“Now, then, in order to understand white supremacy we must dismiss the fallacious notion that white people can give anybody their freedom.” -- Stokely Carmichael

The murder of Michael Brown by the Ferguson Police creates an opportunity for millions of people to confront the tragic and mundane daily realities of White Supremacy and Anti-Blackness, which are part of everyday public and private life for so many people in this country. It is imperative to rethink the spectacle that has been created out of Ferguson, and to contextualize it within as many structural realities of racism that we can comprehend.

In the past three decades, we’ve seen patterns of racist violence continue in America. Less than 25 years ago, we saw L.A. Police excessively chase and beat Rodney King, and the racially charged riots that followed. Now, we see Ferguson. Less than ten years ago, we heard "I am Oscar Grant” (after Oscar Grant III was fatally shot by BART police in Oakland). Now, we hear Ferguson. Less than 5 years ago, we saw the largest police department in the U.S.A employ racist Stop and Frisk Policing tactics, and the enormous campaigns that rallied against those tactics. Now, we rally around Ferguson. Less than 3 years ago, we saw millions of Black and Brown youth wearing hoodies declaring, "my skin color

is not a crime," in honor of Trayvon Martin. Now, we honor the memory of Michael Brown. And Ferguson.

Less than a week after we saw protests in Ferguson, we saw the police killing Kajieme Powell just blocks away.

This is not to compare the lives of our fallen brothers and sisters. May they rest in peace in a heaven of liberation. May their families know that their pain is important. It’s just as important as analyzing why local police departments get millions of dollars to purchase military weapons from the equivalent of the U.S. Military's Goodwill Store, and analyzing why we don’t see the police kill White young people

in the same way. These are two different ways of recognizing the trauma inflicted on those directly affected by White Supremacy; they are equally necessary in resisting the cruel and unusual force being used against People of Color by the U.S.A.



We must look at Ferguson as another battle of resistance to make People of Color relevant to the redistribution of power in the United States. The 13th Amendment was a work in progress from when the first person was abducted from Africa and deposited as property, and not as a person, in the eyes . . .