Call the Cops! Suspicious Black Man on Smith College Campus

The deep trauma, generations old, see it in her eyes, 

the anguish, the pain.

I feel it, too. You?

Every time this happens to one of us, 

it happens to all of us. 

Nia Wilson’s murder has broken us wide open, 

each one of these transgressions sinks

into the immutable rawness 

of open wounds

inflicted by white supremacy.

The president of Smith played it safe by not naming exactly why someone called the cops on this #SmithCollege student, a sophomore, Oumou Kanoute. #SayHerName, OUMOU KANOUTE!

She wrote in a statement apologizing for the incident, (nothing to Oumou directly, I might add.) "This painful incident reminds us of the ongoing legacy of racism and bias in which people of color are targeted while simply going about the business of their daily lives. … Building an inclusive, diverse, and sustainable community is urgent and ongoing work."

I am so over white people and their safe depictions of their racist ablutions that ceremoniously wash away the guilt that lies so thick and crusted on their souls. I’m tired of it all. I’m over their fear of the truth. Just as this woman’s pain is mine/ours, so too, are the racist acts fueled with white supremacy shared by them. She could have at least apologized to Oumou. 

Stay woke, y'all. Make today a life worth living!

Angela