There’s almost no week that passes without our eyes and ears exposed to horrific abuse of power by men in uniform. The repetitive killing going on in the US is really a huge cause for concern, that it makes me wonder when men who are meant to protect and serve have turned into outright judge, jury, and executioner. 

How people can watch another human murdered in cold blood and then find all manners of justification for it simply beats me. Extrajudicial killings are unethical and illegal!

America, we’ve got a problem and we can’t pretend that our house is not on fire while we are busy chasing bush rats. I’m almost afraid that the society has lost its head and is courting outright combustion if these things are not handled properly.

In my place, we say “that the bushfire that will ravage the town starts with a kindle of a single twig.” This bushfire is gathering momentum, to such an extent that it’s scary and a crime to be black in America. Why is it my business you might want to know? Well, it is my business because this is where I lived up until 2015 when we moved to the UAE and will go back when we are done here. It’s my business because I’m a member of the larger society and in a society when there’s a problem, we look for ways to fix it otherwise it becomes pervasive and that’s the point it has gotten to.

It’s a concern to hear people callously go on a smear campaign over the body of a soul that hasn’t even gone cold. They simply throw him or her under the bus because he or she doesn’t look like you. That’s not what humanity is all about. In no way do I condone crime but I will not condone injustice as well. If a man commits a crime, demobilize him and bring him to justice except if as an officer you are claiming that you can’t destabilize a man without shooting him dead, then you have no business in the uniform or possessing a firearm.

It’s my business because I’m a black woman with a husband and son’s and we are large framed in my house. My son who’s 14 is over 6ft 2 inches tall like his dad and he’s still growing. As a mother of black boys’ and a wife of a black man, I was terribly uncomfortable back in Houston anytime my husband was out of the house late in the evening. Until he got home, or until my boys were indoors from school it seemed as though I was holding my breath each day. I think I even over-parented them because I restricted them from running around unsupervised with other children in the area. I try hard not to make my life revolve around race, but there are societal pressures that force it in your face and no matter how egalitarian you try to be this is a reality. I’m angry, sad and worried. There has to be a better way to resolve conflicts.

Today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt word is ‘bus.‘ We should use it as it is or use words that contain bus in them.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

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