myHIN Blog

August 19, 2014

Everyone Dies in the Summer

“Cause everybody dies in the summer
Wanna say ya goodbyes, tell them while it's spring
I heard everybody's dyin' in the summer
So pray to God for a little more spring” – Chance the Rapper

This excerpt is from the song “Paranoia” from Chicago Based rapper, Chance the Rapper. This small excerpt is just a taste of the violence in Chicago. We as the black community recognize some of the black on black violence around particular parts of the nation. Not just Chicago but every urban city where young black men live. I once had a teacher that shared something similar with my seventh grade class. She reminded us on how to stay safe during the summer. We brushed it off as if we needed someone to tell us how to be safe. Going to an inner city high school, I have a good idea on what in school violence looks like. I witnessed theft, violence, and the loss of classmates. After multiple deaths in my high school, I realized what my seventh grade teacher was saying. She was trying to look out for us. She wanted our mentality to be focused on safety and not what we think is safe. No one can predict death, but we can take preventive steps to lessen the likelihood of violence.

Even the recent Eric Garner death has black males questioning our own safety. Continuous harassment WILL push a man to act unconventionally. If you were to watch the Eric Garner video, Mr. Garner is fed up with the constant harassment form the local police department and he finally stands up for himself. Little did we know, it would be the last stand Mr. Garner would take. On August 1, 2014, the official medical examiner ruled Eric Garner’s death a homicide.

But why violence?

It’s not the music that make kids fight; nor is it the food they eat nor the water they drink either. It’s not the cars they drive or they places they work. It’s not the clothes they wear or the look of their hair. Stigma, negative stigma is the cause of the uproar of violence and young deaths. We as young black males are the blame for bad neighborhoods. We are the blame for inner city violence and poverty rates. We are the blame for single mothers with children that repeat the cycle of violence. We are taught that everyone who is not in our same social economical class is the enemy. We put the blame on everyone, but ourselves. I was taught that I was the problem, until I realized it wasn’t me. We must better ourselves by changing our mindset. I was even influenced by several articles I’ve read in the past few weeks. A young black Cornell Graduate student has written articles on his take on race in the United States. I was moved so much by his articles that I emailed him. I essentially said ‘Thank you’ for having an open mind approach to the ongoing problem about race. The article was in reply of a Time magazine article “Why I’ll Never Apologize for My White Male Privilege”.

I didn’t have a creative segway to this topic, but I came across this song “Treat Me Caucasian” not too long ago; by another Chicago rapper Supa Bwe.

“Come off them-come off them benefits
Untriple all of our sentences, treat me Caucasian
Get me a loan with no sin attached
Give me that privilege, give me that, treat me Caucasian” – Supa Bwe