NOW THERE IS A MAN, A BLACK MAN!!!!

I saw this movie yesterday. It is a sweeping tale of history in the United States from the eyes and perspective of a Negro man who had every reason to be filled with hate and vengeance, but instead mounted the rage and created a family and turned an apparent legacy into something powerful and gut wrenching in its powerful way of how one man, with profound complexity, shifted from a culturally accepted defensive posture to an offensive one that transformed his sons, and others in the nation touched by their activism, brilliance of performance and insistence.

Now I sit struggling with tears. With all of the fundamental changes of law, and actions of the 20th century fears of the Black man has remained a social project that won't stop focusing white people's fears into killing or rejection. I ponder this a lot. Only a fool believes he doesn't need a strategy to avoid being singled out as a threat which may lead to his maiming, his arrest, or his death. There are still situations where you have no rights all of a sudden, and always you have no first impression. Every thinking Black man knows the first impression belongs to whites. It is the second impression you prepare for in your presentation. This is the one that will win you an opportunity, or spare you from being arrested.

The news just reported a Black man was killed by the police a few hours ago. The young man was knocking on doors apparently in a white neighborhood trying to get help after crashing his car a 1/2 mile away. It was a bad accident. The news flashed a picture of it. The young man, a former football player, had to crawl out of the back window to get out. He arrived in a neighborhood about 2:30 AM knocking on doors. He scared a white woman pounding on her door. She pressed a panic button. I understand this. I wouldn't have let him in either. The police arrived and shot him dead.

Death sits different upon men of color here. As soon as a boy takes on some size he becomes a threat and many people will whisper, or tell him why and some will teach him how to stay alive in this disturbing mist of perceptions the police and surrounding communities of white Americans and the cultures of the North, the South and the Midwest hold against Black men. It is a deep story and it is older than the constitution. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 9.16.13