Sweet Land Of Liberty

     

America is like a beautiful...ornate mansion with pristine gardens and well-manicured lawns on tha outside, however, once your ass enter through tha front door, tha stench of tha filth that lurks within arrests tha human senses like that of a powerful and intoxicating gas, and can render one unconscious; and once you've awakened you find that you are enslaved within tha walls of an ominous and sinister dungeon; shackled by Capitalistic greed and chained with link, after link, after link of social injustice that leads to dehumanization......In a particular scenario that played out in tha scenes of brother, after brother, after brother becoming lured and trapped into tha system of Mass Incarceration. Subdued and confined within tha walls of chain-linked fences. Criminalized and demonized as days pass into months, and months to years of unfair sentencing that certainly surpasses tha intent of tha so-called “crime”. While being molded and labeled to reside as valuable commodities of tha profiteers of tha “modern day slave trade”. Yet, as I viewed tha film, “12 Years a Slave”, this same quote came to mind. As Solomon Northrop awoke in shackles and chains, after being lured and seduced within his comfort zone of living life blindly as a Northern FreeMan, his lyfe as he knew it, was never to be tha same. Solomon was rendered unconscious, as his enslaved brothers and sisters toiled through tha brutality of tha overseers’ wicked hand. Still, Solomon’s odor emanated. Although faint, its aroma still blended with tha staggering stench of injustice that led to tha oppressive chain of being sold on tha bloca as a day-laborer, a musician on demand (when Massa desired his attention) and, eventually, being labeled as a criminal when he fought back using And, again this quote resonated with me as I witnessed yet another film, “Django: Unchained”. Little Jodi was about to be punished for breaking eggs. But, tha occupants of tha plantation went about tha business of minding their business. Going about their day while turning a blind eye to tha brutality that they knew one of their sisters was about to suffer. Conforming to quietly falling in line and hoping not to bring any cause of attention to themselves.

 Chained to silence. 

In each of these films, tha vividness of tha chain becomes clear. Yet, in our everyday lives tha lackluster of tha chain produces a dullness in which we choose to ignore. Tha chain is still there linking us to an unjust society. Linking us to Mass Incarceration; linking us to Voter suppression; linking us to a failed education system; linking us to financial predators within our neighborhoods; linking us to a deafening silence in which we’ve become accustomed and complacent to continue latching on. How long will we continue to mis-educate our children by remaining complacent, silent and, yes I dare say, afraid? What have we conveyed to our children by sitting on tha sidelines and just going about our own selfish lives? That it’s acceptable to remain silent when our people are being imprisoned in unprecedented numbers for tha sake of tha oppressors’ bank account? That it’s acceptable to ignore tha mistreatment of our poor, overworked and underpaid brothers and sisters? That it’s acceptable to turn a blind eye to the abuse and misuse of our brothers and sisters crying out for us to do something, anything to cease their overwhelming pain and needless struggle ponder brothers and sisters, what will it take to break tha links of tha chain of oppression of our unjust society that we find in mostly in our African American community