What the Streets wont Tell You

     "We are the streets," shouted a man as if he spoke for the crowd. He appeared to be in his early twenties and was dressed in black militant fatigues. He was responding to a comment when the man standing behind the lectern stated, "This is what happens when you are in the streets."

I stood in a crowd of people six feet from him. We were attending a rally in front of City Hall calling for the firing of several officers involved in shooting another unarmed black teen. Tensions were high with the entire community, as they wanted city officials to hold those officers accountable. The shooting comes days after police officers went door to door throughout the city in an effort to build a rapport with the community and help support the notion that law enforcement is pro-community and always there to serve them.

Word leaked among police officers that the young man who was killed had been marked for death by law officials because, months prior, the teen had been acquitted of attempted murder charges on a local police officer. Not guilty verdicts when officers are involved never sit well with the police department. It almost becomes a matter of "harm my dog, and I'll kill your cat."

The particulars of the shooting are sketchy, with most of the narrative coming from the police. They reported that upon approaching the young man for a routine pat-frisk, he reached under his shirt as if about to pull a gun. Officers immediately opened fire, striking the man eight times. Upon review of the crime scene, no weapon was found on the deceased. What put the city in an uproar was that someone posted the entire event on social media, and it clearly showed that the young man did nothing remotely close to what the officers reported.

"We are the streets!" screamed the young man again as if trying to pierce the eardrums of those in attendance and convince them that he was right.

This time he sounds as if he is preaching to a congregation, jumping up and down and drawing attention to himself. His energy is unusual for a man his age, but I guess when you love and claim the streets, you rep'em to the fullest. His bond to the streets is understandable, but there is something different about his vibe. I hear a lot of pain and frustration in his voice. I sense that the young man wants to take action well beyond marching to City Hall.

I wonder what he means when he says we are the streets? Does he actually want the streets to take retaliatory action? Does his meaning coincide with my definition and experience? I'm trying to jog my memory of what that statement reminds me of. Is it the rap group, The LOX's second album, and how hard it was? Oh yeah, I know what it reminds me of... that street life and everything that comes with it.

So, if we are the streets, then what do we represent? Are we uplifting people, striving to move forward and dispel all the negative stereotypes about us? Or are we a group from among our community that continues to hold us back from prosperity? When you look at our history as it relates to blacks and how we were pushed into living quarters that were filled with blight and hopelessness, we still remained resilient. For generations, we built an environment that was conducive for the well-being and raising of children, as well as establishing a society where everybody knew everybody and wouldn't hesitate to help each other. In these communities, we managed to establish social clubs, recreation centers, houses of worship, and prominent community leaders, just to name a few things.

Once upon a time in these communities, the street corners became the most popular gathering spot for the neighborhood youngsters and held all the local news and gossip. Hanging out on the street corner was innocent for quite a while, not excluding the mischief that children are known to do. Young people were able to play up and down the streets without fear of being harmed. Football games were held in the middle of the street between rival streets, jamming traffic and causing the entire neighborhood to be front-line spectators. Dance competitions were held, battles over who was the best graffiti artist were established on the walls of abandoned buildings, and of course, popularity contests and making fashion statements were an all-day-everyday event. Elders sat peacefully on their porches, enjoying the weather and socializing with neighbors. For the most part, the streets had a sense of belonging to something special, almost like an extended family type of feel.