Plog Number 118
Police killings in LA
Hello Ploggers, how are you and Happy Martin Luther King Day! My daughter and I just came back from the annual Severance Hall MLK concert. The main speaker 🎤spoke of the struggles of MLK that we are still fighting today. He spoke of Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin etc. He urged the audience to vote. Then they started the music. The music was🎶 soulful, and meaningful. They sang some Negro spirituals and sang “Total Praise” a more modern praise song. I liked how they gave the composers and writes of the music their due credit and even told a little about their background and stories. Many stories of extreme talent winning out over racism and segregation. They had eight composers with their names hanging from the ceiling over the choir. I forgot to say that Severance Hall is a beautiful concert space built in 1930. My Mother used to talk about going there and say how much she liked it. When I go there I think of her enjoying herself at beautiful concerts. Then at the end they sang “Lift every Voice” with all of the verses. My mother knew of and liked that song. I did not grow up hearing it a lot but it is one of my favorites now.
Between January 2 and January 3 there were three Police killings of black men in Los Angeles, California. The names included 31 year old Keenan Anderson, 45 year old Taker Smith and 35 year old Oscar Leon Sanchez. Their deaths occurred over 48 ⏰ hours from January 2 to January 3, 2023. Keenan Anderson was an English teacher from Washington D.C. He was involved in a car accident and flagged down the 🚔 police. Things went South very fast and Anderson ended up dead in four hours after being tazed for a combined 35 seconds. Anderson was said to have marijuana🚬 and cocaine in his blood. Police Webcam footage shows Anderson on his stomach with the Police holding him down and tazing him repeatedly. He was begging for his life. He was very scared and saying “they are trying to George Floyd me”. He died.
In many ways we have come so far in this country. When I say we, I mean as black people. We are on the Supreme Court, we are doctors. lawyers, teachers and more. One of us has been US President. But obviously there is still a long way to go. Just when we get “justice for Ahmad Arbury and George Floyd and Breonna Taylor we have new victims of Police 🔫 shootings to learn about. No wonder my mother changed the end of the pledge of allegiance. Instead of “liberty🗽 freedom and justice for all” she said “liberty,🗽 freedom and justice for some” RECLAIM!