Mario Depeine, Sr. | Shot Into History (Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell…) | CD Baby Music Store
Tribute Song: Shot Into History (Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell…) – YouTube
This picture of the lynching of Tom Shipp (19) and Abe Smith (18) in Marion, Indiana (1930) was used because it speaks to an epidemic that is still current in our Modern American Society and “A picture is worth a thousand words.” More than 70 years ago young and older blacks were being killed because they were seen as “suspicious” or they were accused of various crimes and all you needed was a frenzied white crowd and black lives were taken away in an instant. Families were left devastated and horrified as they replayed the events in their minds. These families had to try to move forward knowing that someone precious to them was taken away and these families were left only with deep sorrow, agonizing pain and only the memories of their loved ones. Black families which were still intact had to live with the fear that at any given point they could be the next victim, all it would take is a look, a glance, a “bad day” or just someone “looking for some excitement” and a black life could be lost. That was all. This was clearly a form of state sanctioned terrorism. It was legal and accepted in America for over a 100 years to systematically kill blacks. It was a way to exert “white supremacy.”
We have advanced in many ways as a society, however when you look at public education, we still have “separate but unequal.” Studies have shown that American schools are just as segregated if not more segregated than they were before the landmark “Brown vs. Board of Education” ruling in 1954. Racism in America is still a “stain” that continues to work its poison and relegates “black or non-white blood” as inferior to “white blood” although the reality is, there is only red blood in all of us. This is a very very serious issue because precious lives are being lost as a result of it (unchecked racism) and nothing concrete has been done to stop it.
Now, in the 21st century, the lives of blacks are still being “taken” as if these lives are worth less than the lives of white American Citizens. This is still a “lynching” but a very well organized “lynching.” Blacks are still being shot or run-over (Victor Steen-FL-10/3/2009, Tamon Robinson-NY-4/12/12, to name a couple) for “any and every reason” by mostly white “officials” and “police” personnel who don’t seem to care much about the lives that they “take.” There is not any justice, just the “execution” of black men with very little repercussions. “Judges” in the judicial system casually uphold the unjustified forces used against these black men and put “the blame” squarely on the “silenced” victim who could never say “his side of the story.” So the deaths, the bloodshed continues.
Those who are in the middle of this injustice understand how wrong it is. Those who prefer to look at this from “afar” have a hard time understanding the “outrage.” It will take a lot of empathy and “putting oneself in the other’s shoes” to understand how bad and terrible this is in America; the land of “liberty and justice for all.”
Too many young black men have been gunned down needlessly and there has not been any “real justice” or real change. “Shot Into History” is a song that I wrote and produced to bring a sense of humanity to the lives lost. I want people to hear this song and say “Wow, a young life was lost.” I want people to say “These young men had families just like white young men have families that care about them.” I want people to not look for ways to justify “another shooting of a young black man” but rather look for a way to STOP the shootings and the inherent bias associated with these killings.
You do not hear about cases of young white men being shot by police or so-called “neighborhood watch” security individuals. The Us community would be outraged if there were so many white young men being shot in the way that young black men are being shot. Then, it would be an “American problem,” it would become a “suburban problem / epidemic.” This is happening in America and it does not appear to be much of a problem. A lot of people want to look at this as an “individual” problem or look at it in isolation. Meanwhile, all the families who no longer have their sons with them are having to grapple with the lost of someone who was precious to them, but not to America. They are grappling with the memories that are left to hold on to. These mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, etc. are trying to “make sense” of the sudden lost of a family member who was so dear to them but who was only seen by his color to the rest of America, the law, and the systems of racism and prejudice put in place to justify such bias treatment. These families are left to wonder what else could they have told their sons to assure that they are not “targeted, profiled and shot.” They taught them to “not run when the police calls for you.” They taught them “Do not put your hand in your pocket when the police stops you.” They taught them to “Say ‘yes sir, no sir’ when the police addresses you.” They tried to teach them everything to keep their sons alive and yet, their son is still dead, “Shot into history” nowhere to be heard again, nowhere to be found, unreachable. How does a parent reconcile that lost? How does a parent accept the phrase “Justice for all” when they could not even get justice for one?
This is not a “black community” problem. This is an American problem. There needs to be a greater sense of compassion in America for all of America’s children, not just the white children. Don’t fault people for stating the “race” in this issue because that is the reality. When black parents have to prep their kids about the police and the likelihood that the police could “kill” them, then race is definitely a central issue here. How many white parent prep their boys on the issues (don’t run, keep hands away from pocket, etc.) that black parents prep their boys about? You don’t hear that talk happening in the “white community.” That “talk” is not being done in the “white community” why should it be done in the black? This is a true disparity and it “screams” inequality and “inferiority” yet as Americans we treat it as if it “should be” that way. No sense in Americans being outraged about inequalities abroad while remaining silent about inequalities in our “own backyard.” Let’s lead in this area America, let’s lead!
So for all the Trayvon Martins, Amadou Diallos, and Sean Bells who have lost their lives senselessly, I say SPEAK UP AMERICA! Speak up for all of America’s children. Address the racial issues that are built-into the systems that we are upholding. When we really address and admit the racism, we will start moving toward solutions that will save “precious lives.” Yes! Those lost lives were precious. The Trayvon Martins, Amadou Diallos and Sean Bells that are still alive today, their lives are precious as well. Let’s see to it that their lives are not “snuffed out” because of bias that is left unaddressed, by racism that is disguised as “justified force.”
