An eerie reminder there’s still much work to do : A Black man is killed every 28 hours by police or vigilante

Every 28 hours.

The recent shooting of Mike Brown, who was shot and killed by Ferguson, MO police yesterday, has yet again sparked national outrage over police brutality and police’s use of excessive force.

John Crawford was killed for holding a toy gun, and just three weeks ago, Eric Garner was choked to death by NYPD. They were all unarmed.

From the Mike Brown’s, Eric Garner’s, to many other black men and women innocently killed, it is a constant reminder that there is still much work to do.

Every 28 Hours

I was doing research on Black men and women who were killed in 2014 by police or a vigilante (still working on that list) and I came across an interesting article entitled “1 Black Man Is Killed Every 28 Hours by Police or Vigilantes: America Is Perpetually at War with Its Own People”.

Operation Ghetto Storm

Originally posted last year on Alternet, the article talks about a study that was conducted in 2012 entitled  ‘Operation Ghetto Storm’ .

Among many things, the study found that one Black man is killed every 28 hours by police or vigilante. Let that sit for a minute.

Now think on average, more than 300 black men are killed either by police, security, or vigilante every year.

Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

The report was conducted by the  Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, an anti-racist grassroots activist organization. The organization has chapters in Atlanta, Detroit, Fort Worth-Dallas, Jackson, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland, and Washington, D.C.

It has a history of organizing campaigns against police brutality and state repression in black and brown communities.

Their study’s sources included police and media reports along with other publicly available information.

If this study doesn’t make you wake up, think on average the number of African Americans who are oppressed through mass incarceration.

While African Americans make up 13.1% of the  nation’s population, they hold nearly 40% of the prison population.

Even though African Americans use or sell drugs about the same rate as their white counterparts, they are 2.8 to 5.5 times more likely to be  arrested for drugs than whites.

Black offenders also receive longer sentences compared to whites.

Stop And Frisk

And let’s not forget to mention, New York’s Stop and Frisk policy, in which majority of the stops have been black and brown men and women. 90% of the people that are stopped are let go, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Is this still not enough to wake you up on the injustices that occur in this country?

These recent executions by the police only remind myself that there is still much work to do.

Someone asked me why do we still need the NAACP and grassroots movements if we’ve come a long way.

No more every 28 hours

Granted, we have come a mighty long way, but only this time, our era has found new ways to oppress black and brown people. The last thing we need to do is sweep these issues under the rug.

Police brutality has always existed but now technology is capturing the moments!

There is still much work to do.