Why I Take the Death of Michael Brown Personally.

by Staff August 23, 2014 11 Comments News Opinion Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) This not a hard one to answer. Once again we have lost another young, black man at the hands of a police officer. I really tried to find the best way to write this without seeming so over-the-top, emotional or making it an issue of race. Well as you can see that was not possible.

Yes it’s probably over-the-top, but so are the numbers of our black men dying at the hands of police officers. Yes I am emotional because when I see the Michael Brown and the Trayvon Martin I also see my own 14 year old son.

I try not to be the type to jump on the band wagon, simply because everyone else does. Emotions drive us to make decisions based purely off of our intense feelings and not facts. Well I sat back watching and waiting for the full story of Michael Brown to unfold.

When I saw the first photos of Michael Brown my heart broke into. As I viewed only for a few seconds his lifeless body left uncovered in the street for hours, broke into. Emotions of the Zimmerman verdict replayed in my mind. Visions of my fourteen year old son with the build of a grown man, but the baby face and smile of a kid played havoc within my soul. Images of Emmett Till joined the image of Michael Brown in the whirlwind I was experiencing.

Some say this is not about race. Well I’m sorry it is. How many white mothers have to tell their child how to deal with police officers? How many white mothers are instructing their boys how to act and to react if pulled over by the police?

Don’t reach for your pockets. Be respectful. Don’t move too quickly. Don’t run. How many white women have had this conversation with their sons? Most likely not many since my black, young son has a greater chance of being profiled, harassed or even killed by some members of law enforcement. I have to worry about his possible encounters with the police and how he should conduct himself if approached. ~ Worries of A Black Woman

I know all police are not bad officers because I know some personally. I know that all of our children are not angels. However, all life is precious.

I don’t know the whole story yet. But I do know this, down by a police officer; an unarmed young, black man has been gunned down six times resulting in this deadly outcome. The skin they are in makes them a target to some that feel they rule the world simply because they have a badge and a gun.

Why should I have the ticking reminder in my head that every 28 hours someone with a darker hue may get gunned down by law enforcement? I take it personally when a wanna-be-cop, such as Zimmerman feels that he can play jury and judge then choose to gun down our babies.

When I lay my head down at night I go to sleep with rioting, looting and protests playing across the television screen. When the sun rises I awake to the craziness still in my mind as it’s rehashed over and over during the morning news.

The pain that Michael Brown’s mother is experiencing and her plea for justice and peace are still heavy on my heart and will be for a longtime. When I see images of her son’s lifeless body I can’t help, but to think of my own son, his father, his brothers, his cousins, his uncles, his friends and so many other black men. This is why I take the death of Michal Brown, Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell and so countless others so personally.

Staff Writer; Eleanie Campbell

Follow this talented sister via Twitter; http://Twitter.com/thephoenixashes.

Also feel free to visit her online home; http://ThePhoenixUnleashed.com.

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nicol says:
September 3, 2014 at 2:01 pm
It’s unsafe to live missouri.Even if this was not a racal issue comments like this makes it one.white people kill each other as well,molest their children,have sex with fam members,marry them and produce more retarded racist idiots such as the ones comminting on here.Try looking at the big picture white people.Ask yourself if you’ll feel safe your so called country if Darren Wilson. Remains free.I’m a black woman and if that happens I won’t feel safe.
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nicol says:
September 3, 2014 at 1:45 pm
All black men are not thugs!The reason why black people are so upset about this cold blooded killing…Is because this young man was unarmed.Shooting him down like that was unnecessary,not to mention overkill.This will not be another Travon Martin outcome!I don’t understand how black life mean nothing to white people but animal life does.When lil meth smoking white trash start getting shot down like it’s nothing by black police,will you feel the same.Just because we are black does not mean we don’t love our men any more or less than any other race.We love our children more in fact,that’s why when our kids are outside playing we actually watch them(amber alert,white child kidnapped).It’s okay for white people to want justice when a young white kid commits suicide because somebody said something about them on social media.So why can’t we have justice for murder.Will you still stand by Derren Wilson when it’s whenitL
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El says:
August 24, 2014 at 10:27 pm
I will not go back and forth with those that have commented. You have your reality and I have mine. Until you actually live in our world, the good, the bad and the ugly you will continue to proclaim any unarmed, black man that comes into contact with the police as ghetto thugs.
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toomanygrandkids says:
August 24, 2014 at 6:33 pm
Eleanie,
Making criminal ass thugs into victims is a big problem within the black race. But you seeing your own son as the Michael Brown’s and Trayvon Martin’s of the world is even a bigger problem. Michael was an 18-year old bully, robber, attacker, and gang member. He posed on on Facebook, flashing gang signs.
You can’t possibly see your 14-year old son as a threat to society. If so, then I suggest you have the “talk” with your son. And be sure to tell him the truth. Tell him that black males bring death upon themselves because of their “hood” mentality.
“The pain that Michael’s mom is experiencing…” should force her, his dad, and step dad to realize that they are just as much at fault. Ghetto blacks allow their sons to become gang members as if its no big deal. Hell, in some cases, the mom is an OG her damn self. What they can’t take is when something like this happens but they know this type of shit happens all the time. And when it does, ghetto blacks wanna blame others.
Get over it already!
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Thomas Stratford says:
August 24, 2014 at 9:20 am
“This not a hard one to answer. Once again we have lost another young, dirty feral thug at the hands of a police officer”, there fixed it, as another member of the 80 I.Q. crew spews his silly nonsense.
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gah says:
August 24, 2014 at 8:18 am
Blacks should stop making heroes out of their criminal element such as Marin and Brown. These are the same kind of thugs that terrorize black neighborhoods across the country. Instead of remaining silent, you should be turning the criminal element over to the police, then maybe your neighborhoods would be safe, and cops wouldn’t feel like they are in the wild west or some steaming lawless jungle every time they enter a black neighborhood. Instead of demanding that everyone accommodate and tolerate black lawlessness, blacks themselves should change, and help stamp out black lawlessness.
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Northern Sentinel says:
August 24, 2014 at 8:16 am
“Some say this is not about race. Well I’m sorry it is. How many white mothers have to tell their child how to deal with police officers? How many white mothers are instructing their boys how to act and to react if pulled over by the police?”
You’re living in a bubble if you think only ‘black’ mothers have this conversation with their children.
All responsible parents, regardless of race, teach their children how to behave around police.
These self-pitying cries of victimhood has become tiresome.
Unless your child is a thug or thug-wannabe you have no connection to Brown or Martin.
When we all teach our children not to steal, assault and do drugs we all have much less to worry about.
It is culture that is the root cause of the vast majority of these incidents, not race.
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Sailor 1 says:
August 24, 2014 at 7:48 am
Eleani: I’ve been reading your opinion piece a little more carefully: Zimmerman “gunned” down a baby? The jury would beg to differ. You do believe in the rule of law, don’t you? “All life is precious”? Not really. The life of the Muslim scum who decapitated Mr. Foley is not “precious”. It is a life deserving to be reviled and summarily killed, like a rabid dog in the street. You have lost your sense of proportion and reason, which has been overwhelmed by hysterical, emotional self-absorption and soap opera melodramatics.
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Sailor 1 says:
August 24, 2014 at 6:09 am
Elanie: Your son (metaphorical or real) is a strong arm robbery felon, albeit a “gentle giant”? Something doesn’t compute.
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Rick H. says:
August 24, 2014 at 5:29 am
You know why I take it personally? because it shows how somebody could be railroaded without a trial if the mob mentality were allowed to rule like the race pimps wish it could
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Apollo Dogg says:
August 24, 2014 at 4:30 am
You’d be better off lecturing your sons on how not to get killed by fellow black men and boys than worrying about police officers of any hue. They are MUCH more likely to die at the hands of ghetto thugs than a Darren Wilson, but getting killed by a fellow black doesn’t get one a visit from the Attorney General, a shout-out from the president or the press attention of Hurricane Katrina, now does it? As for Zimmerman and Trayvon, just like OJ Simpson, Mr. Zimmerman was found innocent of any wrongdoing. Deal with it and move on. I imagine Officer Darren Wilson will also be found innocent in the necessary shooting of the gentle giant, and then you should also move on.
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