Dec 3, 2014 Awake in Dream Time - Journal Entries about the almost real, Original Short Stories
Water, Wifi, Rest, Knowledge
©December 3rd, 2014
By Vijaya Sundaram
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Current Affairs
Word Count: 100 words
“I’m scared.”
Don’t be. We’ll take care of you. And we have books.
“My father’s out there. The cops hate us.”
I’m sorry it has to be like this in our town. I’m sorry you have to worry. We’re here. And books are your friends. We’ve got water, wifi, rest, knowledge. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of you.
“I’m afraid to go outside. I think, I’ll be next. I keep practising what I’ll do — hands up, pray, anything. Will it work?”
We can only hope, children. Dry your eyes. The books will teach you. Come.
And quiet calmness took hold.
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(I’m VERY late in my response to last Wednesday’s Friday’s Fictioneers prompt. I was too shaken up by the events in Ferguson, MO. This Library picture made me want to weep, because I remembered that the library in their town was open for any children or families who wanted to be in a safe place among books. Today, I was able to write about last week’s prompt. If you’re reading it, do forgive my lateness.)
P.S. I just contributed to their library, which apparently had a spike in donations after they stayed open on the day after the Grand Jury’s decision not to indict the Darren Wilson.
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Tags: #Friday Fictioneers, #Water, 100-word original short story based on a photo prompt, Darren Wilson, Ferguson, Knowledge, Michael Brown, Missouri, Rest, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, Wifi
Nov 25, 2014 Teaching and Learning
Injustice: Ferguson, Missouri; Sanford, Florida; Cleveland, Ohio
My heart is broken.
There is no justice.
There’s racism and privilege and hate and violence.
There are some rich, white people who really don’t get it.
There are those who laugh at pain.
There are whose who get off on the death of black youths.
And there are others, who, wanting to seem rational, say, “Well, we don’t have all the facts.”
There are others, who, wanting to seem on the right side of “the law” say, “Well, did you see the video of Michael Brown robbing a store?” or, “Well, Trayvon threatened George Zimmerman, or smoked dope,” or, “The kid Tamir Rice was waving a gun. How could police know that it wasn’t real?”
I say to all of them about the first two questions: That has nothing to do with this!
I say to them, all of them, about the first two questions: Haven’t you ever done wrong? Would you think it is fair to be killed for it?
I say to all of them: Don’t obfuscate with irrelevant facts!
I say to all of them about all three: Does anyone have to die? What happened to the police tackling someone, disabling someone whom they see as a “threat” — without killing?
I say to all of them: Stop justifying that secret racism in your own hearts.
I say to all of them:
There are five facts about what happened in Ferguson, Missouri:
One: A teenager died in the US.
Two: A black teenager died in the US.
Three: A police officer shot him from several, perhaps, hundred or more feet away.
Four: The teenager was unarmed.
Five: He was killed in cold blood.
Go and search your own conscience, I say.
AND SHAME ON YOU, if you think he deserved it.
AND SHAME ON YOU, if you think his killer deserved to go free.
AND SHAME ON YOU FOR NOT CRYING FOR ALL THOSE YOUNG BLACK TEENAGERS AND CHILDREN WHO DIED.
http://The Death of Emmett Till
Tags: #Injustice, Cleveland, Ferguson, Florida, Michael Brown, Missouri, Ohio, racism, Sanford, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin
Nov 25, 2014 Current Affairs / General Interest
I Wept Today
I wept today, coming home in the car, in the evening.
The darkness pressed in on all sides, and the bright evening lights fluttered and went damp.
All I could think of was, “They shot my son.”
And, for that brief period, alone in my car, I was consumed with grief.
I WAS Michael Brown’s mother.
I WAS Trayvon Martin’s mother.
I WAS Tamir Rice’s mother.
I WAS every mother of everyone who has been the victim of police and military violence, the mother of everyone, child or adult, who was killed.
And a void opened up inside me.
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Tags: Darren Wilson non-indictment, Ferguson, Michael Brown, Missouri, Mothers of sons