sends us one or two quick “From Gaza to Oakland” fancy PDFs, opportunistic demagogy paying expeditious lip service to the War at Home.
And the unions’ overall shameless silence around the murder of Oscar is deafening. Am I pissed? You betcha”. (3)
Given that these conditions that are getting worse not better; an entirely different track must be taken if any of these growing political problems are to be stopped, or reversed. These ‘officers’ are not the police that most people remember back when there were officers on the streets “To Protect and Serve.” This new group is motivated by an entirely other set of priorities and circumstances, which is part of a wider and more sinister plan to use this thoroughly corrupted system to provide a slave-labor workforce, for the corporate establishment, that is almost cost-free, and prisoner’s make very compliant workers.
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