#IfTheyGunnedMeDown

Okay, so I don't know if any of you all have heard about this poor innocent soul in Missouri, but on August 9, a young black man was WALKING HOME, UNARMED, and he was shot NINE TIMES by police, even though he wasn't resisting, was, as I mentioned, unarmed, and WAS ONLY DAYS AWAY FROM BEGINNING HIS FIRST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE. But what was his crime? NONE. He was walking across the street. He was going home with his friend. That was it. HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING.

Not only that, but he was just A KID. HE WAS ONLY SEVENTEEN. And of course, the police refuse to release the name of the officer(s) who SHOT AN INNOCENT CHILD. He was supposedly placed on administrative leave, but what does that really mean, in the grand scheme of things? He killed a child, an innocent child, and he just doesn't get to go into work for a few days? Somehow, I feel like that's unfair. They're not calling it a murder, they're calling it an ALLEGED SHOOTING. Last time I check, if I get shot nine times, I'm probably going to die. How can you allegedly shoot a child who was unarmed? HOW COULD HE HAVE SHOT HIMSELF? THAT MAKES NO SENSE.

At first, the media was circulating photos of Michael Brown (the boy), who had just graduated from high school, but quickly started circulating a photograph of him in a jersey and shorts, because apparently, all black youth are dangerous and evil and a menace to society, and we basically deserve to be dehumanized and treated like animals and fear for our lives. I am FURIOUS.

He was a child! That boy was someone's son, someone's best friend, someone's nephew, someone's grandchild. He was gunned down by police and people wanna act like it's okay. HOW CAN YOU JUSTIFY SENSELESS MURDER? HOW? IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT HE WAS BLACK, OR A KID, IT WAS MURDER. IT WAS AN ABUSE OF POWER. IT WAS SENSELESS AND CRUEL AND HORRIFIC AND AWFUL.

Now, Michael's family has been acting very rationally, and if you believe in any sort of deity and pray, I'm asking you to keep them in your thoughts and prayers (etc). The community of Ferguson, Missouri has rallied together and has been peacefully protesting the city government because, as I mentioned previously, A YOUNG CHILD WAS GUNNED DOWN BY POLICE. They left his body in the street for FOUR HOURS WITHOUT A SHEET OR ANYTHING TO COVER HIM UP. The police has been using dogs, tear gas, the works, because God forbid the people make the government accountable for ANYTHING.

I feel really afraid and affected because it feels like it's never going to stop. Trayvon was a kid. Michael was a kid. Dana, Kassandra, Rekia, Tarika... THEY WERE JUST GIRLS. What kind of world is this? Where I'm afraid to walk down my street with my hood up because the police might shoot me and make up some nonsense to excuse their actions? What kind of world is this where YOUNG, BRIGHT, BEAUTIFUL kids are having their lives robbed because of how they look? I shouldn't have to live my life in fear because of a small group's paranoia.

THAT'S NOT RIGHT.

Why is it that I suspect that if any of these children where not of color, there would be a media outrage, that stricter laws for law enforcement would be in place in a heartbeat, and that it would be WAY BIGGER DEAL than it actually is/was/will be?

I also know that I'm going to get the one random person who's going to be like, WHY ARE YOU SO RACIST. WHITE PEOPLE EXPERIENCE RACISM TOO. WHITE PEOPLE GET SHOT BY THE POLICE TOO. THAT WASN'T AN ACT OF RACISM, THAT WAS A RANDOM EVENT. ETC ETC ETC... undoubtedly, of course. Some people will just not understand and I get that. But I want these people to put themselves in my shoes and the shoes of every other young poc who literally fears the same people who they're supposed to trust with their lives. I want you all to envision a world where YOU (Caucasian people) are the minority and are, therefore, picked on, shoved, raped, stabbed, gunned down, lynched, burned, etc, and NO ONE does anything about it. I want you to pretend for a second, that you are mother or father of a child who was walking home, alone, and was shot dead by a man who was 'standing his ground' and then the system that you were raised to believe in your whole life tell you that the senseless murder of your innocent baby girl or boy was JUSTIFIED because he or she was so threatening in his or her hoodie and jeans, without any firearms or weapons of any sort. I want you to have everyone expect you to be pregnant, on welfare, and a high school drop out by the age of 15 JUST because of what you look like, independent of your talents, merits, and skills, AND THEN tell me that racism doesn't still exist, that, in 2014, we are all the same, and that I, as well as a majority of the minority community in this country, have no right to be angry and afraid, fearful for our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

MICHAEL, TRAYON AND COUNTLESS OTHER BOYS AND GIRLS AND MEN AND WOMEN HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES BASED ON NOTHING BUT PURE IGNORANCE, DISCRIMINATION, PREJUDICE, AND RACISM. THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME, MY BROTHERS, MY MOM, MY DAD, MY AUNTS, UNCLES, COUSINS, GRANDPARENTS, ETC. THAT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU. YOUR FRIENDS. YOUR FAMILY.

So, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, how would I be portrayed by the media? As a dangerous, probably-not-really-but-still-maybe not legal Latina who was obviously up to no good? Or as the president of my nursing class (one of the first of color), as a hardworking student, loving daughter, great friend, and freelance novelist?

If they gunned YOU down, what would they say about you?

My question is, basically, HOW MANY MORE KIDS HAVE TO DIE? HOW MORE MOTHERS HAVE TO BURY THEIR BABIES? HOW MANY MORE DOCTORS AND NURSES HAVE TO CALL PARENTS TO LET THEM KNOW THEY LOST THEIR SON OR DAUGHTER? HOW MANY CHILDREN'S DEATHS WILL GO UNPUNISHED? HOW MUCH INJUSTICE MUST INNOCENT VICTIM'S FAMILIES ENDURE BEFORE IT'S ENOUGH?