COVID-19 Lockdown, Day 71

Another sad day. As I went to an outreach client's house, I saw people boarding up their businesses on Division Street. On Division and Paulina, I saw that the Target was boarding their windows a few hours too late. I also saw on Ashland, where my client gets his medicine and household goods, with all of its windows shattered. On the I-90/94, there was an influx of graffiti, especially the initial VTC, which I have learned means Vandalize the City. I had to pull over to restrain my emotions. Alas, I was on the job, and I am tired, damn tired, of shedding tears.

Yes, today I wept for Lady Chicago. I have always loved her, even though I had to leave her. Lady Chicago has a unique beauty, a style, a flair, and an abundance of class. Sadly over the years, corporations, corrupt politicians, and rebels with false causes have seduced my first love, promising her power and eternal fame. So, she turned away from the family that built and nurtured her and the lover that protected her and labored for her, and she prostituted herself for these charlatans. They in turn exploited her, malnourished her, and soiled her. They neglected her, yet they still wanted her, trying to drive away those who truly loved her. Worst of all, they failed to protect Lady Chicago, allowing beasts worse than animals to ravage and violate her. Today, I saw her tattered, bloodstained raiment and heard her cry tears of shame and pain. So, I also wept--with and for her.

Many fair ladies wept like Tamar today, especially the fairest of them all--our nation's capital. A historic, presidential church, St. John's, was burned down last night. The WWII memorial, and even the Lincoln Memorial, were desecrated.

This is how you raise awareness? The only awareness this raises is African-Americans are supposedly barbaric and irreverent. The fact that people do such things for me and to protect my right to exist makes me sick to my stomach, and it makes me extremely embarrassed to be Black. There. I said it. There is only one word I can use to describe such people, but such a filthy, contemptuous word is beneath me. 

What is even worse than the trash that commits these atrocities are the White leftists who support them. 

Here is a grave example:

Hey, Tessa? Hey, Hannah? Put the shut to the up!  You definition of trauma is what is wrong with this country. Your far-left diatribes are not going to darken your skin. They are not going to erase anything your grandfathers, great-grandfathers, or great-great-grandfathers did. Things happened, and there is nothing an of us can do about it. Still, that is not your fault. You have nothing to make up for. Don't be ashamed of your skin color or heritage. There is good and evil in every culture. Just be aware that there are certain things that come easier to you than someone else. You won't have the same fears when you are pulled over for a traffic violation. There are not dozens of hate groups designed just to destroy you. Don't apologize, but keep your eyes open, and don't be hasty to jump to conclusions.

Let's get back to trauma. We have all felt some trauma (for instance, trauma unique to you as women), but that gives us no right to run amok and destroy things. To excuse bad behavior as trauma does not solve the problem. It only creates new ones. Let's say Martin Luther King went home angry because the mother of his White friend told him that they could no longer play together because he was Colored (which, by the way, actually happened). To express his anger and trauma, he broke his mother's dishes, knocked over his father's books, and poured ink all over his father's desk. His parents won't hug him and say, "Poor Martin; the world is so cruel." No! First, his father would get a belt and whip his narrow behind until it glowed. Second, Martin would clean the mess. Third, Martin would do extra chores and run errands until he paid for the damages in full. Yes, Black Trauma Matters, but so does Black Responsibility.

What kills me is how the looters in Chicago were videorecorded so clearly that you can see their faces without effort. I hope the police is comparing these faces to mugshots and social media profiles. I then hope that they are arrested and given the strictest sentences. Throw the book at each of them! And anyone who praises and encourages looting and rioting should be arrested for inciting a riot; I don't care who they are!

And one more thing: there were 92 shootings across the city over the weekend, with 37 fatalities. This is the deadliest Chicago weekend of the year. Nearly all of these shootings took place on, you guessed it, the South and West sides. 

But hey, Black Lives Matter, right?

--Signing off.