Marilyn Mosby. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Caesar R. Goodson Jr. Garrett E. Miller. Edward M. Nero. William G. Porter. Brian W. Rice. Alicia D. White. …These are the names you need to be
familiar with surrounding the killing of Freddie Gray and pending federal
investigation of the Baltimore PD.
So you’re probably wondering why an educator would bring up
such a nasty incident of police brutality and subsequent rioting on a blog
about education, music, and gaming. Well, maybe it’s a music thing: the legendary Prince is releasing a new song and
holding a peace rally in Baltimore on May 10th--- my birthday!! :-D
I got into a discussion yesterday with a young man about the
charges that Attorney Marilyn Mosby rang up against the six officers involved
in the Freddie Gray case. To paraphrase,
the young man said, “I hate that she’s overcharging these officers; these
charges won’t stick, and when the officers get acquitted, it’s only gonna let
the people of Baltimore down and make them riot again.”
If you read my last article, you can probably tell I’ve
spend a significant amount of time trying to explain to people that riots aren’t
magical unicorns that appear out of nothingness. I’m not gonna repeat the ‘Dr. King-isms’
here, but King had a pretty good, common sense understanding of the formula
that leads to rioting like we saw in Baltimore: a combination of helplessness, hopelessness, rage,
impoverishment, depravity, “we-tried-peace-already”, and--- perhaps most importantly---
lack of education. And I didn’t realize
how much lack of education played into the riots until I saw this meme:
…’So freaking brilliant!
Here we were watching people riot to the tune of, “Why are they tearing
down their own neighborhoods! Those
thugs! Those animals! They’re only
hurting themselves! They should be shot
down like the animals they are!” And
then, somebody posts this genius meme that basically says, “Okay… let’s try
rioting intelligently. Take the rioting out
of our neighborhoods and to the doorstep of a business that has actually
contributed to our economic exploitation.”
(…I guess I should
probably take a moment to clarify
that I, in no way, am suggesting anyone go riot at Sallie Mae; I’m just saying
it was a brilliant notion at the time.
Not ideal, not recommended, but brilliant.)
So what happened there? A little bit of education added to a whole lot
of angst transformed an emotional outburst into a focused, intelligent,
progressive attack. Basically, this meme
demonstrates the difference between punching a hole in the wall of one’s own apartment
and, instead, throwing that same punch at the person who broke into one’s
apartment. Same rage, but with education
to guide it in a more productive direction.
Getting back to the discussion from earlier. So the young man says, “…They’re gonna riot
again.” To which I reply, “No… they don’t have to riot again.” Suppose that these six police officers walk
off scot-free or with slapped wrists. If the people of Baltimore by that point
feel the need to riot again, it won’t be because of helplessness this time---
it will be because of lack of learning and lack of teaching. It’s going to take
a looong time for the court proceedings for those six officers to begin, much
less draw to a close. That’s plenty of
time… to educate the people of Baltimore.
But when I say ‘educate’, I don’t mean point them towards a mere
diploma or degree, as if public schools are doing much to transform communities
right now. Rather, I mean equip them to
change their surroundings with their own hands, both by using what’s left of a
broken system, and by taking grassroots measures apart from that system:
There is enough time to teach the people of Baltimore the
importance of voting and how to properly scrutinize candidates (assuming the
candidates are worth voting for and the voting isn’t rigged, I know …).
There is enough time to teach the people of Baltimore the
importance of calling their congressmen; there is enough time to make their
congressmen’s contact information readily available to all.
There is enough time to teach the people of Baltimore how to
start effective 501(c) nonprofit organizations that minister to the needs of
the community.
There is enough time to teach the people of Baltimore how to
stage and collectively commit to an economic boycott.
There is enough time to teach the people of Baltimore the
power of spending their money within their own communities and at their own
establishments.
There is enough time to teach the people of Baltimore how
their government is structured and to whom every high-ranking official is
accountable within the hierarchy.
There is enough time to teach Baltimore residents where
people like Attorney Marilyn Mosby come from; to encourage the young people of
Baltimore to study law so that, in the future, they can take hold of key cases that
arise and use them do battle in courts for real and lasting change.
Especially considering the age groups involved in a lot of
the rioting and looting--- teenagers and young adults--- the harvest is ripe
for such educational pursuits. Some
people were understandably angry at these youths for distracting from the
peaceful protests occurring not many streets over; me, as a teacher, I saw opportunity. Young people are still
malleable and can still be shaped; if nothing else, that’s something to be
thankful for and something to definitely take advantage of.
In the title to this article, I used the hashtag
#ORGANIZEBALTIMORE because of the images it creates--- rooms full of people
learning strategies, getting involved, moving with purpose and direction. But I just as easily could have said
#EDUCATEBALTIMORE, because education is really what it comes down to. It’s the old adage, “If you knew better, you would
do better.” Civil rights organizations,
churches, teachers, entertainers, and any other willing workers should be dog-piling on the city of Baltimore
right now, purposed and committed to teaching and organizing the people. If we don’t want to see more rioting, now is
the time to take control of the situation and harness that energy in another
direction.
In the time it takes to close the trials related to Freddie
Gray (and you better believe there will be
appeals made if the cops are convicted, and that’s a big ‘if’), Baltimore
could already have such a revolution of mindset that the next “uprising” employs
methods far more effective than
rioting--- perhaps even more effective than the marching and picketing we’re so
used to seeing. #HERELIESEDUCATION
This is a callout
to all teachers, organizers, and people of power and influence relative
to the Baltimore area:
#ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE
#ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE
#ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE #ORGANIZEBALTIMORE
Let’s chat it up:
earlgreysummers@gmail.com
@earlgreysummers on Twitter
/earl.g.summers on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment
Let's Chat It Up!