Being Black is Your Burden
In a 2012 Time magazine article, “How to Talk to Young Black Boys About Trayvon Martin: Eight Talking Points About The Potentially Fatal Condition of Being Black,” author and MSNBC commentator Toure wrote:
“It’s unlikely but possible that you could get killed today. Or any day. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. Black maleness is a potentially fatal condition. I tell you that not to scare you but because knowing that could save your life. There are people who will look at you and see a villain or a criminal or something fearsome. It’s possible they may act on their prejudice and insecurity. Being black could turn an ordinary situation into a life-or-death moment even if you’re doing nothing wrong.”
The great Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) would disagree:
“I don’t have to apologize to anybody for being Black, because God Almighty knew exactly what he was doing when he made me Black,” he said. “The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness.”
And so would iconic civil rights Martin Luther King Jr. (1927-1968) who said:
“Somebody told a lie one day. They couched it in language. They made everything black ugly and evil. Well I want to get the language right tonight. I want to get the language so right that everybody here will cry out, “Yes! I’m Black. I’m proud of it. I’m Black and beautiful!”
