Tonight I headed up into the Bronx with Philippe to attend a vigil to mark the fifth anniversary of Amadou Diallo's murder by the New York City Police Department. Just as the New York Times reports a dip in lethal force. How conveeeenient, but I wonder who they're asking ...
My heart goes out to his parents for the loss of their son, but I was really disheartened by the lack of scope and shortsightedness expressed by all the politicos on stage. I really got the feeling that they were only there for Amadou the News Item, not Amadou, Representative of a possibility that existed before him. I mean, I don't have any proof, but something tells me that the NYPD didn't just begin 'accidentally' shooting unarmed Black males five years ago. Amadou's parents also seemed to be pandering a bit to the Mayor and Commissioner. I know first and foremost you have to seek your own personal peace, but police brutality that ends up in 'accidental' (or is that unjustified?) murder doesn't begin and end with Amadou Diallo. On the other hand, the men with the most to lose, young Black and Latino men, were not present at this event. Neither was Russell Simmons, Jay-Z or Sean Combs.
I went to that vigil because we as Black men in New York are ALL in the crosshairs - and that doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. I won't forget Amadou and I will also wonder about those others that I don't know.
