I just finished watching the press conference of Tavion Koonce-Williams.
He is the Akron 15 year old (Black) boy who was shot in the wrist by Officer Ryan Westlake.
Tavion was carrying a toy gun as he walked to his grandmother’s house. A neighbor called the non-emergency number saying he was pointing the gun at houses.
Officer Westlake rolled up on Tavion. Tavion dropped the toy gun and put his hands up. Officer Westlake shot Tavion in the wrist.
Here are some of the reasons the Black community are angry:
Officer Westlake had a previous excessive use of force violation. He tased a person who was trying to get out of a car. Anther officer tried to stop Westlake from tasing the person.
Officer Westlake had been fired from the Akron police department and was reinstated the very next day.
Ohio is a state where open carry is legal. Perhaps you remember the White men who were walking around carrying AR-15s during the Black Lives Matter protests.
On November 22, 2014, Tamir E. Rice, a 12-year-old African American boy, was killed in Cleveland, Ohio, by Timothy Loehmann, a 26-year-old white police officer. Rice was carrying a replica toy gun; Loehmann shot him almost immediately upon arriving on the scene.
Tavion is now being charged with carrying a replica gun.
How is it that it’s legal to carry a real AR-15. But carrying a toy gun is a crime? The way it looks to me is that White people carry real guns, so it’s legal. Black kids carry toy guns, so it’s illegal.
I think it is safe to say that the Black community feels that no matter what they do, nothing changes.
That’s my experience with homelessness. No matter what is said, no matter what is done, nothing changes for the homeless community. They are over policed just like Black communities are over policed. They are easy pickings. They have nowhere to live. So everywhere they try to exist is illegal. It’s perfect for the police to get their arrest numbers up.
I have been thinking a great deal about Marshawn McCarrel, recently. He was a 23 year old Black activist in Columbus Ohio.
McCarrel was the founder of a local community organization, Pursuing Our Dreams, which launched an effort to feed Columbus’ homeless. McCarrel was homeless for several months after graduating high school.
McCarrel helped coordinate Black Lives Matter protests in Ohio following the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager killed in 2014 by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo.
He shot himself in the head in 2016 on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse. You could see his mortal anguish in his Twitter feed.
“I love y’all,” he wrote. “All of you.”
Hours before he shot himself, MarShawn wrote on Facebook, “My demons won today. I’m sorry.” Just days before his death, MarShawn was honored as a Hometown Hero at the NAACP Image Awards for his community project, Pursuing Our Dreams.
The hopelessness of an unchanging system is a heavy realization to bear.
I mean really: how are we ever going to change a system where rich White people see all of the benefits? They have all the money and power. The deck is stacked against anyone who isn’t rich and White.
Police leave rich White people alone to snort their coke, get blind drunk at their country clubs and underpay their taxes. And they constantly badger homeless people and Black people. That’s a system that works for the people who hold all the levers of power. I honestly can’t see any path where that system changes.
I’m much less interested in working with the government these days. We all know there are different rules for different people. That’s just the fact of the matter. Homeless people are seen as diseased rats. So I’m working with them like a person who is caring for diseased rats. I do much more hidden work these days. Because I see no hope that the system will ever treat them with any kind of human dignity.
He is the Akron 15 year old (Black) boy who was shot in the wrist by Officer Ryan Westlake.
Tavion was carrying a toy gun as he walked to his grandmother’s house. A neighbor called the non-emergency number saying he was pointing the gun at houses.
Officer Westlake rolled up on Tavion. Tavion dropped the toy gun and put his hands up. Officer Westlake shot Tavion in the wrist.
Here are some of the reasons the Black community are angry:
Officer Westlake had a previous excessive use of force violation. He tased a person who was trying to get out of a car. Anther officer tried to stop Westlake from tasing the person.
Officer Westlake had been fired from the Akron police department and was reinstated the very next day.
Ohio is a state where open carry is legal. Perhaps you remember the White men who were walking around carrying AR-15s during the Black Lives Matter protests.
On November 22, 2014, Tamir E. Rice, a 12-year-old African American boy, was killed in Cleveland, Ohio, by Timothy Loehmann, a 26-year-old white police officer. Rice was carrying a replica toy gun; Loehmann shot him almost immediately upon arriving on the scene.
Tavion is now being charged with carrying a replica gun.
How is it that it’s legal to carry a real AR-15. But carrying a toy gun is a crime? The way it looks to me is that White people carry real guns, so it’s legal. Black kids carry toy guns, so it’s illegal.
I think it is safe to say that the Black community feels that no matter what they do, nothing changes.
That’s my experience with homelessness. No matter what is said, no matter what is done, nothing changes for the homeless community. They are over policed just like Black communities are over policed. They are easy pickings. They have nowhere to live. So everywhere they try to exist is illegal. It’s perfect for the police to get their arrest numbers up.
I have been thinking a great deal about Marshawn McCarrel, recently. He was a 23 year old Black activist in Columbus Ohio.
McCarrel was the founder of a local community organization, Pursuing Our Dreams, which launched an effort to feed Columbus’ homeless. McCarrel was homeless for several months after graduating high school.
McCarrel helped coordinate Black Lives Matter protests in Ohio following the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager killed in 2014 by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo.
He shot himself in the head in 2016 on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse. You could see his mortal anguish in his Twitter feed.
“I love y’all,” he wrote. “All of you.”
Hours before he shot himself, MarShawn wrote on Facebook, “My demons won today. I’m sorry.” Just days before his death, MarShawn was honored as a Hometown Hero at the NAACP Image Awards for his community project, Pursuing Our Dreams.
The hopelessness of an unchanging system is a heavy realization to bear.
I mean really: how are we ever going to change a system where rich White people see all of the benefits? They have all the money and power. The deck is stacked against anyone who isn’t rich and White.
Police leave rich White people alone to snort their coke, get blind drunk at their country clubs and underpay their taxes. And they constantly badger homeless people and Black people. That’s a system that works for the people who hold all the levers of power. I honestly can’t see any path where that system changes.
I’m much less interested in working with the government these days. We all know there are different rules for different people. That’s just the fact of the matter. Homeless people are seen as diseased rats. So I’m working with them like a person who is caring for diseased rats. I do much more hidden work these days. Because I see no hope that the system will ever treat them with any kind of human dignity.