On Crossing Streets, Clutching Pearls, and the "Danger" Debate

It's wild to me that people of pallor still do that thing to me where they see me coming and cross the street, clutch their purse, pull their kids "out of harm's way", or recoil in general when they see me in a store, restaurant, or out on a walk, minding my Black business. After 43 years on this planet, with at least 33 of those years spent observing this nonsense, I can't help but be amused by how ridiculous many people of pallor are with these ignorant antics.

People of pallor, I think I can speak for almost all Black people when I say that - and I cannot emphasize this enough - WE DON'T WANT YOU.

We're not out to get you. When we're out and about, living our lives? We don't want to engage with you unless we have to. We don't want anything in your purse.

And we definitely don't want yo' kids.

The overwhelming majority of us aren't out here to "endanger" people of pallor. We seriously don't want to be involved in any messiness with y'all, no matter how miniscule it may seem. We're just out here trying to live in a world that hates us, yet we're always painted as a threat to said world. It's preposterous. It's weak. It's old. And I think I can speak for most Black folx when I say that the less interactions and engagements we have to have with most people of pallor, the better.

In this economy? In this increasingly hostile country we live in?

No thank you.

Y'all are, and continue to be, more of a threat to Black bodies than we are to y'all, and you don't need to Google that to know that it's true.

I'm at the store, pink headphones on, listenin' to Clipse and buyin' some Triscuits, not even thinkin' of you, while you out here fleeing in terror and trying to get the attention of a staff member because melanin has "invaded" what you believe is "your space" and you feel squirmy in your white supremacist, anti-Black tummy.

Chile, please.

Your stomach feels that bad, you probably need to be grabbin' some Triscuits too.

On Trey Reed and Strange Fruit

TW: Anti-black violence, harm, black body trauma, murder.

A 21-year-old student named Trey Reed from Grenada, Mississippi, was found hanging from a tree this morning on the campus of Delta State University at 7:00 a.m.

Authorities closed the campus after discovering Trey's body, but made sure to emphasize that no lockdown was put in place and that there is no danger to the campus.

The local authorities and the Delta State University administration do not believe there was any foul play. They're all expecting things to "get back to normal" in the next day or so.

And, to top it off, the local authorities said nothing about Trey's death to the public until this afternoon. THE AFTERNOON.

And that all leads me to a whole lot of "don't believes":

I don't believe for one minute that Trey hung himself from a tree and completed suicide. Black people do not hang themselves from trees.

I don't believe for one minute that Delta State University's campus is not a current and present danger to students, staff, and faculty, especially the Black and Brown folx attending classes or working there.

I don't believe Delta State will address the matter if it is found not to be a suicide. Nor will local law enforcement.

I don't believe that there will be any kind of resolution to this horrible situation that will not cosign the ongoing understanding that Black people live with every day: that in the United States, strange fruit still hangs from the poplar tree.

I don’t believe we'll ever have a clear answer to any of this.

I so hope in my soul that Trey and his family find justice in this, but I live in the United States, so I don't expect anything but disappointment and trauma.

I'm so sorry, Trey. Whatever happened, you did not deserve this kind of pain.

This Week's Opening Thought: September 15, 2025

This week's opening thought: People are legitimately losing their employment over posting the actual words and recorded actions of a bigot and white supremacist terrorist in protest to the idea that said bigot and white supremacist should be seen as a "civil rights activist" or "advocate for free speech" and not the bigot and white supremacist that he was.

His actual words and actions.

Not made-up quotes, paraphrasing, or conjecture.

His. Actual. Words. And. Actions.

Things he said. Things he was recorded saying. Things that he actively did and said that caused harm to thousands of individuals and threatened multiple communities.

His actual words and actions.

People are losing their jobs over being honest about a dangerous individual who terrorized people for over a decade and made money doing so.

Look, as a company I can understand if you have an issue with an employee who represents you as a public face posting "dancing in the streets" memes about a public figure's murder and deciding it would be best to cut ties with them. I get it. In this case? It may not be the approach I would take, as I think things aren't as black and white as that, but OK. I kinda get it. But firing people for quoting someone? For posting videos and recordings of them saying and doing horrible things? For stating the truth?

I mean, damn, y'all.

Regardless of how this has all played out and will continue to unfurl, the biggest things I will walk away with from all of this is that white supremacy REALLY does not like having to look in the mirror at what it's done and capitalism desperately needs white supremacy to ensure the mirror can't be held up to its face because that reflection is a doozy.

Meanwhile, a morning "news" show host on a conservative "news" network happily and firmly stated that he believed we should be euthanizing homeless and housing insecure citizens. He still has his job because that evidently isn't horrible enough to even elicit a meeting with HR let alone a termination.

Sounds about white.

On 33 hours of Prayer, Xenophobia, Bigotry, and the Cool-Down Period

"You know, this bad stuff happens...and for 33 hours, I was praying that if this had to happen here, that it wouldn't be one of us. That somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country. Sadly, that prayer was not answered that way. I hoped for it, just because I thought it would make it easier on us if we could just say, hey - we don't do that here."

- Utah Governor Spencer Cox, sharing his disappointment that the person who killed Charlie Kirk wasn't from a race or culture they could easily scapegoat, villainize, and politicize at the press conference announcing the capture of Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old cishet white male suspected of the murder.

Prayed for 33 hours, eh?

Cool story, bro. 😑

It's interesting how fervent people of pallor have been over the past few days about seeking "justice for Charlie." It's interesting how many cishet males of pallor have been online threatening violence toward "liberals" and trans folx, and how many bomb and mass shooting threats were called in to HBCUs and DNC offices.

It's also interesting watching that fever pitch of white supremacy and bigotry slowly decline and become more and more about "togetherness" and us "hearing each other" and agreeing to disagree around bigotry and hate as it became crystal clear that the murder suspect was not an "illegal" immigrant, melanated person, non-Christian, or trans person, but one of their own: a young cishet male of pallor from a conservative family, a family who has always supported y’all’s president.

Interesting, ain't it?

Sorry your prayers didn't get answered, Spencer. Maybe the line was busy?

On Blackness as a Scapegoat For White Supremacy

It took hateful, emboldened people of pallor less than 24 hours to blame Black people for the murder of one of their hate idols, even though all the evidence points to a shooter of pallor.

Less than 24 hours to begin threatening violence at HBCUs across the country, forcing them to lock down their campuses or outright cancel classes to ensure their Black students, who had NOTHING TO DO with yesterday’s violence, don’t become casualties of anti-Black hate and terrorism.

Less than 24 hours to see Black bodies as their perfect scapegoats for the violence they feel justified to inflict on their ”enemies.”

I swear racism and white supremacy have had the same playbook for 400+ years.