The tragic shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri at the hands of white policeman Darren Wilson has sparked a level of ire within much of the Black community not seen since the predictable verdict from the George Zimmerman trial came down.
For over a week now, protestors have lined the streets in the community just outside of St. Louis and have defiantly stood down mace, tear gas and, well…this. Much like the Trayvon Martin incident, Brown’s unjust homicide has created an uproar on social media, with many members of the hip-hop community voicing their outrage. “Conscious” rappers such as David Banner and Talib Kweli have been amongst the most outspoken regarding the situation in Ferguson.
J. Cole took to the booth to vent his frustrations behind yet another senseless murder of a Black male, and in this particular instance, yet another senseless murder of a young, unarmed Black male at the hands of white “law enforcement” official. This weekend Cole released “Be Free,” a musical plea to anybody willing to listen asking for the cease of this under-reported and often marginalized genocide. Cole bypasses a traditional rap structure on this record, electing to utilize his vocals to express our collective angst.
“Can you tell me why?/ Every time I step outside I see my niggas die?/ I’m letting you know/ That it ain’t no gun they make that could kill my soul/ Oh no…”
Cole then plays an audio segment taken from the first-hand account of Michel Brown’s friend Dorian Johnson, who was with the victim in his final moments over very soft instrumentation.
What J. Cole, Talib, David Banner and many others understand is the tragedy of Michael Brown, a soon to be heating and cooling engineer major, is not an isolated incident. Far too many unarmed Black men are having their lives taken by police officers (or wannabe officers) — people who are allegedly here “to serve and protect” — who apparently have seen one too many Die Hard movies. And whether or not they were walking in the middle of the street, had just stolen a pack of cigars from a corner store, were selling cigarettes illegally on the corner, or were just walking home after grabbing an iced tea and a pack of Skittles is irreverent because none of these acts justify the excessive forced used against them, especially since Brown, Eric Gardner and Martin were all unarmed.
The list of Black men murdered by police (who probably won’t even be convicted, let alone prosecuted— the best we can hope for these days is that men like Darren Wilson are “assigned to desk duty”) seems to grow daily, as according to NBC, 100 Black men on average are killed by police each year. And if we want to talk Black people in general who have been wrongfully harassed and profiled, names like Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Eric Gardner and Michael Brown are joined by tens of thousands of others, including Justin Hicks.
What we must take from the state of emergency in Ferguson though is that Black life has somehow been devalued to alarming levels in this country by people of all races, including African-Americans. Changing this cultural misconception will be the first step in the extremely arduous process of obtaining the freedom for which J. Cole sings.
“Rest in Peace to Michael Brown and to every young black man murdered in America, whether by the hands of white or black. I pray that one day the world will be filled with peace and rid of injustice. Only then will we all Be Free” – Cole