I am at an impasse with the this world. I cannot stomach the callousness and the disregard for Black life. Karon Blake deserved to live, Karon did not take his own life. His untimely demise is not the fault of himself, his parents, nor is it entirely the fault of the man who ultimately pulled the trigger. Even though he did so 6 times, striking young Karon 3 times. The onus still does not fall entirely on this man, this mystery Black man. A Black man of privilege, a homeowner and legal gun owner. Alleged owner of other property in DC.
It is however the fault of the pervasive and structural internalized racism and anti-blackness that runs rampant in this country and globally. It is the fault of centuries of normalization of death of Black people and harm toward the Black body. It is the fault of a system that dare to assess value of life based on nominal factors like the amount of melanin in ones body.
It is the fault of economic violence and wealth disparity. It is the fault of capitalism and consumerism and our prominence toward gaining and amassing and hoarding. I find fault with the belief that property is worth protecting while people pay the cost with their lives. It is the fault of the local administration and their pre-occupation with economic growth for the few while the many are pushed out. Our homes, gentrified. Our neighborhoods, seized.
I am at an impasse with this world. The resounding cry is not that of justice for Karon, but of how his death is his own fault. It is even more disheartening that this cry is coming from inside the “preverbal” house. “All skin folk aint kin folk” is the age old saying. Knowing this fact does not lessen the sting. Awareness of something does not always make it easier to process. The cognitive dissonance is astounding. Black people across the internet have parted their thumbs to type the most heinous things about a child who was murdered.
Black children even in their death are forced to take responsibility for a world they didn’t ask to be in the first place. Black children are still regarded as property themselves, as things to be controlled if not through parental rearing then through criminalization from the carceral state.
Emmitt Till was a Black child, just one year older than Karon Blake. He was accused, he was criminalized, he was, even after his death, forced to take responsibility for the evils of this world. In 2023 we still continue to criminalize our children. Have we learned nothing about protecting our children if not in physical at least in legacy?
Karon was NOT a carjacker, NOT a thief, NOT a Juvi, NOT a criminal. Karon was a Black boy.
Must we continue to be oppressors in Black skin? Must we continue to uphold the patriarchy in feminine bodies; reinforce capitalism while being apart of the working class? Have we learned nothing about supporting principles and structures that work against our best interest as people?
Perhaps not.
Rest in Power Karon. You deserved a better world. Some of us are still fighting for it.
Ase’
