Je suis Chip

(Some of the young, black men killed by police under "questionable" circumstances. Photo/Courtesy of ebonstorm.wordpress.com)

With the death of Freddie Gray, is this the tipping point?

Will we - now - examine why so many in the joint

Are not white or wealthy? Why they're poor and, mostly, black?

Why it's only if you're white police cut you some slack?

Not that I'm complaining, mind you...  Thank you very much

To the cop who let me go when speeding... Just a touch.

'though I wasn't happy when I saw his flashing blues,

There was not a moment when I trembled in my shoes.

Were I not so lily-white would I have held my breath

Fearing that the interaction could be life or death?

Most police "Protect and Serve" but if you cannot trust

That they're there to keep you safe and not to make a bust

Why on earth would anyone go looking to the cops?

(When you're black they'll look for you at future, "random" stops.)

Neighborhood policing is the only thing that works;

Daily demonstrating that most cops don't act like jerks.

Three Cheers for Toya Graham

My new hero, Toya Graham. (Photo/Courtesy of thehill.com)

Fellow moms of teenage boys should offer our applause

To a mom from Baltimore who's in the news because

When she recognized her son out rioting at night,

Caught him on the local news - red handed - at the fight,

She marched down and kicked his ass and dragged her son away;

Didn't give a damn what her teenager had to say.

Peaceful protest in the streets is justified, but not

Burning down the too few stores your neighborhood has got.

Sometimes though, with teenage boys, a mother has no choice;

If our sons don't listen when we use our "angry voice"

We might have to go ahead and slap them in the head...

Teach them that it isn't just police they need to dread.

Unsolicited Advice re: NYPD's Blue Flu

Mayor of New York City has a problem with the cops;

When he dared to criticize the force, they blew their tops.

Turned their backs at funerals whenever he walked by...

Now, to get arrested there, you really have to try.

In a further show of anger by New York police,

Interactions with the public have appeared to cease.

No-one's getting busted - short of very violent crimes -

Rates dropped 92%, according to The Times.

New York City cops have got their noses out of joint,

Angry (even though the Mayor had made a valid point)

Now they've turned their backs on us because we've dared to ask

Why is truthful dialogue a Herculean task?

No-one thinks the cops are racists but the studies show

Blacks have poorer outcomes with police - who have to know

They cannot ignore that problem... It won't go away

Just because they've all decided not to earn their pay.

I Am Chip

 (Warning: Mr. Chappelle's routine contains graphic language.)

Dave Chappelle's a brilliant comic.  Dave Chappelle is black.

Dave did a routine about police a few years back;

Told some stories of past interactions with the cops...

His friend Chip and he involved in minor traffic stops.

Both of them as high as kites (and Chip was driving drunk)

Still, he didn't find himself spread-eagled on his trunk.

Chip received a warning; the exchanges were polite.

Dave was shocked to see how cops treat people who are white.

Wasn't his experience in dealings with the law;

Blacks are frightened by police and that's a fatal flaw.

You'd feel smothered too if cops were breathing down your neck.

If I didn't trust police I'd be a nervous wreck.

Just like Chip, I've always felt policemen were my friends

But, with recent studies showing such disturbing trends,

I would not feel quite so sure if I weren't quite so pale...

Fearful that the slightest thing could land my butt in jail.

We have got to shift perceptions; training is a start

And the body camera idea is also smart.

That way cops can document if people give them lip

And they're motivated to treat everyone like Chip.

Unsolicited Advice for Ferguson

(Cartoon/Courtesy of www.investors.com/cartoons)

Protestors were in the streets of Ferguson last night,

Angry at the failure of Grand Jurors to indite 

Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Some began to riot and set fire to the town.

Liquor stores were looted; there were rocks and bottles thrown

And, despite the pleas for peace, the anger's only grown.

Shots were fired, highways blocked, with multiple arrests.

Tear gas filled the streets patrolled by guys in Teflon vests.

Unlike this Grand Jury, I do not have all the facts.

I just know there are too many senseless, violent acts

Where a young, black man is killed for looking like a threat.

They don't get the benefit of doubt that white kids get.

"He looked like a demon," is what Darren Wilson said.

Now, because that's how he saw him, Michael Brown is dead.

Young, black men know they're perceived with deep mistrust and fear.

How we change those attitudes is not exactly clear.

One thing that I guarantee won't help is rioting.

Fueling racial prejudice will not fix anything.

Criminals demanding justice? That seems pretty strange.

Peaceful demonstrations are the only way things change.

To Protect and Serve - Not Fix Windows

"Broken window" policies, adopted by police,

Mean that petty crime arrests have seen a sharp increase.

It's supposed to help improve our quality of life,

But the bottom line is that it leads to racial strife.

Black, they say, is beautiful but when it comes to cops

It makes you the target of more "random" traffic stops.

Black makes cops suspicious and more likely to arrest

People they've subjected to a much more stringent test.

I believe that when police pursue a petty bust

They become the last one who a young, black man would trust.

Cops should be protectors - there to serve the public good -

Not someone whose job is to harass the neighborhood.

Trayvon Martin's Mom - Dear Ms. Fulton

excerpted from an
Article first published as Trayvon Martin's Mom; Dear Ms. Fulton on Technorati.

Trayvon Martin's parents; Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin.

Trayvon Martin's mom?  I can't imagine how she feels.

Sorrowful, of course...  But ever since this news grew wheels

She has had a politician knocking on her door

And Black Panthers offering to settle up the score.

She's been on the evening news - on every TV screen;

She's maintained her dignity in every shot I've seen.

But, the dreadful knowledge of his loss in her eyes -

Of that single gunshot cutting off his frightened cries.

My son wears a hoodie, too... He's also Trayvon's age;

I have always warned him that he, too, should not engage.

But, my son is not like hers because my son is white...

I don't tend to worry someone may shoot him some night.

Victim of that difference - I bet she's mad as hell.

I know I'd be furious (and you would be, as well)

If the man who killed my son was walking free and clear.

Ma'am, I am so sorry.  We are praying for you here.

(Photo credit: The Washington Times)