op-ed: the mental anguish of the black man in america (sterling was one of many)

                                       The Mental Anguish of The Black Man in America (Sterling was one of many)

                                                                                By Jasmin Pierre

    The black man in America has every right to be on alert. He has every right to mentally be frustrated Everytime he turns on the news and wonders

“what if that’s me next? What would my family do without me?”

Or

“What if that’s my son?”

Late Tuesday night (July 5th, 2016) many of us watched the video posted from Baton Rouge, La on Facebook of a 37 year old man named Alton Sterling being restrained by police officers Sam Hyde and Robert kinnison. He was then shot in the chest and back multiple times

Video here: https://youtu.be/CaAik-EvI3o

Sterling was murdered in cold blood and it was caught on camera. However as we all know this is nothing new. It’s Another Eric Garner, Oscar Grant,Tamir rice, Trayvon Martin, I could go on and on with this list but you see my point.

Early Wednesday morning(July 6, 2016) Sterling’s family made a statement. Sterling’s oldest son literally broke down in tears. Sobbing loudly as his mother Continued to speak. This young man and his siblings are now fatherless. The mental damage done to this young black man was seen publicly.

I’m angry, I’m saddened, and most importantly im worried for our black men. I have a black father, black brothers, black male cousins, and black male friends. This murder hit so close to home. LITERALLY close to my home. Baton Rouge, Louisiana is less than an hour an a half away from me (I’m from New Orleans, La).

Many people are outraged but some people still wont open their eyes and see this injustice. Everytime this happens we hear some people say

“It was just another black thug who resisted arrest”

In the black community we have a stigma where we’re always expected to be mentally strong. Especially our black men…but my question to you is how can our black men be as mentally strong as we want them to be when society keeps mentally putting them down and killing them? I want to stop seeing them killed. I want to stop hearing

“You’re a thug. You black men are worthless and only kill each other and leave your women to raise children on their own. You black men are nothing. You black men deserve to be killed “

How can any black man be always mentally strong in America with this chaos?

So I leave you with these final words

Black men I love yall. I value yall. You matter. Your lives matter. Some people in this world refuse to see your worth, beauty, and intelligence but I see it. I see the fight in you and I see the God in you. I know some of yall turn on the news and see the craziness and it mentally messes with you. You worry for your lives and your sons lives when you turn on the news and see this mess. I see it. I get it.

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