{"id":24277,"date":"2020-08-26T07:33:33","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T14:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/?p=24277"},"modified":"2022-08-25T12:31:54","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T19:31:54","slug":"this-is-real-america-for-jacob-blake-and-everybody-else-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/?p=24277","title":{"rendered":"This is Real America: for Jacob Blake and Everybody Else, Too"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
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Julia Jackson, Jacob Blake’s mother<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is Real America: for Jacob Blake and Everybody Else, Too<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is real America.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When they kill us in the streets we march and burn and get arrested.
I guess they want us to act like Georgians
And meekly go to the grave without complaint.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Or wait like Floridian teachers for a judge to agree with them that
The same children who give each other\u00a0
colds
pink eye
head lice
ringworm
And the traditional herd diseases
Will just as easily spread COVID-19
Without a concrete plan.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The answer must be given in the form of a question:
What are diseases caused by human proximity?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We are using our children as lab rats to see what happens
When they cluster together five times a week
And then go home to Ma and Pa\u00a0
And Nana and Big Papa<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What happens when you push that button?
And which company\u2019s \u201cbug juice\u201d will work first and best?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I had a friend ask me how I was doing during these times
You know as a Black person
And I said:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You mean during this time of political upheaval
During a pandemic
In the face of denial as the American bodies pile up (for various reasons)
And ubiquitous cameras capture the savagery of American life<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You mean during a time when
context is still needed because the camera\u00a0
And the piles of bodies\u00a0
Can lie
And not give the whole story<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You mean at a time when America is fighting for its soul
During a presidential election year\u00a0
With hearings going on about blatant voter suppression\u00a0
Through a manipulated Post Office
And the closing of poling locations in \u201ccertain communities\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You mean when leather clad bike hoards cause a super-spreader event
In America\u2019s heartland\u00a0
\u2018Cause ya know we all love a good party\u00a0
Especially one straight out of a Stephen King novel
Or a George Romero Zombie Apocalypse movie<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You mean at a time when college students have been told they were invincible
And they believe it
So they party like it\u2019s 1999
And everyone goes home sick<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It\u2019s only a flesh wound
Rub it
You\u2019ll be alright<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Like the Martians of an H.G. Wells story\u00a0
All of our technological terror\u00a0
Is being humbled by the smallest of things\u00a0
The infinite humiliated by the infinitesimal\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A family in Wisconsin clusters together and prays for peace
Prayers from two religious traditions
And asks the question\u00a0
Why is my son\u2019s spine shattered\u00a0
And why was he shot seven times\u00a0
At
Point
Blank
Range<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

An emasculating extrajudicial judgement in front of his three sons\u00a0
They say it will take a miracle for Jacob Blake to ever walk again
Repeating over and over again
This is real America\u00a0
How dare we hate what we are, his mother says<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You mean at this time when things are so obviously bad that\u00a0
It causes you to pause and to offer an earnest existential inquiry?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Oh I\u2019m just fine, I said.
And you\u2019re fine, too.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is Real America: for Jacob Blake and Everybody Else, Too This is real America. When they kill us in the streets we march and burn and get arrested.I guess they want us to act like GeorgiansAnd meekly go to the grave without complaint. Or wait like Floridian teachers for a judge to agree with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":306,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6336,6553,6337],"class_list":["post-24277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-heidi-lindemann","tag-jacob-blake","tag-michael-perry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/306"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24277"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26430,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24277\/revisions\/26430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}