This will probably be an unpopular opinion but it’s the truth and some of us need to realize it. STOP ASKING US TO FREE YOUR RELATIVES WHO DESERVE TO BE IN JAIL! Yes, I said it. Why should they be free if they committed the crime shouldn’t they do the time?! Now don’t get me wrong I know the justice system is really messed up and there are individuals in jail who do not deserve to be there, this article is not about them. This is however about the family member who has committed a real crime, gotten caught, had a trial and was convicted and is now serving their time. The guilty one! In our communities we have seen drugs ravish families, we have seen babies gunned down, we have seen businesses robbed and homes destroyed, by people in our own communities, by our own family members. And still yet there we are screaming FREE them!
I want all of us screaming FREE these individuals to take a step back and think about the families affected by the crimes committed by our own flesh and blood. Think about kids having a birthday party, outside being kids, wheels screech, window rolls down, a gun appears and in a few short moments shots are fired. As the smoke clears, on the ground is a 1 year old baby, a 12 year old boy and a 14 year old girl. All dead, not related so now three families have to bury children and the other families who witness this have been traumatized. Imagine the family out walking the streets day after day searching for their mom, their grandmother, they find her in an abandoned home, laying on top of her is some random stranger, neither of them have a clue who the other one is , what day it is. While drugs may be their choice, so is selling it in the community you live and grew up in. Think about building a business in your community, creating jobs, establishing your legacy and then one day someone enters your business and decides to take what you have worked hard for. Granted there is insurance and you can replace things, why should you have to. All of these instances have taken place in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. All committed in a community where I grew up or very close to it. I know some of these families and I know some of the families of the people who committed these crimes. Nobody wins!
While we are working for justice for Geroge Floyd, Elijah McClain, and Breonna Taylor, we can’t stop there! We have to apply pressure not only in reference to the police, but also to those in our communities who would do harm. It’s no longer FREE them, it’s how do we change the community so that people are not forced into a life of crime and when crime is committed by whomever it’s justice for the innocent! It’s deciding to be true and transparent to our communities so that we can all truly be FREE!
Justice hasn’t been just, I truly believe that each of us needs to be the change in our community that the next generation deserves, that we deserve. Are you willing?