Response to "Enough" by Carla Banks

In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail in 1963, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote these words which remain true today:
“There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators."' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.”
When is enough enough? When we decide that it is and we stop talking and start taking action to reclaim our blocks, neighborhoods, cities, states and country. When will we stop complaining about the way things while we continue to do nothing or, even worse, act like nothing is going on? As I followed the coverage of Trayvon Martin’s murder I kept wondering “where are the leaders of the denominational churches and when are they going to speak out about this?” On March 22nd, the United Church of Christ’s Collegium of Officers released a statement calling for a “swift and just processing of this case in the court of law, rather than in the media or on the streets of our nation.” Leaders of the UCC and the Disciples of Christ also announced plans for a prayer vigil and a brief silent march in protest to call for justice to be held March 28.Click to access UCC and Disciples leaders to join in prayer vigil and march for Trayvon Martin
Not only can we not afford to wait for the government to do something, we can’t afford to wait for any other leader to step up and tell us what to do. In the words of a successful movement we have to be the change we want to see. It’s time that we, along with other like minded people, decide to take action and create strategies to deal with what’s happening to our children, in our community. And if nobody is willing to stand with us, we have to be willing to stand alone, demanding that people be held accountable for the injustices that are perpetrated everyday against people who look like us. The old adage “a squeaky will get’s the oil” is true: those who speak up and demand respect and to be taken seriously often are.
Like you and many others, I am outraged about what happened to Trayvon Martin. His murderer needs to be arrested and tried in a court of law along with those who seem to have been complicit in helping to cover up the facts. I’ve written letters asking for justice, signed petitions, marched in the rain with others and followed this case because I refuse to sit idly by and let his killer get away with murder. But, I also have a question: why don’t we as a country and community take the same interest when the victim is female? What are we saying by our silence about the value we place on Black women and girls? I understand the outrage about the murder of Black men and boys, I get it; really I do. What I can’t understand is why we don’t have the same level of outrage when the victims are female. Aren’t we too “created in the image of God” and thereby deserving of having people demand justice for us? Or does the fight for justice really mean “just us males?” This evening I finally read an article that articulated my thoughts on this issue. I invite you to read this and to reflect on the questions that are raised. Please accept my apology for some of the language. But hell, sometimes you have to speak in language that people can understand.
Why Don’t We Know Their Names? The Invisibility of Black Women and Girls
S. Mandisa Moore 28MAR
“Because the machine will try to grind you into dust anyway, whether or not we speak.”- Audre Lorde
My heart is saddened by the murder of Trayvon Martin-a child. My heart is also saddened at the subsequent media frenzy around his death because I know in every part of my body that when black women and girls are raped and murdered, not a damn thing happens-there is no rally or CNN coverage, but instead an instant blame game or mitigation of the facts. This post is about the inherent value of black women and black girls. If once you read “Trayvon Martin”, you thought this post would be about how white supremacist ideologies define black males as inherently “suspicious” and “dangerous” and, thus, black men and boys need our support- this is not the post for you. Luckily, almost every other blog has posted analyses very similar to this that you can read and comment on. I have no interest in doing so-not because the criminalization of black men and boys doesn’t enrage me but because I believe that the black women and girls are just as valuable. Not to mention that the ways we are inherently criminalized and stigmatized must continue to be unpacked. I write this because NO ONE comes to our defense or sees us as worthy of marching behind, and I will bear witness to this.
We invisibilize black women when we narrowly equate black men as representative of black people; when we focus on the criminalization of black men as if this is the only narrative of criminalization; and when we enable or participate in the collective amnesia that most black women NOT ONLY die as a result of the deadly combination of gender and racial profiling at the hands of private citizens and law enforcement agencies, but also from the hands of our black partners and family members. The black female body, including black trans women, is perceived as inherently sexually deviant and, thus, worthless. We DO DIE just walking down the street-whether we are profiled as a sex worker and raped and killed or, much like Trayvon Martin, just standing there. We also die at the hands of law enforcement-because to be black and woman, or to be perceived as possessing feminine characteristics, is to be unsafe in a world where you can be raped and/or murdered-by your partner, your neighbor, or police precinct # 9 AND to live with the knowledge that no one will come to your defense. But UNLIKE black men, we also die when we rely on law enforcement in the aftermath of interpersonal violence or sexual violence.
As soon as I heard of Trayvon’s murder and the outrage popping up in my emails and on my twitter timeline, I immediately thought:
o Why don’t we interrogate racial profiling when it occurs on the bodies of black women and girls?
o Why aren’t these same people outraged when black women are raped and murdered for just being themselves?
o Where are my black feminists-what are we doing at this critical moment to hold the humanity of black men next to the value and visibility of black women?
o What names will I get called if I speak about this?
o Why do we know-thanks to indie media and black mainstream media (Mike Baisden, Steve Harvey, Roland Martin, Tom Joyner, etc) who Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell, Troy Davis, Oscar Grant, Wendell Allen are?
o Do we know who Phylicia Barnes, Kathryn Johnston, Tarika Wilson,Aiyana Stanley Jones, Crystal Mangum, Brenting Dolliole, or LeAndra Jackson are? If not, why don’t we?
o What about Remember Me-a Baltimore-based group centered on documenting the murders and/or disappearances of black women and girls? What resources are being allocated to them to increase their capacity to bear witness?
o Why was so much media attention centered on the Jena 6 when almost no one knows, or seems to care, who the New Jersey 7 were?
o Do we even know who Jeremy Sweat and Dustin Evans are, since we like to focus on individuals like George Zimmerman instead of systems?
Now here’s the part where people (including “good white allies” who co-sign anything to seem less racist- even when it marginalizes black women, which in turn allows white supremacy to grow and prosper) start saying dumb shit because they can’t deal with the fact that- GASP- they are willfully invisibilizing black women, and so they get defensive:- “well, those women were lesbians!” or “she was a stripper!” or “they thought she was a prostitute and that is why they killed her and it’s not ok to kill any innocent person, but this is more understandable” or “it’s just not the same!” Lemme just remind people of how quickly they checked and side-eyed those who pointed out irrelevant facts like “technically, Trayvon didn’t live there, but was visiting his stepmom and dad” or “well, he was suspended from school, so clearly he had criminal tendencies.” We were right to call them out, but let us also rally behind black women and girls unconditionally. It’s not like we believe there is a justification for violence against black women and girls, do we? Because that would make us fucked up and complicit with white supremacy, right? Oh shit-maybe we are.

http://www.theoysterknife.com/2012/03/28/why-don%E2%80%99t-we-know-their-names-the-invisibility-of-black-women-and-girls/#comment-73

Enough

When is enough, enough? Just 6 months ago an innocent Black man, Troy Davis was put to death in Atlanta, GA and the brutal blow to Black America once again came from the bloody hand of "Injustice' system. When is enough enough?

Between March 16-18 49 people were shot, 10 killed in the Chicago area. Shootings are up in Chicago 27% and homicides are up 32% from the same time period in 2011. All this while the Mayor of Chicago allegedly told the Chicago teachers union President that "25% of the Public school children (majority Black & Brown) were NOT going to make it; therefore he would NOT waste resources on them." If he really said this, when is enough enough?

And now our hearts are ripped from our chest because 17 year old Trayvon Martin carrying some skittles and wearing a hoodie was brutally murdered by 28 year old George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman ignored 911 operators who explicitly told him to stop his stalking of Trayvon in order to kill this boy. Plain and simple! Now because of Florida's "Stand your ground and kill Black people" law George Zimmerman is able to walk the streets a free man while Trayvon's parents are imprisoned in grief.

To add insult to not an injury but a gaping hole the police chief Bill Lee not only refuses to arrest Zimmerman but blames Trayvon by saying "maybe Trayvon would have done something different if he had the chance to?" Done what different, not be born Black? When is enough, enough?

This short catalogue of carnage against Black and Brown men are the result of a racist society. Plain and simple! Why is it that no other race of people have had to go on these emotional roller coaster rides of emotion concerning the lives of their men? Trayvon did what society told him and his parents was right. He was a good kid who stayed out of trouble. He did well in school! What else did he need to do?

When is enough, enough? The President will not weigh in because despite it being a gross tragedy he does not want his Right wing republican rivals to use his concern as a cause to paint him as "anti-America," translated "Anti-White" way.

The government has failed Black people once again, Law enforcement has shown its unwillingness to protect Black people as does the Criminal injustice system. So when is enough, enough?

What will happen now, because the insult is already stamped. George Zimmerman has been walking free for weeks. If he is arrested today (and he should be) it still can not cover the stench that assaults Black America and suffocates two parents sorrow at the senseless murder of their beautiful son. By the way, have you studied the picture of this beautiful boy? Did you gaze into his face captured now on picture because he will never move with grace again? Did you see his eyes in any of the photos? Did you notice how Bright, innocent and happy those eyes were?

How about that smile? Did you gaze at that grand joyful smile? You see that is the problem with pictures. Pictures are reminders of what could have been. Pictures lock us in a time that is long past and we shed a tear every now and then but rush to catch up to ever moving world we live in. We are afraid of staying there too long with pictures because they make us think. They make us ponder and ask ourselves "was there something I could have done?" Pictures make us wonder if we are trying to hurry too quick to forget. If you look at a picture too long it will make you as "When is enough, enough?" But it will also make you answer it starts with me and it starts today.