Publisher and Editor in Chief
We have a city in crisis. We have a nation in crisis. There is blood on the streets, and it runs both Black and Blue. There is blood on the streets, and next time it could be you or me. Those are sentiments that are reverberating through communities of color all over this nation, and through the ranks of police officers who feel that they are under siege.
A fear permeates the air. A fear that has caused police to batten down the hatches, dig in their heels and place sentries at the doors of every station house. A fear that has mothers afraid to send their sons out the door because they may never come home. In communities where cops were visible on a daily basis, they are now nowhere to be seen. They have vanished overnight, retreating to the bunkers that are the police stations. Some say they call, but no one comes. Where are you? Are you afraid of us?
What happened to police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu is tragic. This senseless killing by a mentally disturbed man is unconscionable. But to link it to anything but the act of violence by a deranged man is just as tragic. For weeks, New Yorkers have marched, they have protested and they have shown that they are in the struggle but at the same time, committed to peace. Although some incidents of violence have occurred near organized protests, they were not led or condoned by the parties who organized the protests. That being said, the planned protest that did occur over the weekend morphed from protest to candle-light vigil, and then to a service of healing at First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem after the two officers were killed. And no more protests are planned for the near future as a sign of respect for the slain officers.
It is not about them vs. us. It is not about police vs. people. It is about good vs. bad. And we know there are good police and we know there are some who are not so good. We know that there are some good Black people and some who are not so good. We know that in every occupation, every race, every religion, every variable you can encounter, there is good and bad. We just can’t let the bad win out over the good.
Some will try to divide us as much as possible, to create rifts where there is just a crack, to turn a fissure into an endless gulf. We as communities of color can’t let that happen. As we mourn the lives of these two officers, we also must mourn the lives of all of those murdered in senseless violence. Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. All Lives Matter. And let’s not forget it.