#DecadesAlone

[helmort]

🎃 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 🎃

1957, Las Vegas, Nevada. In the heart of the Atomic Age, James was your run-of-the-mill dad, living in cookie-cutter suburbia. Fear of the Red menace and mushroom clouds drove folks like him to invest in underground shelters. But then one day, James and his entire family vanished without a trace. Whispers of them escaping to an untouched island amidst Cold War tension swept through the town.

1998, Las Vegas, Nevada. The masked killer was an enigma, striking with the precision of a seasoned marksman. Entire families, huddled together for dinner, became his prey. He showed no mercy, claiming mothers, fathers, children, and young adults without discrimination. In a nation with its fair share of serial killers, this story stood out. He shattered the sanctity of home, striking from a distance. Fear gripped the hearts of every American.

1999, Las Vegas, Nevada. A year passed before the law finally caught up with the killer. He was a man named John, but his tale was pure madness. Back in the 1950s, his family had sealed themselves in a fallout shelter, but disease had claimed them, leaving him alone for decades. Emerging into a changed world, he found people who seemed foreign—dressed oddly, speaking differently. To him, they were the enemy, invaders who'd replaced true Americans. Convinced he was the last patriot standing, he believed it was his duty to cleanse his homeland.

Armed with a hunting rifle and deadly precision, he crept into the shadows, emerging only under the cover of night. When reporters inquired about his motives, he sneered, "Because I'm a true American, you darn commies, and one day this land will be free once more!"

💀☠️💀☠️💀

#HELMORT #Halloween #LasVegas #Killer #Nevada #Hallween #AtomicAge #ColdWar #RedScare #FalloutShelter #FamilyVanished #MysteriousIsland #MaskedKiller #SerialKiller #ShatteredSanctity #Madness #DecadesAlone #ChangedWorld #ForeignWorld #LastPatriot #CleanseHomeland #HuntingRifle #DeadlyPrecision #CoverOfNight #TrueAmerican #DarnCommies #FreeLand #SocialMedia #TrendingTopics

[the-beautiful-minds-blog]

The Other Shoe

If you’re like me, you probably found yourself in deep reflection as the events of the last few weeks unfolded, questioning whether or not we’ve come as far as we had previously claimed, then defaulting back to your internal substantiation that racism has simply been hiding in plain sight. I’m still reeling from the trauma of seeing another lifeless Black body laying on the street, its recently departed soul having begged and pleaded with an officer of the law for the right to live - a reminder of the progress we have yet to achieve. 

Although the support shown by communities outside of Black America has swollen this movement to an unprecedented scale, we’ve been here before, from with the Watts Riots of 1965 to our response to Rodney King in the early ’90s, and of course our reactions to the killings of unarmed Black Americans the last two decades alone. The continued protests, marches, and collateral damage waged upon American cities do not indicate some sort of never-before-seen reaction by the public to acts of systemic racism and hatred. These are byproducts of the fact that we’re once again compelled to defend our right to live. 

Our country is now forced to deal with the realization that it has actively fostered - through denial, pride, nationalism, and ignorance - a culture where a reasonable person can observe the killing of unarmed people, everyday people - people with dreams, families, ambitions - and yet somehow allow themself to believe that the once indentured and enslaved are now equals. All the while Black families have had to have “The Talk” amongst ourselves: a reminder that we’re not like the rest of our friends, colleagues, classmates. Reminding ourselves that no matter the achievements we gain, the degrees we acquire, the money earn, or our contributions to society, our Black skin will be used against us as an indictment on our character.

I recall a few years back when president Obama assured a room of young Black students that the America they were about to inherit was much better than the one their parents had. In many ways this is true - Obama himself is a symbol of that progress. But I struggle with this sentiment when considering the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the many others this year alone. Each martyr is a reminder that our system will feed into and reinforce the sentiment that its Black citizens are not only viewed as an adjacent class of people, but have, and will continue to be, policed more violently, with less dignity and addressed without remorse compared to our White counterparts.

And so now we see a movement to challenge this very system, led by a contingency of people whose patience has dried up; who are ceasing to assimilate to arbitrary ideals; who are willing to up the ante on challenging authoritative, repressive norms. We’ve now lost interest in appeasing the bias of the system just so we can fit in, ditching the round-table discussions and talking heads.

Because right now, words are steadily losing their value, and our grip on the end that we seek is evaporating with each passing day. The time is right to be honest and upfront with our perspective and our oppressor, because we’re long past sick and tired.