Darren Wilson and the Bigger Issue Still Ain’t Shit…Three Years Later

Kevin L. Cole, Jr.
Aug 9, 2017 · 6 min read
Photo courtesy of https://progressivespring.com/2014/12/01/darren-wilson-a-millionaire/

First and foremost, I want to say rest in peace to Michael Brown. The vicious attack on your life in your final minutes, and on your character in the following months after your life was aggressively snatched away from you, is an unfair offense that no individual should ever have to face.

With that being said, it’s been three years, and Darren Wilson — and the issue that he can be considered the face of — still ain’t shit!

On August 9, 2014, Wilson murdered a teenager, whom had graduated a few days earlier, in Ferguson, MO. The official story, as told by the justice system, starts off with Michael Brown stealing cigarillos from a local convenience store. A report of a “stealing in progress” went out with the description of Brown. Minutes later, Darren Wilson passed Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson, who was with him at the time of the convenience store incident, initially requesting the two to get out of the middle of the street that they were walking in. After realizing that they fit the description for the report that was sent out earlier, it is said that Wilson backed up to confront Brown and Johnson. From there a struggle ensued between Brown and Wilson while Wilson was in the car. Wilson’s gun is said to have fired twice, hitting Brown once in the hand. Brown and Johnson immediately took off running for their lives. Johnson hid behind a car while Brown continued to run down the street.

Here is where the story begins to become slightly tricky. At some point when Brown was running away from the danger that was behind him, he decided to turn around — Wilson claimed that he was charged by Brown — in order to face Wilson. Wilson then began to unload more shots, striking Brown a few more times.

Although most of the official story remains the same for the story of the people, with witness accounts from people the justice system declared were not credible, there are key differences. The first being Michael Brown not actually stealing the cigarillos, but retrieving them from an encounter earlier in the day — shown on the 2017 documentary Stranger Fruit. From there the story remains the same until the point where Michael Brown moved toward the officer. The story then claims that Brown stood with his hands up, essentially giving up without a fight.

The unofficial story tends to strike a chord with most African Americans based off of the fact that there have been a number of times that individuals within the black community have either been wrongfully pursued, or rightfully pursued, yet wrongfully killed. It also doesn’t help with this age of social media showing a number of white individuals attacking cops with weapons, yet living to tell their stories.

No matter how the actions actually played out, an unarmed teenager was yet again killed by an armed adult. It wouldn’t be the first time — Aiyana Jones, 8 years old, was killed by the police a few years before — in the history of the United States, and, unfortunately, it hasn’t been the last — Tamir Rice was gunned down by cops a few months later.

What happened after Brown was murdered by Wilson, then left in the street like an animal?

The tipping point. The blacks in the United States of America have long dealt with the savage killings from law officials and “self-appointed” authoritative figures alike since the beginning of this country, when it wasn’t considered against the law to murder black people because blacks were, and have always been, viewed as property instead of human beings.

What made this murder different than the others?

No clue. It could’ve been the trial where George Zimmerman got off for killing an innocent black kid the year before. It could’ve been the video that showed Eric Garner being killed by a number of cops on camera about a month prior. Perhaps it was the shooting of John Crawford III in a Walmart. Who knows? Whatever the reason was, it sparked the unheard in this nation to start standing up against a system that has long bullied certain groups of people by killing, stealing, raping, lying on, and imprisoning while others have the privilege of living in peace.

To add insult to injury, the county and the state of Missouri decided that it would be smart to arm their police with gear from Call of Duty while the city was mourning.

Don’t worry, I understand what some of you reading this are thinking, “Well Black Lives Matter wasn’t conducting themselves in a peaceful manner while protesting!” First off, not every single person that screams Black Lives Matter are a part of the group Black Lives Matter. Typically their just saying it because…well, black lives should matter. The second point is nearly impossible for me to explain unless you have any knowledge of the original Black Panther Party and COINTELPRO, so I’m not even going to waste time and energy — Google would be one of your best friends with this topic.

With the city in the middle of a war zone; rather, appearing to be ready to exterminate the black population and any of those who cared about the black population — as told by a few individuals that were able to protest — it was obvious that the feelings of the black community didn’t matter.

Who cares if the country has been killing you off under the law of the land since the birth of this nation? You just need to shut up, and be grateful that we have ended slavery…

Sound familiar from the talking points of those offended by you wanting to be treated like a human and not property?

The truth is, a number of us are grateful that slavery under the name “slavery” has ended, but we aren’t blind. We see that the system of then is still used now. No matter if it’s mental slavery, socioeconomic slavery, or physical slavery (i.e. the prison system), we are still affected by a crooked system. We are still viewed as less than. We are still being killed while our killers are getting paid vacation, and are said to be innocent of a heinous crime while we’re lying dead in the street.

Although Michael Brown’s untimely death has been painful for those that knew him personally and those that have been harassed by law officials and “self-appointed” authoritative figures, as it reminds us of the savage attacks against our humanity, his story has served a purpose bigger than any one of ours. His murder has touched so many people, and can even be considered the last drop in a cup that was set to tip eventually.

More and more people are beginning to push fear aside as we find out that the issue is bigger than any of us.

We know that it’s not just Darren Wilson, but the system. The system ain’t been shit, ain’t shit, and ain’t never gone be shit until the system finds the decency to treat blacks like human beings by locking up their killers — cue the “black on black” crime mumbo jumbo as if blacks that commit the crimes don’t end up being locked up.

We can’t stop speaking up. We must continue to kneel. Above all, we have to keep fighting to end the need for “the talk” with young black girls and boys. We have been murdered without justice being served for too many generations, and we can’t allow that to keep going on. We deserve the “privilege” to live life without being gunned down, left in the street like an animal, and having our character assassinated.

More from Kevin L. Cole Jr. at: https://medium.com/@kevlcole

Kevin L. Cole, Jr.

Unapologetically Me

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