Exposed Again and Again and Again
By: Michael Allen
Tags: Co Vid, Rva, Africa, Reparations, Structural Racism

The struggles resulting from this pandemic are old hat for some people, black people in particular. None of us want a virus to spread and kill people, but the deadly Covid-19 has opened up the dark dusty closet of America to let the rest of the bones fall out.

Funny how as of late I’m seeing lots of white folks protesting to reopen the country while blacks are the ones being mostly affected by the virus. Black folks have built this country and are still the foundation of it, but see none of the fruits of their forced labor. Just another case for reparations.

Being home all this time has allowed me to slow down and think about some things that have tugged on my heart for a long time. My hometown of Richmond, Virginia is known as The Capital of the Confederacy. The statues of the so called heroes that line Monument Avenue are of no care to me. They are not my heroes, not my examples of leadership. It is a city where one can feel the racial undertones, divisions and separations. Whites living in the big houses and my people cornered off in housing projects. Speaking of housing projects-they need to be destroyed, dismantled, demolished. These subsidized buildings are a symbol of white control, a way to keep us in certain parts of town. The buildings have to be torn down to break the symbols of structural racism and unlock our (mental) potential. We have to build our own symbols (homes) of respectability and equality. Again, if I’m looking through my reparations-lens, new apartments, condos, townhomes or houses need to replace all housing projects. As a matter of reparations, the people residing in the current subsidized spaces should inherit the new properties built next to, or in place of the old buildings.

I feel as if we are in another wake up period during the pandemic. We need to know that some white people, whether working class, or politicians don’t give a damn about black folks. They will at every turn, taking every opportunity (Wisconsin Primary) to kill us. The virus, whether from a wet market in Wuhan or manmade is always affecting our communities harder than others. Viruses, devastating weather patterns, climate change, all affect us by death or leaving us behind. Who cares about us? We, as black folk have to look in the mirror and dig deep within and face the realities of our lives and look to turn our economic and wellness fortunes around. I guess we all have to make conscious efforts to support black owned everything and flex our political muscles. We have to stop helping line the pockets of billionaires such as Jeff Bezos. Amazon has enough money and the founder seems wired like most of the filthy rich-they are filthy when it comes to philanthropy and elevating their employees. In my heart I feel a movement in the black community. I think more of us will start to move back home, to our origins, to the Motherland, back to Eden where we can breathe the air of real freedom. I’ve read some stories of black folks moving back to West Africa to connect to their original roots and not deal with racism. Although the infrastructure of some African countries may not be like the west, it’s okay, we aren’t of or from the West.

America is not my home.

Mike Moss