The onus of being a black man in this city
Joe came by this afternoon and said that he is going to trial tomorrow to testify against the man who killed his nephew right in front of him. He’s worried of course about repercussions. He says he told his judge friend that this is why people don’t come forward – fear of retaliation. He told me it’s because of how easy the NOPD can be bought. He said a few dollars a cop will tell the suspect’s family who is doing the testifying.
It got me all worried and I told him to call me after trial tomorrow but also to lay low – to drink his beers at home – and stay off the front porch and stoop.
He said he didn’t know if he could sleep tonight. I told him he was doing the right thing and he said his two other friends told him the same. I asked if he could live with himself if he didn’t testify and he said no – he has a conscience. What are we going to do when every day I pick up the paper and see another black man gunned down? This morning it was a grandmother saying she has lost five grandsons to murder. How do you cope with that?