Generation Kill

Toussaint
December 1, 2014

A few years back I was engaged in a manhood initiative at a local Chicago high school. One bay after our program I walked one of the students outside, we we’re probably continuing a conversation that started in the classroom. It was raining that day, I can visualize that moment as if it was yesterday, this was a turning point for me in understanding the difference between my generation, and the generation that grew up in our shadow. Generation Kill! The student and I were standing in the street very close to the parked cars preparing to cross, when a black Oldsmobile came flying past. The car was so close that it shocked me. I clearly wasn’t paying that much attention to the happenings in the street. As the car passed my student yelled out “Slow Down “ – Slow Down! Nothing more, nothing less – slow down. The Driver of the Oldsmobile slammed on his brakes sliding at least 40 feet because of the rain. He opens his door with his hand placed in his waistband giving the appearance of having a weapon.

In order for you to understand my position I have to give you some context: The High School is an alternative high school for kids that have either dropped out and decided to return to school, or kids that have had too many behavioral issues at the city’s public school and weren’t allowed to continue their schooling in a traditional settings. Essentially these students were perceived as the worst of the worst. Of late Chicago has received national coverage for violence but any respectable Chicagoan knows in reality 60 to 70% of those shooting occur in 1 of 3 neighborhoods. Englewood is one of those neighborhoods and the school that we just walked out of just so happened to be centrally located in the heart of Englewood.

Now that you have context let’s get back to the story. The Oldsmobile driver is walking toward us shouting; “Fuck you say nigga? I’ll shoot yo bitch ass “. At this point my mind is racing, I’m in a compromising position here. On one hand I want to run, but I’m with a 18 year old young man who I feel responsible for and he clearly isn’t a bout to run with me! I look over and my student is taking his jacket off shouting back; “ Fuck you punk, I’ll beat yo bitch ass “. Hold on fam ! Hold on, I didn’t sanction this man!! I mean I didn’t sign on for this shit at all! I’m no punk but considering the odds this situation is way past the stipulations of my contract. I give my student a look of confusion and tell him to “shut the fuck up” . The driver returns to his car speeds off but only for about 100 feet. He pulls over and runs inside of a house. I quickly tell my student to leave. Now that my student is gone I feel a little relieved but through the commotion I didn’t realize that the parking spot and house in which the driver of the Old’s ran into is right next to where I’m parked! Damn! Now I’m stuck I can’t decide if I should go to my car and risk running directly into the driver or if I should return to the school building and give the situation some time to calm down.

It must have been about 5 minutes where I’m just standing there in the street trying to force my feet toward my vehicle but in reality not moving an inch. All of a sudden the driver appears in the alley on the opposite side of the street that the house he initially ran into. I can clearly see a big ass automatic weapon in his hand and now my paralyzed feet have turned to stone I couldn’t lift them if I tried. I was in awe of this entire situation. How did this escalate so damn fast? How did a child yelling slow down turn into a death sentence? The driver sees me but obviously isn’t interested in shooting me and once he recognized the young man that yelled at him wasn’t around he retuned to the alley. This was my cue I got to moving with a swiftness that I hadn’t felt since I was about 18 and 50 pounds lighter.

Two things remained with me since that day.
1. The driver was prepared to kill that young man in broad daylight for no apparent reason.
2. 2. The young man was prepared to die that day for no apparent reason.

Neither party showed any inkling of fear. Neither party had any serious reasoning to put their lives on the line that day. There was no cause. There was no long-standing beef. Nether party had ever met one another before that moment. Nothing about that moment made sense to me. I’m from the hood “the real hood” I’ve had guns drawn on me before, I’ve seen people shot in the street, but in all of those situations I had some understanding of why it all was happening this shit was a random as a rainy day.

These are the protesters of the Ferguson case, these are the protesters in the street that are willing to lay down on the 405, these are the young men and women standing in solidarity against the injustices of the police, not only in Fergusson but nation wide! These young men and women offer something to activism that my generation and the generation before them lacked. Lack of HOPE! They lack hope, they don’t believe in the promise of tomorrow. They’ve seen to many injustices to have hope. Their lives are played out in rap videos and low budget documentaries. They are the children of crack and rap. They’ve grown up on a consistent diet of flaming hots and nobody gives a shit! Fear, or at least traditional fears are foreign to them. The shit that scares me, are things they experience on a daily basis. How do you control someone that isn’t afraid of death? You can’t! They’re impulsive and reckless and for the first time in probably ever they have found a cause that gives their life value. Police brutality! All of them have a story! All of them know someone whose ass got stomped by the police! This is second nature for them; they aren’t burning down Ferguson because of Darren Wilson, they more than any of us know that the system isn’t designed for them. They are burning it down because they themselves have experienced the same injustices first hand.

In the words of Stokley Carmichael “ violence has a place in American society” I stand in solidarity with these youth. I hear their cries, I feel their pain and from my vantage point only two things threaten power, Finance and force! They may not articulate this understanding of the power structure well, but they understand it. Anyone that’s spent any time on any street corner where hustlers hustle understands those dynamics. It is the charge of the generation before them to now unify with a common goal. The passions and fires that burn within these youth will soon hit an apex and like all fires that aren’t being fueled it will wither and die. We can’t afford for this flame to die! We’ve sat comfortably for 30+ years riding the waves of the activist of the 60 cautiously finding ways to assimilate, creatively finding ways to join our counterparts in this great America! We’ve made hoards of money, we’ve purchased homes and vehicles our parents could only imagine experiencing, we’ve had the privilege of HOPE! But like all of those before us there are dues owed for this here life, nobody rides for free. It is time to pay our debt to those ancestors that came before us, and the young warriors that came after us. It is on us to find ways to organize the chaos that’s grown out of Fergusson. The youth are still youth! They still need guidance, they still need leadership, and those activists of the sixties don’t understand these kids. The communication gap is too great. This is our time! This is our moment; this is our way of paying that debt back to those that suffered 256 years of chattel slavery, 100 years of Jim Crow, and 40 years of authorized legislative oppression. The issue of police brutality is still the veil that hides the true issue of White Supremacy. The momentum behind the Mike Brown execution may slightly impact our tomorrows but with organization and mobilization the impact of openly threatening white supremacy will impact our forever’s, don’t miss your moment! With all the negative attention “Generation Kill “ receives they’ve already accomplished more in regards to the Black movement in 109 days than we have in over 30 years. Its time pay up fam!