Greetings and salutations, blog readers. Today, is a long and somber post.

I may lose some of you today. If so, goodbye. I would rather lose a blog reader who thinks racism is okay, than see another life snuffed out early.

We have to use our influence, and while I may not be the biggest blogger out there, I can NOT stay silent. I have worked on this blog for nearly a week now, and I hope it resonates with some or all of you.

The name’s you will see in this blog are people who have been killed by police or police affiliated people. Every single one of these people was not found guilty by a jury of their peers for the crime they were accused of committing (if they were even accused of something). The few who were incarcerated were serving their time, and were killed for other accusations, when they bothered with a reason. This is important because too many people try to claim that they should not have been committing a crime…but several of these people were doing nothing wrong, found to be totally innocent.

Moreover, the ones accused of crime had NOT been convicted by a jury of their peers, and were instead murdered by police officers who do not have the authority to judge guilt nor act out potential death sentences. 

And none of these crimes qualified for such a death sentence punishment, anyways. 

Some of these people were killed while accused of committing a crime, but none of those crimes come with a death penalty sentence, and police are not authorized to be judge and executioner. 

(Say their names

Breonna Taylor

  Duncan Lemp

   Joshua Downing

David Heeke

  Lucas Alvarado

   Ramiro Carrasco

   Stephen Douris )

These are facts. If you “respect” our legal system, you must still accept and respect these facts. They are facts. I don’t care if you “stand with the boys and girls in blue”, they are NOT jury nor judge, and that is not open for discussion.

Police are not our juries. Police are not our executioners. 

And if you are okay with them snuffing out life, you need to leave. Plenty of other bloggers for you to follow, not that you even deserve to enjoy a blogger, if you are the sort that is okay with this kind of murder. 

This blog may get very uncomfortable for you if you are racist, if you believe these murders are okay, or hell, even if you are an otherwise innocent white person who just hasn’t done the hard work of confronting their privilege. 

Because we are getting into it today. We have to. 

If you are uncomfortable about frank discussion on race, feel free to leave and please, do not return. If you can’t handle these discussions you will never be able to handle the nuance I am putting into Flake City, or any other writing project of mine, anyways. 

If you are racist? Go play in traffic. I truly mean that. I do not want you on my blog, on my page, or anywhere around me. You can try and comment if you want, and I will mark you as spam- I have to approve all comments on my blog anyways. 🙂 I am REALLY not kidding about this, guys. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Tamir Rice

Natasha McKenna

Walter Scott 

Bettie Jones)

If I post this to Medium, where comments are allowed and racists run rampant, I will gladly tell you all the same. I don’t give a fuck about you or your opinion, if you co-sign or in any way, try to justify these murders.

I don’t give a fuck about you, or any comment you think you need to leave, if you are not 100% anti-racist. I LITERALLY do not care. Nothing you say matters, because you don’t believe Black Lives Matter. 

Because BLACK LIVES MATTER. 

Don’t ALL LIVES MATTER me. ALL lives CAN’T matter until BLACK LIVES MATTER. Stop acting too stupid to understand this fact. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Leroy Browning

Ahmaud Arbery

Bettie Jones 

Salvado Ellswood

Philando Castile 

Botham Jean)

I need you to be an anti-racist. 

I don’t mean “I have black friends”, I don’t mean “I marched with MLK” no, I mean, unless you find these deaths disgusting, unless you speak out against racism, unless you call these police stations and demand justice, do SOME sort of action, and often, I don’t give a fuck what you think. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Bobby Gross

Denzel Brown

Brandon Jones

Askari Roberts

Terrance Moxley)

If you are white, your job is to listen and learn. Your ears work best when your mouth is closed, by the way, so please, shut up and listen. 

I am far from an expert on racial issues in America, but I am someone who has read and dedicated large amounts of time and resources into bettering herself and making sure her actions reflected her morals…strictly speaking, anti racist and pro weed, in that order. 

( Say their names

Atatiana Jefferson

Eric Reason

Dominique Clayton

Keith Childress

Kevin Matthews

Michael Noel)

It isn’t enough to simply not kill a Black person. It isn’t enough to simply NOT say the N word, although good god, please stop saying the N word. 

It is not enough to simply be nice to the black people you see. 

NO. We, as white folks, have to work our asses off and make change.

 

Donate. Speak out. VOTE. Act up. Educate yourself. 

Donate to pro Black causes, to organizations, and for the love of fucking god, STOP giving money to fucking Shaun King. He’s a charlatan. He profits on black death. The gathered donations are never tracked back to the people they were intended for. There are TONS of receipts for proof on this fact. Stop giving your money to Talcum X, and give it to people who are actually helping the community, and not themselves. This should apply to any place you donate- it isn’t enough to donate your dollars, KNOW where your dollars are going and be on the look out for people who are trying to merely profit on Black death. 

Speak out. Silence is Complicit. Silence is Compliance. If something racist is happening, speak against it, or else you are co-signing it. 

(SAY THEIR FUCKING NAMES!

Roy Nelson 

Junior Prosper

Lavante Biggs

Wayne Wheeler

Keith McLeod 

Miguel Espinal 

Nathaniel Pickett )

This is the hard one, white folks. I know because I AM white folks and I know it is hard. It’s unlearning habits you didn’t even know you had. But you MUST do this. 

When your friend says the N word but they didn’t use a hard R? You still have to tell them it isn’t okay. When your friend says they just “Don’t trust that side of town, because it’s so ‘dark’” CALL them out. 

If you find YOURSELF making some racist assumption on someone, stop. Stop and force yourself to see that the preconceived notion of someone is likely wrong and is likely rooted in racism. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Tiara Thomas

Cornelius Brown

Jamar Clark

Richard Perkins

Michael Lee Marshall

Alonzo Smith)

Because we have all been indoctrinated into being a little bit racist. Plenty of scholars much more wise than myself have spoken on this issue. 

Read them. Google is your friend.

EDUCATE YOURSELF. This helps you speak out. Resources are available, free and paid. Pay for the information you receive from Black Creators and do your own emotional labor. Stop asking Black men and women to explain racism and help you get better at not being a racist. YOU have to do the hard work. I don’t care if you have never actually been actively racist…you have benefited from the systematic racism of this world, and therefore it is your job to help dismantle it. You have likely also committed micro aggressions. 

(You should Google it, but here, I copied it from Wikipedia for you: Microaggression is a term used for brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative prejudicial slights and insults toward any group, particularly culturally marginalized groups.[1] The term was coined by psychiatrist and Harvard University professor Chester M. Pierce in 1970 to describe insults and dismissals which he regularly witnessed non-black Americans inflicting on African Americans)

I am not innocent in this either, and there was a time when I couldn’t even understand, much less confront my own privilege. But what I did do was confront that, and what led to it, educated myself, and improved myself, until I could proudly say I had done the work to be an anti-racist…and I continue to do that work every single day. Because we must. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Asshams Manley

Christian Taylor

Billy Ray Davis

Brian Day)

The next thing you can do to help is to mind your fucking business. Don’t be a “Karen/Becky” and use 911 as your personal concierge every single time you see a black person in a place you don’t feel they belong. If you educated yourself, you would realize this is just an extension of your racism, in believing that “those people” are only allowed in certain areas. Instead of calling 911 because MY friend is parking in guest parking, at MY apartment, look within yourself and see why you believe you have the authority to decide someone “doesn’t belong”. 

We are on planet earth. If they are human, they belong. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Anthony Ashford

Dominic Hutchinson

 Lamontez Jones

India Kager

Tyree Crawford

James Carney III)

If you see someone doing something, mind your own business. Stop calling the police. You don’t need to call the police because you don’t recognize someone. 

If you see someone harassing or bothering a Black person or any POC, SAY SOMETHING. Earlier, I said shut up and listen, as that is meant to help you learn WHAT you are looking for and WHAT you are trying to say when you speak up. You shut up and listen so you can speak up and make change later. It’s like studying for a test and then doing well on the exam. 

If you are a white person, you have the power to actually stop someone from being hurt. If you SEE something, SAY something. Stand between the person and the cop. 

SAY THEIR NAMES

Troy Robinson

Darrius Stewar

Samuel Dubose

Albert Davis

Sandra Bland

You know they won’t shoot you, that’s why you have so many “I got drunk and popped off to a cop and didn’t lose my life” stories. 

You know they won’t shoot you because you know in America White lives are valued over Black lives. 

And don’t tell me you don’t know that, because then you are a racist and a liar.

(SAY THEIR NAMES

George Mann

Jonathan Sanders

Freddie Blue
Spencer McCain)

How do I know?

Simple. Feel free to watch this video, or continue to read. 

Would you be willing to trade how you are treated with your white skin, to be treated as someone with dark skin?

You want to tell me you aren’t privileged because “you had to work for everything you ever had” or “You weren’t born rich” okay. Cool. So that means you would be okay with being super dark skinned? And the treatment that comes with it?

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Zamiel Crawford

Jermaine Benjamin

Kris Jackson

Kevin Higgenbotham

De’Angelo Stallworth

Curtis Jordan)

No. You wouldn’t. Because you know, deep down, that privilege isn’t money. 

It’s that you can walk down the street without being detained, shot, or considered suspicious. 

It’s that you can pop off to a cop and get nothing but a ticket, MAYBE a night in jail. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Brandon Glenn

Reginald Moore

Nuwnah Laroche

Jason Champion

Bryan Overstreet)

It’s that you can commit a crime without anyone deciding that MINUS a JURY they will deem your guilt and decide the punishment is death…despite not being a judge. Sure, cops ALSO kill white people, but Black people are disproportiantly killed when factors like population are considered. More so, a horrible number of stories revolve around white criminals, like actual mass shooters, being peacefully detained despite his own violent actions, and even treated to a meal before being arrested, whereas plenty of innocent Black people have been killed by cops while they were obeying orders, following the law, and, in many cases, were already detained and not a threat, if a threat was even to be had originally. Plenty of other Black people have been killed while sitting peacefully in their own homes, while obeying the law. In this country we allow our cops to kill innocent people, with few, if any, consequences.

You know I am right. You can pretend you don’t see it, but we both know you are simply trying to justify your own racism, and you are too lazy to want to do the hard work to be a true anti-racist. 

Because being “not a racist” isn’t enough. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

David Felix

Terry Lee Chatman

William Chapman

Samuel Harrell

Freddie Gray

Norman Cooper

Brian Acton)

You must be staunchly anti-racist, or else you are just talk, pathetic, spineless, stupid, and yes…racist. 

Do the work. It is YOUR work to be done. 

So if you know you wouldn’t trade your skin color, if you know you wouldn’t want to be Black, you need to work on making it better to be Black. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Darrell Brown

Frank Shephard III

Walter Scott

Donald “Dontay” Ivy

Eric Harris

Phillip White)

The names I have listed here are a ton of people, of all walks of life. All socioeconomic backgrounds, nationality backgrounds, different political affiliations, different jobs….The names here range from right to left, military to waitress, immigrant, native, wealthy, less fortunate…The reason they were shot may vary from accused of committing a crime to simply laying in their bed sleeping…

But the thing they truly have in common is they were murdered from racism. Racist thoughts fueled human action, and lives were ended that should still be here today. 

(Say. Their. Names.

Dominick Wise

Anthony Hill

Bernard Moore

Tony Robinson

Naeschylus Vinzant

Jason Moland)

The people on this list were murdered. Plain and simple. Murdered in cold, racist blood. 

(Say their names.

Charly Leundeu “Africa” Keunang

Darrell Gatewood

Deontre Dorsey

Thomas Allen Jr.

Gerdle Moise

Calvon Reid)

These people had families, they had friends, many had jobs, homes, lives, hobbies, pets, futures. All gone. Families left alone to fend for themselves, friends with nothing but memories, homes left empty, lives left destroyed, hobbies abandoned, and pets wondering why their owner never came home.

These people were PEOPLE. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Lavall Hall

Terry Price

Natasha McKenna

Jeremy Lett

Kevin Garrett

Artago Damon Howard

Alvin Haynes)

These people were human beings who were killed by a broken and corrupted justice system. Anyone who supports this current system is just as flawed and wrong as the system they support. 

(Say their names

Andre Larone Murphy Sr.

Leslie Sapp

Matthew Ajibade

Frank Smart

Brian Pickett)

The people in this blog, merely represent the lives snuffed out too soon by immoral and racist actions, that we know about. The sad, pathetic truth is because police possess so much power to abuse in our current system that their is no way to know all the names, all the people who have lost their lives for no reason other than racism and rampant, unchecked police brutality. These names listed here are but a sampling of the lives lost in the past few years.

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Kevin Bajoie

Michael Sabbie

Paterson Brown

Christopher Kimble

Rayshaun Cole

Felix Kumi)

The people on this list didn’t deserve to die, no matter their accused crime. The people on this blog post didn’t deserve to die at the hands of the racist system we live in. 

(Say their names.

Christian Albarran

Horacio Ruiz-Rodriguez

Mikyas Mehary Tegegne

Jesse Jenson

Nicholas P. Philtower

Shawn Joseph Billinger)

The people on this list came from different criminal backgrounds from previous arrests to never even been stopped, and yet all had their lives ended by those who are SWORN and PAID to protect them. 

(SAY. THEIR. FUCKING. NAMES!

De’Angelo Brown

Megan Rivera

D’Ettrick Griffin

Esmond Trimble

Antonio Arce

Bill Gerald Akes)

The people listed here are more than hashtags, and they did not deserve to die, no matter their crime, no matter their past, no matter their mental health, and no matter the color of their skin. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Jacob Michael Harris

Charles Landeros

Shatelle Hooks

Zonell Williams

Iosia Faletogo

Michael E. Pierce

Kenneth Joseph Sisneros)

The people listed here had their lives ended before their time. The people listed here had their lives taken from them, against every law of nature, and law of man, and yet our system did not seek justice for their deaths. 

Less than ten of the people listed here were murdered by someone who later was arrested and charged with any sort crime. 

And even less of these people had their murders put in jail.

(SAY THEIR NAMES

All of these people were failed by not only the police who killed them, the system who failed to get them justice, but also by every person who did not speak up against the police brutality and ritualistic murder of human beings. 

(SAY THEIR NAMES

Timmothy Rhodes

Kasim Kahrim

Bradely Blackshire

Kyron Marcell Sands

Clayton Joseph

Pierre Woods

The people on this blog post, listed here, were murdered for the color of their skin. This is unacceptable. 

(Say their names

Reginald Romero Bursey

Gary Martin

Greg Alyn Carlson

Brian Simonsen

Johnny Mathis)

The people listed here were snuffed out, for no reason, other than racism. Some of these people had called the police FOR help. Others were victims of other crimes, including being kidnap victims, and the very police sworn to protect them, to SAVE them, killed them dead. 

(Say their names

Willie Jermaine Robinson

Willie McCoy

Joshua Williams

Bruce Carter

Kevin Ray McEnulty

Eugene Horn)

The people listed here were human beings who were as entitled to life as the person writing this blog, and the person reading it. We all deserve life. 

(Say. Their. Names.

Daviri Robertson

Chris Joseph

Kevin Samuel Capers

Michael Cohen

Sokhom Hon

Phillip Wayne Outman)

The people here deserved better. They deserved to be treated fairly. They deserved to not be gunned down. They deserved a fair trial, the same kind white people take for granted, they deserved a fair judgment, and they didn’t deserve to die. None of them did. 

(Say their names.

Joel David Kellay

Eric Hagstorm

Beth Plant

Thomas Wayne Swinford

Carlos Hunter

Rodney Fisher

Antonio Joseph Valentine)

The people here deserved so much more. The people here deserved to have their killers arrested and charged with their murder. The people here deserved to have justice for their murders and the system that failed them.

(Say their names!)

Jared D. Kelly

Steven Louis Goins

Danny Brogdon

Stephen Kaylor

Jeremy Ponce

Daniel Moncada

Luke Anthony Swann)

The people here deserved more. The people here deserve your tears, and your rage. They deserve your time, and your efforts, in demanding justice, and in demanding a better future. 

(Say their names

Ricky Lee Prichard

Roy Anthony Scott

Robert Richardson

Larry Todd Hoover

Maurice Arrisgado Jr.)

The people here deserve more than a hashtag, a news clip, a tweet you can easily share, or a profile picture you can use. 

Brenda Rodriguez Mendoza

Kirsten Kloppe

Nathaniel T. Edwards

Ulises Valladares

Jihad Merrick

Brian Gregory)

The people here deserved to not have their lives gone over by cancerous media outlets to justify their murder. The people here deserved to die as the person they had lived as, not to have their entire life story rewritten to fit the narrative that allows people to think their MURDER was acceptable. 

(Say their names

Thomas Yatsko

Joseph Hilton

Victor M. Reyes Jr.

Jeff Burleson

Terry Amons

Jared S.R. Williams

Amanuel Dagebo)

The people listed here deserve so much more than their name on this blog post. 

They deserve justice. The same justice afforded to ALL. 

(Say their names

Thompson Nguyen

Tyler Miller

Trayvon Mitchell

Jonathan William Leroy

David Melton

Derrick Staton)

The people listed here were killed, murdered in cold blood. No matter their accused crime. The people listed here deserved justice, not death. Many needed help, plenty had called for HELP, and were instead shot, beaten, choked, or tased until they died. 

(Say their names

Matthew Riehl

Ernie Macias

Oscar Sandoval

Heath Wayne Hodge

Marco Antonio Carlos

Jarvis Lykes)

For every person listed here, there is a white person with a similar case, who was NOT shot to death. Who was NOT beaten, or choked, or tased, until the last breath left their lungs. 

For every accused crime, their are hundreds of white people accused or even found guilty, of the same crime, who were not shot, beaten, tased, ran over, choked…The same crimes…

Very different results. 

(Say their names

Robert Miller

Jesse Scarsbrook

James Allan Berones

Salvador Byassee

Joshua Spottedhorse

Zoe “Gangstalicious” Dowdell)

The people here are gone, but they will not be forgotten. People like myself will keep fighting. And we would like you to get off your ass, educate yourself, and fight along side us. All lives can not matter until these lives matter. 

(Say their names

Kyle Gray

Mario Sanabria

Kieta O’Neal

Shukri Said

Timothy Wayne Anderson

Sanchez Lowe)

These people matter, and they deserved more than an unjust death. We as humans deserve more than our fellow humans being killed. 

(Say their names

Jeffrey Louis Parker

David Yearby

Cortez Washington

Rumain Brisbon

Tyree Woodson

Dennis Grigsby)

The people here deserved more than murder. 

(Say their names

Dontre Hamilton

Jeremy Lake

Leon Haywood

Lavoy Steed

Quentin Byrd)

If you have found reading my blog tricky, with the list of people constantly in your face…imagine trying to breath in a world where you are constantly policed for existing?

Imagine living in fear every moment you, your friends, or family, leave their house, or even sleep peacefully in their own beds, as is the case of some names on this blog.

Imagine not being seen as worthy of life. 

Imagine being killed, being told justice doesn’t matter. Imagine being told to peacefully protest, but then being told “no not like that”. Imagine always being called a dirty criminal, no matter how clean you are and how much you never break the law. 

(Say their names

John H. Crawford III

Yvette Smith

Zikarious Flint

Walley Flex

Tanisha Anderson)

The people here deserve to be remembered. 

The people here deserved so much more than they got. We all have work to do, for each of these people and all the ones we never got to know about. 

Our prisons are full of innocent men and women imprisoned by a corrupt justice system. Our police are also murdering people, innocent, or at very least, not yet judged to be guilty. 

(Say their names

Charles Goodridge

Jason Harrison

Anesson Joseph

Juan May

Justin Sullivan)

EVERY time a cop kills, it undoes our very humanity. If you take ANY pride in our system, you must be angry, because every time a cop kills an innocent person, they tarnish the very system you claim to love. 

(Say their names

Howard Wallace Bowe, Jr.

Vernicia Woodard

DeAngelo Woods

Kaldrick Donald

Robert Baltimore)

If you are like me, you know our modern police force and criminal justice system was formed from the basis of runaway slave patrol. These were people who would try and collect slaves who had run away from their unethical slavery. 

Why would we trust a system like this? 

(Say their names!

Jordan Baker

Cameron Tillman

Hallis Kinsey

Eddie Ray Epperson

Asia Roundtree)

We must stand against this system. We must demand our police do better. We must demand justice for those who lost their lives, and we must demand police receive the proper vetting and training needed so racist, hateful people are never allowed the power of a badge and a gun. 

We must use our privilege to protect those who are being targeted. We must defend those who are being attacked. We must use whatever influence we have to connect with other people and say enough is enough, and it has been enough for too damn long already. White silence is racist compliance. We MUST speak up, we MUST use our privilege and influence to say no more. We have to change this system. 

This petition is available for signature, as are a few others, at the link. Use them to take your first steps in action.

And we must say their names. 

Thanks for reading. 

❤

Abbi