THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER (for GEORGE FLOYD)

A POEM FOR SANDRA BLAND

We will not forget you

So now the so-called experts are telling us that Sandra was a major weed addict. Christ, can you not come up with a better fiction? Also, if your findings are based in fact: Why did Waller County not place Sandra in a suicide watch cell, instead of placing her in a cell all by herself?  She stated that she had felt suicidal in the past. So what's up with that? I'm dying to know the truth.


STILL I RISE

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Poem ©  Maya Angelou

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