At Dawn

At dawn, the curtains are drawn and the light is pushed away...

The contrived and dim vibes create an atmosphere of contention.
Lost in a confused state of mental diminution.
Conditioned emotional pandemics, mass incarceration, and crack epidemics.

At dawn, the curtains are drawn and the light is pushed away.
Discordant opinions and bad intentions. Generational trauma born of oppressive systemic conventions.

“From 1917 to 1921, when the Chicago ghetto was first being rightly defined, there were fifty-eight firebombings of homes in white border areas to which African Americans had moved, with no arrests or prosecutions—despite the deaths of two African American residents. In one case, explosives were lobbed at the home of Richard B. Harrison, a well-known Black Shakespearean actor who had purchased a house in a white neighborhood. The bombs were thrown from a vacant and locked apartment in a building next door. The police did not make a serious attempt to find the perpetrator, failing even to question the building’s occupants, although few possible conspirators could have had access to the apartment.”
—Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law

Inhumane ideologies governed the existence of the American chattel slave.
The remnants of that garbage now litter the hearts and minds of many who claim awareness of the plight of their descendants.

False prophets regurgitate false claims. These claims originate from places that are not sensitive to the trauma experienced by American chattel slaves and their descendants. They either seek an apologetic framework or a wholesale repudiation of the history that defines the current lens through which Black Americans are seen—and the pathologies that contributed to the development of that distorted lens and view.

Through this lens, there can be no reconciliation, because there is nothing to reconcile. These frameworks seek to diminish historical reality in order to forgo accountability.

“Quality leadership is neither the product of one great individual nor the result of odd historical accidents. Rather, it comes from deeply bred traditions and communities that shape and mold talented and gifted persons. Without a vibrant tradition of resistance passed on to new generations, there can be no nurturing of a collective and critical consciousness—only professional conscientiousness survives. Where there is no vital community to hold up precious ethical and religious ideals, there can be no coming to a moral commitment—only personal accomplishment is applauded. Without a credible sense of political struggle, there can be no shouldering of courageous engagement—only cautious adjustment is undertaken. If you stop to think in this way about the source of leadership in Black America today, this absence is primarily a symptom of Black distance from a vibrant tradition of resistance, from a vital community bonded by ethical ideals, and from a credible sense of political struggle. Presently, Black middle-class life is principally a matter of professional conscientiousness, personal accomplishment, and cautious adjustment.”
—Cornel West, Race Matters

West, C. (2000). Race matters. Beacon Press.

Corporation, P. L. (2019b). The color of law. Turtleback.