Trayvon Martin: No Justice No Peace

What would you do if one day you woke up and realized the life you are living is built on a false unstable foundation of dreams? If to this point you had lived your entire life blinded, and had built your thought process off only what you could hear and couldn’t see. What would you do once God opened your eyes and granted you discernment to understand the difference between the two? Would you continue to walk in the shadows behind the lies you had been living or chose to follow the new truth God had granted you the ability to see?

On February 28^th in Sanford, Florida, Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old black male, was gunned down while walking back to his father’s home in a gated community. He was murdered by an overzealous member of the neighborhood watch. George Zimmerman, the shooter, said he looked suspicious because he was wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt. His actual words to the 911 operator were “This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. He’s just staring, looking at all the houses. Now he’s coming towards me. He’s got his hand in his waistband. Something is wrong with him.” This young man had no weapons on him. He had committed no crime other than being a black male at night walking on the street wearing a hoodie.

In recorded 911 calls from neighbors, you could hear Trayvon screaming for help followed by a gun shot. Zimmerman was not arrested due to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground Law.” The police said they didn’t have enough evidence to dispute Zimmerman’s claim he shot Trayvon Martin in self-defense.

Historically black males have been the most hunted group in American history. During the time of slavery, the strongest black male of the group would be whipped and beaten to help break the mental strength of other physically weaker slaves. In the 20’s police claimed they needed bigger bullets (called a nigger bullet back then) to shoot a black male due to our so-called superior physicality. We were made to look like savages and the population as a whole was brainwashed to believe the same thing.

Sadly in 2012 not much has changed. I don’t necessarily believe Zimmerman is racist, but I do believe his actions where controlled by the embedded fear of black males that has been nurtured and grown throughout the history of “the land of the free and home of the brave.”

When we are seen walking down the street, we are considered by law enforcement and others to be a threat. When we are seen getting out of a nice car we are considered to be a drug dealer, sports figure, or rap star. When we are standing in front of a judge we are presumed guilty until proven innocent. So the sad fact that Trayvon was considered a threat walking down the street in a hoodie minding his own business doesn’t surprise me.

Liberty and justice are not a given to all in this country. As a Black male I know from history and my own personal experiences our justice system is not far.  If you are rich, famous, or Caucasian maybe so, but for the millions of Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans “trapped” in this country, our realities are much different. My Grandmother (RIP) used to tell me “a scared person is a dangerous person”. Our country was built on the manipulation of the mass and a fear of us has been a part of our country’s foundation since the first slave ship landed in the Americas.

So again America I ask you what will you do? If you’re not a part of the solution then you are a part of the problem. We see there are horrible problems in our justice system. We see that in 2012 black males are still hunted and racially profiled. We see how our schools and communities are struggling to survive. We see we are not free. I just pray the young life of Trayvon Martin was not lost in vain. I pray it’s a wakeup call for our reality show, internet, and social media addicted country. If there’s no justice there definitely shouldn’t be any peace. 

Lips that touch Swine will never touch mine...

“No lips that touch Swine, will touch mine.”  I stopped eating Pork when I was around 15 yrs old. I remember reading the autobiography of Malcolm X. After reading the life story of Brotha Malcolm (RIP) I decided to do my own research on the pig. Pigs genetically are not made up like other animals and don’t contain the natural cleaning system most domesticated animals contain.  The over consumption of pork products is also one of the major problems causing a number of health issues in the African American community.

Out of the top five meats consumed in the United States, pork is ranked 3^rd.  According to the FDA, in 2010 the average American consumes 55-75 lbs of Pork per year.  In the culinary world we are taught pork needs to cook to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.  However in the industry I have seen a number of people order pork medium and was served what they ordered.  This is highly dangerous because of the internal make up and cleaning system of the pig itself.

Pigs are biologically similar to humans, and their meat is said to taste similar to human flesh.  Pigs have been used for dissection in biology labs due to the similarity between their organs and human organs.  In the past people with insulin-dependent diabetes usually inject themselves with pig insulin.  Pigs are also glutinous animals (meaning they eat until food is gone not until they are full), and will eat any type of food, including dead insects, worms, rotting carcasses (including their own), garbage, and other pigs.

A pig has one- one chambered stomach, unlike other domesticated animals which contain more actual stomachs with different chambers.  This is extremely important when it comes to the processing of the materials the pig eats.  The inability to digest food properly causes a higher number of pathogens to be absorbed in the actual flesh of the animal.  This is where the problem of Trichinosis comes in.

Trichinosis is a condition that stems from the eating of raw or inadequately cooked meat, especially pork. The pathogens imbedded in the flesh from a poor digestive system are digested by humans. Those pathogens then release larvae, which reach maturity and mate in the intestines.  The parasites are then carried from the gastrointestinal tract by the blood stream to various muscles where they attach themselves.  It is estimated that 10%-20% of the adult population of the United States has suffered from some form of Trichinosis at some time.  In the 1960’s, the FDA understand the seriousness of this situation, started regulating what pigs were feed and started forcing farmers to inject there pig livestock with de-wormers.

Similar to humans since pigs have issues with digestion, they have a higher content of salt in their flesh.  This is why people love to cook with pork.  The natural saltiness and sweetness that comes from cooking with pork products is hard to duplicate.  Historically the average price for a pound of pork has been considerably lower than chicken, beef, lamb, or seafood and therefore, for years was consumed at a higher rate in low income areas.  Even in the time of slavery, pig parts were so cheap in value they were given to slaves as food.  From the scraps given beautiful dishes were created, however nutritional wise they were high in fat, sugar and sodium.

The way pork was traditionally used in lower income areas have affected the African American population as a whole.  Because of the extreme use of pork products and sugar we suffer from epidemics like obesity, high blood pressure, and hypertension just to name a few.