Black August: Watts Riots: Aug 11th, 1964

By Pierre pinson

Dr. Martin Luther King once said that the riot is the language of the unheard. "Unheard" is another way to say "ignored" or marginalized - dehumanized. We march, we protest, we vote, beg, plead, pray, petition, cry, rap, sing - we have articulated our pains and grievances in so many ways it's transformed culture. The injustice we suffer is meant to be attributed to our existence. Poverty is not inherent to Black & Brown people but it is disproportionately imposed upon us by laws, policies & practices shaped by racism. When we think about impoverished communities, we automatically picture ourselves. In America, wherever we exist in numbers we are boxed in to maintain white supremacy.

Those who ensure we go unheard do not take accountability, they do not say, "We built this box around you." They do not offer up police who are guilty of murder, falsifying documents, or concealing evidence.

Sometimes some events shake people awake and we are conscious of the gravity of being boxed in. The only way we get some semblance of accountability is by burning the box to the ground. Those who riot can feel the oppression, the pressure of the long trail to death. People who are not circumscribed- those who identify with the oppressor - don't understand rioting.

If that is you, know this:

where there is smoke, there is fire.

Where there is, fire there is injustice.

Where there is, injustice there is us.