To Be Black Is To Never, Ever Feel Safe

By Lily Workneh, the Huffington Post

Gunshots tore through a predominantly black crowd that was gathered in Minneapolis Monday night to demand justice for the death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark. Five black people were shot.

A protest sign in Minneapolis, photographed hours before gunmen opened fire on a predominantly Black crowd.

“Tonight, white supremacists attacked the ‪#‎4thPrecinctShutDown‬ in an act of domestic terrorism,” Black Lives Matter Minneapolis wrote on Facebook. “We wont be intimidated.”

While their bravery is certainly admirable, the shooting exposed a fundamental burden of being black: we can’t feel safe anywhere…

Some protesters said groups of white men had attended the gatherings since Friday and were“acting shady.” Others said the men fit the descriptions of those captured in a video posted to Facebook Friday, which shows two white masked men speaking openly about their plans to crash a nearby protest. One of the men brandishes a gun he says is “locked and loaded.” …

The injuries sustained by those shot on Monday are reportedly non-life-threatening, and while one suspect has been arrested and identified as a white male, the details are still to be determined. However, it’s fair to assume that based on witness accounts, this cowardly attack was carried out by men whose ideologies are rooted in hatred. The intent was to threaten the safety of black lives.

As details continue to emerge, we must acknowledge immediately the fact that black Americans are forced to live in fear before, after and as we grieve over this horrific shooting. ..

Black Americans are forced to deal with an unimaginable burden; we are to live in constant fear and still fight the oppression that plagues us.

We try to keep our heads high and fight on as our cries are muffled by the sounds of gunshots fired by those who will do anything to silence us. ..

I turn to legendary activist and songstress Nina Simone who once said: “I’ll tell you what freedom is to me — no fear.”…

It rings true in every moment of every day for black Americans. But we continue to persevere for the freedom to feel safe — and that’s not because we want to, it’s because we must.

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