I have been very open about my father’s death especially in my writing, but this is the first time I am publicly sharing that my father lost his life due to gun violence. Growing up in Jacksonville desensitized me to death at the hands of gun violence because it was so common, even amongst the youth. I have always fought for the enlightenment of our community specifically with our black men. So let’s talk about it:
After watching the news of Pop Smoke, PNB Rock, Trouble, Nipsey, Young Dolph and now Takeoff, to name a few. The conversations around this changes constantly but what is the plan? One argument never wavers… Does trap music contribute? Personally I can’t truly say, but we can’t take away where this music originated. The story telling was not encourage but to simply tell a story. When those stories of black, pain and trauma began to become marketable or even “cool’ for “street cred” it started to impact the media.
On the other hand, access to and gun laws are a big problem. America has shown time and time again, that laws are created and disproportionately only “appropriately” apply to black people. So if guns laws get stricter it will be used to incarcerate Black People, especially men at a faster rate. The topic is so hard to analyze in a stratified system where no matter what our people are at a disadvantage.
I believe navigating conversations, understanding policy, engaging our community, empowering our youth and VOTING are very important.