And it's part of the problem.
Four months ago I was walking to the 145th Street train station in Harlem and noticed the ground was littered with the mug shot of a black man in his late 30s to early 40s. He was adorning circular-frame glasses and a harmless smirk. Over the next few months, I’d see his picture attached to trees, light posts, temporary construction walls, and the doors of random buildings throughout the city. He even started popping up on website ads. And as many times as I saw his picture, I never thought to do research on who he was and why he kept showing up. Blogs weren’t talking about him. He wasn’t trending on Twitter. Status updates on Facebook didn’t know his name. Family and friends had nothing to say or had no knowledge of this man.
It was almost as if he didn’t publicly exist until 48 to 72 hours before he was scheduled to be executed in Georgia. Suddenly everybody knew the name Troy Davis. Unfortunately, as we would find out at 11:08pm ET on Wednesday night, we were too late. The face that I grew accustomed to seeing but never cared enough to investigate now sporadically overwhelms me with sadness and guilt. I can visualize his image and hear him saying “Where were you when it really mattered?” I see the same image of Troy when I look at black teens dropping n-bombs and acting unruly on the train or standing on the corner with jeans that somehow stay seated at the middle of their thighs. They have to the potential to be great, but they’re destined to be far less if nobody steps in to help.
Similar to the way I walked past Troy’s face for months, many of us have walked past others on their own path to destruction for years. It’s a vicious cycle that I’m not proud to say I’m a part of at times. And based on the way people mobilized in support of Troy in the last days of his life, it’s clear there are a lot of people out there just like me. It’s also clear that we have a long way to go aside from mentorship and youth programs.
If you were a part of the public outrage on social media or discussing Troy Davis with those around you, people showed you exactly who they were and/or who they wanted to be. In a matter of hours, black folks who learned of him in the days leading up to his death divided into 4 distinct groups: the Twitter Activists (TAs), the Bandwagon “Better Than” Activists (BBTAs), the Why Do You Care Nowers (WDYCNs), and the Generally Apathetic (GAs).
The TAs consisted of all the people like myself that found out about Troy Davis late in the game, but showed up to support once they saw what was going on and how committed people were to the cause. Ideals are infectious. And to this group, it wasn’t only about Troy Davis or the death penalty. It was about Hope and potentially being able to tip the scale to effect change. Everybody wants to be part of something that has the power to transcend. This group is no different. They also believe that late action is better than no action.
The BBTAs were the folks that policed social media for anybody not tweeting or updating their statuses to reflect support of Troy Davis. There were the folks that stood proudly behind their virtual picket signs and looked down upon those that dared to share content not related to the situation or thoughts that offered a contrary opinion. It was very much like the christian evangelist that seeks to convert the nonbeliever but doesn’t realize he or she is doing more harm (polarizing) than good. Holier than thou, better than, same thing. Little do they know they’re promoting their own brand of oppression.
The WDYCNs are the cynics that openly called folks bandwagon hoppers and noted that if people really cared, they would’ve taken action long ago. This group doesn’t believe that some action is better than no action. They believe action only matters if taken before everybody else does. In their nation, there is no country for laggards. Their great points are pulled down by their pessimistic attitudes.
The GAs are the folks that heard about the situation, but continued on with their lives. They accepted that the boat had been missed or that they’d make their voice heard when and where they felt they could truly have an impact. The GAs are the bane of the existence of the BBTAs.
The most frustrating aspect of all this is that even at a time when we were trying to unite for a common cause — albeit late — we still managed to segment ourselves. I see the way that some of us looked down on others and it reminded me too much of too many debates. Light-skin v. Dark Skin. Degrees v. Non-Degree, PWI v. HBCU, Caribbean v. Black, African v. Black, and the list goes on. We’re always trying to outdo each other and this was another instance of just that.
It’s so easy for them to conquer us when we continuously divide ourselves. And as much as we’d like to be optimistic about the direction we’re heading, let’s be real. There’s just t00 much doubt. It’s been less than a week since Troy was executed and I can see the activism retreating as defeatism and apathy plant their flags in their rightful place. But as the days go by, I’ll work on not being a member of any of the above groups. There’s much work to be done and I’m figuring out my next moves. What will you be doing to avoid being an online only activist? Hopefully more than reading this post then heading over to Worldstar Hip Hop.
Twitter’s becoming the new Second Life,
Very, very, VERY thought-provoking!!! I recognized the same sense of separation-especially with the “WDYCNs”. Sometimes, we need a mirror placed in front of us so that we see a reflection of how we treat each other, especially in times where we need to be united. Thanks for holding up the mirror!
Your site is messing up for me again
I was a TA and I first heard of the case three days before his execution. While I wasn’t a WDYCN, but I did feel frustrated because I knew that if the same social media campaign had been launched 3 years earlier we could have had a greater outcome. Troy Davis was in jail for 22 years. There were several opportunities to save him.
Unless everyone is rushing to the innocence project and I don’t know, people were angry and then didn’t know how to translate that into step 1. I think the true problem is that the youth do want to act but they don’t know how to translate their emotions into action. I personally think we should call the death penalty into question. But its funny that 64% of Americans support the death penalty, know our justice system is flawed, and get upset when a flawed system executes innocent people. So I guess being in jail for 22 years when you are not guilty is okay but taking his life is wrong. His life was taken either way.
The Innocence Project List these 10 things people can do to help: http://www.innocenceproject.org/fix/What-can-I-do.php most won’t even take up your time. Hopefully people start with these to try and get the ball rolling.
Can you email me at slimjax at gmail and let me know what the site is doing?
I feel like a lot more people have read this today than the comment section is letting on, but it’s a slow(ish) day at work, so I’ll bite.
“The most frustrating aspect of all this is that even at a time when we were trying to unite for a common cause — albeit late — we still managed to segment ourselves.”
This was the most frustrating part about the en mass reaction to Troy Davis. At one point I corrected someone on some important deals in the case and they really tried to bite my head off, saying that none of it mattered, and I was a horrible person for even questioning his innocence. I had to let that person know that there is a difference between being put to death and doing the time you’ve earned, and that ultimately, we were on the same team. It was really disheartening to see people try to maintain their Twitter cred by talking down to others. Even in the days after, I’ve seen a lot of “What are you Twitter activists doing about Troy Davis now?” -__- If all that negativity was channeled into work, many more Black men on death row could be saved. And this doesn’t even mean you dedicate your life to fighting against Death Row – it could be something as simple and as necessary as mentoring a young Black male, that’s what I’m doing
Prevention is also a huge part of it, let’s make sure our youth don’t end up in wrong place/wrong time situations like Nanon Williams did.
#cosign all of this. Troy Davis wasn’t innocent (imo) he just wasn’t guilty of what they convicted him of and so shouldn’t have been on death row.
cosign on the mentoring part. Getting involved in young people’s lives has been heavy on my mind before Troy Davis for the reasons you stated. Because of his case, a lot of other sad stories have been coming to light. I’m completely against the Death Penalty unless there is absolutely no shadow of a doubt that the person is guilty.
http://atlantapost.com/2011/09/27/exonerated-after-execution-12-men-and-one-woman-found-innocent-after-being-put-to-death/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stinney
“And this doesn’t even mean you dedicate your life to fighting against Death Row – it could be something as simple and as necessary as mentoring a young Black male, that’s what I’m doing”
Something I’m pondering but haven’t started doing.
Great Post. I think I spoke on this topic ad nauseum, but I was sick and tired of people hating on those who wanted to get involved. I didnt hear about son until 3 days before the execution, and It’s safe to say I’m well connected to current events. We have to change in all areas to prevent things like this going down agian
So true indeed. The way of the world has changed. On the flip side though if teens and / or young adults follow the right people on twitter then maybe they will have more awareness. It is cool to be an activist and promote through twitter, however if the people who need to know are not following then what??? I asked about Troy Davis in class yesterday and I heard crickets-yet all of them are on twitter. I guess they are only following their friends :/
The room is always filled with the choir while the people that need the message the most are disassociated and disinterested.
This was a really great post. I was sending out resumes as a protest to my current living situation…took two unscheduled PTO too…I SHALL overcome but until then…
I’m so conflicted by the events of that week/day. When I first heard about it, I didn’t post any thing about it on twitter. Mostly through brief conversations at work ,we discussed the injustice of the American judicial system and I hate to say it but I was just numb. Truly numb. I heard nothing discussed by the ‘others’ at my job. Not one peeping thing. (I must adopt their principles about work or perish… This doesn’t surprise me, as these are the same folks making employees sign n0n c0mpete agreement$, “pr0tection$ to protect c0rporate pr0perty” and the like. They’re also the same people supporting lobbyist initiatives to end unions and every thing else President Barry and the the majority of the working class support. I can’t help but think I’m caught in some awkward matrix…back to your post…
I so agree with your analysis of the Troy Davis situation with regards to the whole spectrum. I was utterly annoyed about the people judging on twitter because as you’ve pointed out, it focused on ALL the wrong things. No one was being hurt by people expressing their feelings about the situation no matter when they decided to do it. Anyone following my tweets that day will see I was mute until I came home and heard the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t grant Troy Davis’ stay. I was livid, tipsy and went off (considerably late for those twitter ‘analyst’). I was sad, about him losing his life and professing his innocence until the very end. I live with sadness dormant every day. People are going through it. Some times I feel like if you have a heart, you’d better keep it under wraps or risk being judge (or fired). I do this at work so I can LIVE. I refuse to do it on twitter. People focus too much on things that make everyone unique when we have so much more in common with each other. There’s nothing wrong with standing out from the crowd but don’t forget how close you are to the crowd. It’s just another ploy to keep people distracted from what really matters. Sorry for the rant Slim. I’m digging your direction…keep it coming.
I read something somewhere about how the more people try to differentiate and become independent in thought that they actually end up becoming just like everybody else. Even with the segmentation of twitter activism, we’re all right back where we started a few days later.
I guess you could say that I was a GA ..but then I don’t feel that I was. Maybe because I didn’t say anything on Twitter/Social Media about this particular incident then I can be judged as a GA. *shrug*
[The problem with that is that you don't know what I did or have done offline. That's the problem with judging people you don't know anything about. (When I say 'you' I don't mean Slim in particular).]
But if we are judging based solely on online activism..then yes, I was GA. I am not totally sold on the power of twitter. I find twitter to be great for getting information and sharing information, and maybe as a way of organizing real life protests/revolutions if using a telephone is not allowed (ie Arab Spring)
.. but as far as THIS particular incident, when it comes to having impact on court proceedings, yes I felt the process was way to far along and that online activism would have little impact. I didn’t feel that that SCOTUS would take my phone call and consider it in their rulling. I didn’t think the parole board would care if I sent an email.
I feel that there was something legal and very technical that we as mere citizens weren’t privy to that was keeping Davis on the path to execution..and that no amount of phone calls, letter writing, twitter tweeting and facebook posting was going to stop it.
But I wouldn’t say I was apathetic or indifferent. I paid close attention to the process and prayed for Troy and his family..
All we can do is learn from this situation and maybe become more involved long term. It’s hard tho..because there are starving children, obese children, homeless, orphaned animals, global warming, taxes, domestic violence, food desserts, horrible public education, 2012 election, poverty, AIDS, Cancer, drug abuse, depression, social security, decimated rain forests, Katrina, 9/11 victims, veterans w/no services .. and the many other social problems that we have to solve too..
How are we supposed to pick and choose what to care about and how can we judge others when they care about something else?
I was GA on this one…because I had the sense that once the wheels of ‘justice’ started to spin on the sands of this man time..there was little that protests, demonstrations would do.
That being said, I figured its more efficient to work on a state level to eliminate the d.p.
Because real talk? Another person is about to be put to death today. Id rather use that energy, instead of protestin’, but to change law.