hmmm to me, Emmett Till was necessary considering the times. an open casket exposed the entire world to the atrocities Black ppl faced at the hands of the state.
but, it’s not 1955. I don’t think we need to use Till as a precedent anymore... per se. plus the open casket was the mothers wishes, have we ever been informed of mike brown, walter scott, tamir rice family members wishes??
plus i want ppl to understand suffering and democratic action our not interdependent. suffering doesn't hold the power to garner systematic change. its imperative we understand that suffering and death did not give us "rights" it was leveraging the images of our suffering (Emmett till, Rosa being fingerprinted before going to jail, Montgomery Bus Boycott, March on Birmingham, voting rights march Mar. 7th 1965, The Birmingham children's crusade, being attacked by dogs and water hoses etc) that gave way to us being able access certain levels of freedom within society.
these videos that folks are using as “leverage” or “awareness” have done absouletly nothing but keep Black folks in a constant state of disemobodiment. perpetual decapitation.
we watch these videos, we grow angry, we wait/we march/we come up with hashtags/ and so often nothing happens or we see a cop be sentenced to jail-time —only to wake up to another cop shooting the next day/week/month. its a endless cycle and thats what scares me. the repetition of it all.
What is our recourse when we can see a video and surmise clear as day what happened.. and a racist judge and jury make a determination that doesn't represent the reality?
this is a great question and honestly idk. ummmm i try not to have an apathetic politic when it comes to shit like this but racism, police corruption and repression is so ingrained in society that i dont how it can ever be reformed.
as you may know, im for the complete abolishment of police and these violent institutions that have been railroading Black ppl for years.
thats the only way i see us being able to live comfortably.