In 2005, the state of Florida became the first of 24 states in the union to enact a Stand Your Ground law, allowing individuals who feel threatened by an aggressor to defend themselves, inclusive of using a firearm with deadly force, as opposed to retreating from a would-be assailant. It gained prominence on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, FL, when 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a wannabe law enforcement officer by the name of George Zimmerman. 

Disturbingly, in like manner as those who participated in lynchings and sold the body parts of the victims as souvenirs, Zimmerman sold the gun he used to kill Martin as a souvenir to the tune of $250,000 and was never sentenced to incarceration. The bidding started at $5,000.

However, my version of Stand Your Ground involves one’s ability to speak truth to power without retreat. I might refer to that as my superpower.

John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Freedom is achieved by knowledge of the truth and for one to know the truth they must have access to it.

History has shown us that whenever we as a people make strides forward, there are always ill-intended people supported by a racially biased institutionalized system to push us back. You can count on it like clockwork.

During the 12 years of Reconstruction following the Emancipation Proclamation and the promise of field order #15 of 40 acres and a mule, the promise was rescinded by President Andrew Johnson (Donald Trump’s hero, BTW) after the assassination of President Lincoln on April 15, 1865.

The 400,000 acres of coastline land, extending from Charleston, SC to St. John’s River in Florida, promised to the newly freed slaves, was returned to the former Confederate owners.  In addition, many former slave owners were given reparations for the loss of “property,” namely those whom they had enslaved.  So, reparations are not a new idea, they were simply given to the wrong people, the oppressors as opposed to the oppressed. 

It was during this short period of time that these former slaves began to achieve more than their “white” counterparts. Those who managed, against the odds, to secure their own land began successfully farming and developing that land, as they had become accustomed to during their enslavement. Many of these landowners would subsequently have their land repossessed through various means of deception or outright thievery. 

The caveat to the 13^th Amendment rationalized and justified the re-enslavement of Blacks via incarceration for bogus crimes under “Black Codes.”

Sharecropping also placed many “freed” former slaves back onto the same plantations from which they were freed, under the status of sharecroppers. Coupled with less than human status with no rights that “white” people were obligated to respect, in accordance with the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision of 1857, Black farmers were regularly taken advantage of and treated unfairly, receiving less than their contracted due recompense.

Stand Your Ground: Speaking Truth to Power

In 2005, the state of Florida became the first of 24 states in the union to enact a Stand Your Ground law, allowing individuals who feel threatened by an aggressor to defend themselves, inclusive of using a firearm with deadly force, as opposed to retreating from a would-be assailant. It gained prominence on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, FL, when 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a wannabe law enforcement officer by the name of George Zimmerman. 

Disturbingly, in like manner as those who participated in lynchings and sold the body parts of the victims as souvenirs, Zimmerman sold the gun he used to kill Martin as a souvenir to the tune of $250,000 and was never sentenced to incarceration. The bidding started at $5,000.

However, my version of Stand Your Ground involves one’s ability to speak truth to power without retreat. I might refer to that as my superpower.

John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Freedom is achieved by knowledge of the truth and for one to know the truth they must have access to it.

History has shown us that whenever we as a people make strides forward, there are always ill-intended people supported by a racially biased institutionalized system to push us back. You can count on it like clockwork.

During the 12 years of Reconstruction following the Emancipation Proclamation and the promise of field order #15 of 40 acres and a mule, the promise was rescinded by President Andrew Johnson (Donald Trump’s hero, BTW) after the assassination of President Lincoln on April 15, 1865.

The 400,000 acres of coastline land, extending from Charleston, SC to St. John’s River in Florida, promised to the newly freed slaves, was returned to the former Confederate owners.  In addition, many former slave owners were given reparations for the loss of “property,” namely those whom they had enslaved.  So, reparations are not a new idea, they were simply given to the wrong people, the oppressors as opposed to the oppressed. 

It was during this short period of time that these former slaves began to achieve more than their “white” counterparts. Those who managed, against the odds, to secure their own land began successfully farming and developing that land, as they had become accustomed to during their enslavement. Many of these landowners would subsequently have their land repossessed through various means of deception or outright thievery. 

The caveat to the 13^th Amendment rationalized and justified the re-enslavement of Blacks via incarceration for bogus crimes under “Black Codes.”

Sharecropping also placed many “freed” former slaves back onto the same plantations from which they were freed, under the status of sharecroppers. Coupled with less than human status with no rights that “white” people were obligated to respect, in accordance with the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision of 1857, Black farmers were regularly taken advantage of and treated unfairly, receiving less than their contracted due recompense.

During Reconstruction, 2,000 Blacks held political offices all the way up to the U.S. Senate. It was a time when America had the opportunity to simply “Do the Right Thing,” but it failed miserably, choosing instead to serve its idol god of white supremacy.

With the Compromise of 1877 over the close and controversial results of the presidential election in 1876 between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes, all Union troops used to protect the former slaves from acts of racial violence were pulled from the South to avoid political violence which might erupt over who would become president. This move ushered in the Jim Crow era along with an increased campaign to demonize “threatening” Black skin.

As many Blacks excelled, despite these obstacles, establishing their own Black Wall Streets with thriving businesses, aggressive racist “whites” found trumped-up excuses to destroy these communities, murdering the inhabitants and displacing the survivors without recompense.

Lynching and police brutality were used in the same way that whippings and other forms of public torture were used during slavery to “keep Black folks in their place.” More than 4,000 lynchings were noted during the Jim Crow era, and it has been recently determined that many more had gone unreported. With such tactics of control over a targeted people, all you need is the “THREAT” of violence; therefore, it is not always about the stats and data regarding the actual numbers. It’s enough to make the brutality and executions public. It’s the same tactics that were used on the plantation.  

Today, we see a pushback on the heels of the election of America’s first Black president and the George Floyd awakening, which brought about a spark in interest in examining where America really was on its report card of race relations.

There has been a concerted effort to hijack the narratives intended to move us forward as a nation, such as recognizing the value of Black lives with the slogan “Black Lives Matter.” The pushback was to focus on the organization as opposed to the slogan and a disregard for documented history where Black lives have been consistently devalued under U.S. law. The counter-narrative was “All Lives Matter.”

The hijacked narrative of CRT (Critical Race Theory), which legitimately examines our legal system through the documented foundation of race studied in law school, was to demonize this approach and falsely accuse elementary schools of teaching it as a divide-and-conquer strategy being taught to children to make “white” children feel bad about being “white” and Black children to be made to feel like they were victims of a racist system that “no longer exists.” It was also used as a means to avoid incorporating comprehensive Black history into the educational curriculum.  

DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) was demonized along with Affirmative Action to promote the false idea that BIPOC were given unfair and undeserved advantages over their “white” peers who were more qualified. It was deemed as “reverse racism” and “having no place in American society.”

Reparations, another opportunity for America to simply “Do the Right Thing,” have been discarded by limiting its scope to slavery and ignoring the chain links connecting it to today’s wealth gap between Blacks and “whites.”

Books have been banned, and Florida is the state where the governor proudly announces that it is the state where “Woke goes to die.” Instead of “woke” being defined as a state of being awake and in touch with the injustices that still exist in our nation, which need to be addressed and corrected, the false narrative is that it is a radical attempt to overthrow the nation with a liberal agenda that challenges traditional American values. Therefore, remaining asleep is promoted as the preferred status. 

It’s nothing new, just a continuation of the same old same old, presented in different clothing of deception and falsehood. My superpower is my ability to stand my ground and expose The Invisible Man of Tactics, used to promote the continuation of racism/“white” supremacy.  

Up, Up, and Away!       

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During Reconstruction, 2,000 Blacks held political offices all the way up to the U.S. Senate. It was a time when America had the opportunity to simply “Do the Right Thing,” but it failed miserably, choosing instead to serve its idol god of white supremacy.

With the Compromise of 1877 over the close and controversial results of the presidential election in 1876 between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes, all Union troops used to protect the former slaves from acts of racial violence were pulled from the South to avoid political violence which might erupt over who would become president. This move ushered in the Jim Crow era along with an increased campaign to demonize “threatening” Black skin.

As many Blacks excelled, despite these obstacles, establishing their own Black Wall Streets with thriving businesses, aggressive racist “whites” found trumped-up excuses to destroy these communities, murdering the inhabitants and displacing the survivors without recompense.

Lynching and police brutality were used in the same way that whippings and other forms of public torture were used during slavery to “keep Black folks in their place.” More than 4,000 lynchings were noted during the Jim Crow era, and it has been recently determined that many more had gone unreported. With such tactics of control over a targeted people, all you need is the “THREAT” of violence; therefore, it is not always about the stats and data regarding the actual numbers. It’s enough to make the brutality and executions public. It’s the same tactics that were used on the plantation.  

Today, we see a pushback on the heels of the election of America’s first Black president and the George Floyd awakening, which brought about a spark in interest in examining where America really was on its report card of race relations.

There has been a concerted effort to hijack the narratives intended to move us forward as a nation, such as recognizing the value of Black lives with the slogan “Black Lives Matter.” The pushback was to focus on the organization as opposed to the slogan and a disregard for documented history where Black lives have been consistently devalued under U.S. law. The counter-narrative was “All Lives Matter.”

The hijacked narrative of CRT (Critical Race Theory), which legitimately examines our legal system through the documented foundation of race studied in law school, was to demonize this approach and falsely accuse elementary schools of teaching it as a divide-and-conquer strategy being taught to children to make “white” children feel bad about being “white” and Black children to be made to feel like they were victims of a racist system that “no longer exists.” It was also used as a means to avoid incorporating comprehensive Black history into the educational curriculum.  

DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) was demonized along with Affirmative Action to promote the false idea that BIPOC were given unfair and undeserved advantages over their “white” peers who were more qualified. It was deemed as “reverse racism” and “having no place in American society.”

Reparations, another opportunity for America to simply “Do the Right Thing,” have been discarded by limiting its scope to slavery and ignoring the chain links connecting it to today’s wealth gap between Blacks and “whites.”

Books have been banned, and Florida is the state where the governor proudly announces that it is the state where “Woke goes to die.” Instead of “woke” being defined as a state of being awake and in touch with the injustices that still exist in our nation, which need to be addressed and corrected, the false narrative is that it is a radical attempt to overthrow the nation with a liberal agenda that challenges traditional American values. Therefore, remaining asleep is promoted as the preferred status. 

It’s nothing new, just a continuation of the same old same old, presented in different clothing of deception and falsehood. My superpower is my ability to stand my ground and expose The Invisible Man of Tactics, used to promote the continuation of racism/“white” supremacy.  

Up, Up, and Away!