When Justice is Solace.
CW- Death, white violence, language.
Whenever there is any sort of death or violence against people filmed on video and over shared on social media I wonder and worry for the families of the folks whom we watch being hurt or worse, the people whom we never knew personally but now feel like we know intimately. This bizarre way in which we interact with the living and the dead alike is brand new. From that moment where we too participate, witness in the intimate last few breaths of a person’s life, a bond is forever formed.
Right in front of our eyes, on facebook live, we watch beloved school staff, father, friend and community member Philando Castile die as a piece of shit cop fired into the vehicle where he, his partner and their child were in and rightfully so, we watched demonstrations across the United States to protest state sanctioned executions and the type of racist violence Philando and his family endured on the last minutes of his life. We have seen way too many Black and Brown bodies on the ground at the hands of police.
One of the most shocking public executions caught on tape in recent times is a story which we finally are finally beginning to find closure to. The traumatic events of August 12th which have now repeated themselves through gifs, videos up and down our social media timelines.
The tragic death of Heather Hayer, a white femme ally and activist from Charlottesville.
I did not know Heather personally but I have heard not just on the internet but from friends in real life, that Heather was an ally and good friend and fighter. No matter wether we knew her personally or not, all of those whom actively fight to dismantle white supremacy felt struck by grief, anger and fear after seeing her body, which she put down on the lines to literally fight white supremacy in her home being hurt and abused by a piece of shit white cis het supremacist, a coward set on hurting as many folks as possible. It is painful to watch the footage for someone that is detached from the grief of losing a known and beloved body, the vessel and the easy means of communication that bodies afford the Spirit and Soul of a person unto others. It is absolutely maddening to lose a person’s connection to us in this plane. I can’t imagine what happens to those whom are left to grieve victims of senseless acts of violence.
Receiving news that the man responsible for the death of an Ally as well as the injuries that go beyond the physical which he inflicted not only on other people present but to the psyche of anyone watching as this disgrace of life takes in his own hands the life of another human.
In High School I was a member of Amnesty International. I never believed capital punishment was a good option, I still recognize the ways in which capitalism and racism play into the very choice of giving someone a life or death sentence. I believe in restorative justice, in re education and re evaluating our society in order to really get to the bottom of crime and come with equitable solutions, I do. I really do.
But I want this motherfucking nazi dead just like the rest of us.
That’s how I really feel right now.
