THE STRANGE DEATH OF SANDRA BLAND

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The death of Sandra Bland breaks my heart. I've watched the sickening dashcam footage (she was yanked from her car and essentially tortured by a sadistic white cop with serious ego issues in Prairie View, Texas on July 10, 2015), seen the sad  jail footage of her being booked, finger printed, and having her mug shot taken, plus I've watched all of her Sandy Speaks videos. What happened to Sandra is like something right out of a Stephen King novel. It's an

American horror story, except it really did happen. And the world has lost a beautiful soul. Sandra Bland was intelligent, compassionate, and a fierce activist for the rights of African Americans and children. In fact, it was her self-confidence (she knew her rights) that pissed off the racist cop at the start. If you watch all of the dashcam footage closely, you will see that he went out of his way to follow her (like a shark), then did his very best to provoke her after he approached her vehicle.

Sandra was not a threat to him in any way. She answered the cop's questions, but he seemed hell bent on making it clear that he was the superior one. When she did not behave like a meek little lamb, he decided to escalate the situation by requesting that she put out her cigarette. When she did not comply he attempted to yank her from her car, and threatened to "light her up" with his taser. After Sandra got out of her car, the lunatic cop took her off to the side, and proceeded to throw her to the ground and handcuff her.

Sandra asked why she was being arrested (numerous times), and told him that he was hurting her. He actually said: "Good." Dear God - what sort of sick country are we living in? Now we are being told that she killed herself (death by hanging) after being unjustly held at the jail in Waller County for 3 days. Many think she was murdered. Because the truth is that black lives don't matter in America. Young black men are shot in the back by white racist cops, 9 innocent black folks were murdered in a church by a young white Confederate flag waving terrorist, and now Sandra Bland is stalked and tortured to death by a white cop that never should have been allowed to wear a cop's uniform in the first place.

Yes, I said tortured to death, because even if Sandra did take her own life (which seems unlikely, given her strong spirit and faith in God), she was driven to it by a sociopath with a badge. Her killer's name is Brian Encinia. And Sandra Bland puts him to shame.

P.S. Just to clarify a few points. I know that some folks are ranting that Brian Encinia was Hispanic (not white) so racism did not play a role in this American tragedy. Please. I was born and raised in Chicago, and most Hispanics look down on black people as intensely as most white people do. Also, the fact that he was a state trooper (not a cop) means that he had more power to abuse.

And regarding the possibility that a cigarette can be used as a weapon, so he had every right to request Sandra put it out: Encinia gave Sandra a pen to sign the warning he issued her. A sharp pen can be a very dangerous thing (in more ways than one). His ego was threatened. Period.

Essay © 2015 by Dylan Mitchell

THERE'S A LIGHT...

In her memory

Shadows on the walls
The light cannot bring you back
But it's meant for you

Haiku © 2015 by Dylan Mitchell
  

AIDS? WHY SHOULD IT MATTER TO STRAIGHT PEOPLE?

Let us not forget

I remember the 1980s big time. Boy George, The Breakfast Club, big hair, Oprah, Wall Street, then along came AIDS. What was being done? Zero. Ronnie Reagan nodded and smiled in the White House for the cameras, while most of my friends (and eventually my lover) perished from this virus. Let us not forget.

Christian bigots ranted about family values,  yet Ryan White (an innocent youth) still died young (after he literally was forced to flee his hometown). Shame on a nation. I'm lucky to be alive. And I will continue to speak for those that can no longer speak. Again, let us not forget.

P.S. "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

— Anne Frank

 
Essay © 2015 by Dylan Mitchell

 

DID TED HUGHES REALLY MURDER SYLVIA PLATH?

Ted and Sylvia when all was right with their world

I used to despise Ted Hughes. Not just because I considered him a mediocre poet, but because I blamed him for what happened to Sylvia Plath and Assia Wevill.

Then I read BIRTHDAY LETTERS. Sylvia was clearly not an easy person to know (or live with). And I had no choice but to become more objective: did she not try to take her own life during her late teens (as she so brilliantly wrote about in THE BELL JAR?) That suicide attempt happened before she even met Ted Hughes. So she had a history of clinical depression and self-destruction. Sad but true.

Regarding Assia Wevill. She was married (to another poet) at the time she and Ted were having their great love/lust affair. What exactly does that say about her ethics and state of mind?

I guess the bottom line is that poets are imperfect, and only their poetry comes close to that sacred place. So let's appreciate the poetry, and stop playing the blame game. Yes, Ted was something of a bastard (big time), but Sylvia and Assia were not exactly walking in the footsteps of Mother Teresa. So let's appreciate the sublime poetry, and do our best to forgive the all too human poets. Just my two cents.

Here's the last two stanzas of Sylvia Plath's LADY LAZARUS:


Herr God, Herr Lucifer

Beware

Beware.

Out of the ash

I rise with my red hair   

And I eat men like air.

******

Then a quite revealing (last) line from Ted Hughes poem RED:

But the jewel you lost was blue...



Essay © 2015 by Dylan Mitchell



                                                   

GONE

(In her memory)

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.


Poem © William Carlos Williams