Bear with me. This is raw. But raw is the best that I can muster right now. This post is not about games…but it is. I am a writer, a gamer, and an activist in no particular order and in no particular manner. I process things through my writing so today I am writing out of turn (in a number of different ways).
I write about games because I recognize them for what they are, powerful cultural artifacts. Games can not only affect the ways that people see the world, but are also affected by the world views of the people who create them. It is why I think that I am a Social Justice Warrior of my own ilk. It is because social justice is something that not only want, but must have if we are to survive as a (human) race. Yesterday a grand jury decided not to indict a police officer who had sworn to protect and serve for the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black man, in Ferguson, MO. This was just one of a series of recent killings of people of color in the United States.
Trayvon Martin
Renisha McBride
Darrien Hunt
John Crawford III
Jordan Davis
Tamir Rice
I could go on and on. Everyday this list gets longer and longer and the victims get younger and younger. Tamir Rice was only 12 years old when he was killed on a playground in Cleveland this week. With last night’s announcement in Ferguson I see more and more pronouncements of the fact that it is open season on our young Black boys, but I see this as so much more. Open season extends far beyond young Black people being shot down in streets, on porches, on playgrounds, and in superstore aisles. I grieve for the parents of these children whose lives have been cut short. I grieve for the communities that are left behind to wallow in the aftermath of their deaths. I grieve for my own child who does not fit the demographic (the proverbial profile) in any obvious way, but who is still a victim of racism in that she is the White child of a Black mother. Every racist comment, snide question, police interaction, or other act of racism is an act of violence that she is forced to endure. As she gets older I become ever more vigilant in my attempts to shield her from this violence and preserve her innocence for just a moment more. The threats of violence are real both to her and to myself. Every questionable police interaction, every racist asshole in restaurants or restrooms. every parent or teacher in schools who treat her or me differently because of the color of my skin. And yet…this is not the same as having to try to shield your children from bullets that rip through their bodies and steal their lives.
So today I want to recognize that there is no fun in our lives. I recognize that this is not a tragedy that is limited to Black boys and girls, but affects all boys and girls regardless of their race and that we all have a very real material investment in this.
And for these reasons and many, many more I grieve. I mourn. I rage. I cry. While people say pray for peace. Pray for justice. I say FUCK THAT! Pray for CHANGE. Work for CHANGE.
