Throughout my life I have experienced violence in my school, in my home and in my streets. I normalized the sight of violence and taught myself it was normal and justified. To be clear, its not!
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I grew up hearing gunshots, being a bystander to gun violence and admiring police cleaning blood off the street in a days time in contrast to leaving stains on the sidewalk for weeks. This occurrence was normal.
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I remember coming home from school and the train seemed a bit too packed. So I had opt-ed to wait on the platform. Mind you I get on the same train car everyday. That same train car I was going to get on, was later a scene to a shooting five minutes later. Two people were shot.
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My instant reaction, was its major inconvenience to my commute. I had to wait two additional hours to ride on a shuttle bus home. I had already seen it as a mere sign of luck the train was packed and forgot about it after a few days. This occurrence was normal.
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I remember there being a shooting outside my high school 20 minutes before the day ended. They neglected to put the school in lock down, so we left the school with an active shooter in the area. This occurrence was normal.
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I remember seeing a picture of a boy, candles and stuffed animals. He was a victim of gun violence. After a few months, his picture faded from the rain and his candles were swept away by city cleaners. I forgot about him. This occurrence was normal.
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I saw a man get shot over a fender-bender. I watched him fall. I turned around and told everyone with me to walk away and keep going. I didnt really find it concerning. I found it okay and I didnt really want to think about it. This occurrence was normal.
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The violence I experienced, is not fully listed here... These occurrences were normal. These occurrences are normalized. My trauma is my normalization of violence to the point where I dont remember everything I have experienced.
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As a kid, I justified violence because if I didnt, it would be too much to bear. Think about that. I am a young person that has to justify violence. Enough!
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THIS IS NOT NORMAL! MY TRAUMA, CITY FOLK TRAUMA IS VALID!! ONE-HUNDRED PER-FUCKIN-CENT! PAY ATTENTION TO COMMUNITIES OF COLOR!!
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And the tea is... That it doesnt have to be this way! There are legislative plans that can reduce this violence! So get the people, who are going to get it done this November 6th!
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