I Will Do Anything to Survive. Sacrifice my identity. I’ll do it.
I, like many, have been flooded with the onslaught of the lives of unarmed bodies of color taken by the police. It’s a lot. So much so, I needed to step back, so much so I needed to run away, so much so that there were instances where I even missed the days when we took pictures of our food. Remember that?
In returning to Instagram from one of my many hiatuses I was struck with the transcript of Another one of these deaths — Elijah McClain — a 23 year old Massage therapist and musician who played violin for kittens in animal shelters in his spare time. He was walking home from the convenience store and he was wearing a ski mask — as he often did- because of his Anemia, and how easily he became cold.
A passerby called 911 — which in itself is a problem and a story, and a book, and an essay, and a pandemic for another time — we don’t have to call 911 for everything, for most things — especially when the person who called 911 told the dispatcher they didn’t believe anyone was in danger. If no one was in danger why call in the first place?
Officers arrived and stopped Elijah, he first said, “I have a right to go where I am going.” This is true and yet, I wish he knew that when officers arrive and see your colored body, your only right and best chance of survival is not your human…
