Consequences

Photos: © Stan Banos

Two weeks ago, a White man in a uniform killed a Black civilian- a scenario so common, a list so long that I no longer remember all the: dates, names, locations... excuses- that last detail being the very thing that set this killing apart from the rest. None was exhibited, none could possibly be offered. This murder was a direct and woefully prolonged message- that police could kill openly, deliberately, without pretense of fear or consequence. This public servant purposely ignored the eye of the camera, the desperate pleas of the public, even the very passing of the life he controlled beneath his knee as he continued to debase a then pulseless body.

Somehow, George Floyd's death ignited its own spark of life throughout a nation already so inured to the official taking of life by a power structure ironically monikered: To Protect And Serve. Hope is a youthful playground, I don't know if this movement, this awakening even by some long ensconced in denial or disinterest will amount to any permanent, worthwhile change. Those who ignore that hope, and focus myopically on the violence it has spawned forget that MLK would not have been anywhere near as successful in having legislation passed, had government not well realized that failure to deal with him would have meant being forced to deal with those much less willing to turn the other cheek in the face of racism and injustice.

George Floyd's murder was but the latest manifestation and consequence of White Privilege- blatant, heinous, undeniable. It is where the denial of that simple fact ultimately leads...

Before George Floyd's death, I would have done the proverbial eye roll upon viewing this image, their sincerity and dedication being very much in question to say the very least- as if it was my judgement to make. Being at that march in San Francisco this past Wednesday, with so much youth all around me of every color did present a vision of a new possibility, a hope of what equality can look like when not tainted with the baggage that I personally carry, a realization that it will take all of us...