That could of been me

I like to laugh. I typically write truth and some comic relief in my observation of whatever story or topic I choose to comment on or analyze to make it easier to swallow. There's just opinion today.

The verdict of Philando Castille was reported. No charges could be made.

I thought one thing, genuinely and whole heartedly. I don't have this inflated sense of importance. I'm merely a blogger, an amateur content creator trying to find an avenue, and an audience that will appreciate my views and engage in conversation that creates a strong culture of critical thinkers. It is my hope. I still had this thought today after that verdict came down.

That could of been me.

And they all probably thought the same. Remember the meme that came out about the talk black families have to have with their children about how to conduct themselves with police.

That was before Tamir Rice. Then black children were man handled at a pool party alongside more police shootings of more black people. Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, and the scores of people who all had that same thought.

That could of been me.

In my opinion this oppressive system: does the wrong, tells the story, and turns dead black people into political narratives.

I'm tired of hearing what not to do to not get killed. Only to see those very instructions fail. Watching broad brushes paint this mosaic of a community they've never seen. They'll continue to look at their artwork and really appreciate the realism.
Through at that static noise I see it written on the walls of society.

That could of been me.

I recall a night when it was two of my friends (who are white) and myself after leaving a bar I was DJ'ing in Cedar Lake, IN. At 2:00am during the ride back we were pulled over. Yes, the driver had a few drinks. I was in he backseat nervous, as all police officer interaction makes me nervous. He asked for our I.D.'s He asks if we had been drinking, he replied that yes he had been drinking. My other friend in the passenger seat complied.
I told him I had not been drinking that night, I was DJ'ing. The driver of the vehicle continues to say he has a firearm in the glove compartment. Opens the glove compartment where it is located and gives the police officer his registration. I was in disbelief. I was angry. I also was not surprised. I know now things don't end that way if I'm the driver. Philando Castille showed me what doing everything you're told to do as a black person. If I were to be compliant in the same position my friend was in, I'm likely not to live. No benefit of the doubt is likely. I'm not safe.

That could of been me.

We're corralled by the acceptable martyrs in Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X. The anger and outrage isn't acknowledged and we're massaged into docility.
Until more bullets land and more videos are strategically released. Now under this administration the feeling is there's no one fighting for you. The realization of this catastrophic supremacist cocktail even now more than ever I think....

That could of been me.


Maybe it'll be different tomorrow but as I finish this post, today. It just feels like a matter of time. Maybe it's just fear today, but today it feels all to possible.

That could of been me.

Aaron Nealson, a blue life

By Matthew Bright

Aaron Nealson, a blue life, was born March 3rd, 1991 to the parents of Ford Glimmerman and Shelby Betty in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. 

Aaron was born among his family of blue lives that understood what he would go through and they tried to prepare him for the world. 

Elementary school began a tumultuous journey through blue life. He had become accustomed to the taunts of "pig" and "oink oink" til the fifth grade.

When Aaron reached high school he knew it'd be hard making the team in a non-blue life high school in Falcon Heights. Only one blue life in its history has made the team. As a Blue life, he dealt with multiple struggles from starting a bank account to 

Purchasing a home or even getting a car. He didn't want to live a stereotypical blue life experience so he applied to Harvard, skipping The Academy.

He spent most of his time studying on becoming a lawyer but was met with constant criticism and prejudice. Saying one student once said: "Get a badge loser!" Also another replied with: "Blue lives, always playing the victim."

Aaron said when he was a kid he reminded lots of students and teachers that his blueness mattered. That it was what he came from and what made him. 

Aaron said quote: "People sometimes are like Demons and just don't know how dangerous they look to blue lives." 

We spoke with Rebecca who called Aaron a friend, and a sympathizer to Blue life.

She said: "We agreed on a lot of things but it was just different. We went to a party once and he just kept trying to tell people how he was in constant danger. All I could think was you were born that way, no one blames you for it. Maybe he didn't have a father, or drug use was a factor. Rebecca added: " I asked him if all lives mattered."

He said: "My blue Life has to matter first." She admired that about him.

His parents pressured him as he got older. They knew life would be much harder for him as a blue life, everyone viewed him as dangerous so he found himself playing basketball more often and dancing a lot to make other lives more comfortable with his existence. 

Aaron to this day isn't sure if the Blue Life lawyer with Bachelors Degree will be treated like everyone else.

Only time will tell.