Mike Brown vs. Robin Williams

Good day, everyone. As I sat here on my bed, listening to the new Ab-Soul album, scrolling through my IG timeline, I knew I'd have to hop on here and give my two cents on this whole Mike Brown/Robin Williams death situation.

What I see on my timeline today are a lot of posts criticizing

people for mourning Williams "more" than Brown, President Obama for acknowledging Williams' death and not Brown's, Williams for "choosing" to die, etc, etc, etc. 

I promise social media gives me a headache sometimes lawd.. 

Firstly, I'd like to go on record by saying that Mike Brown's death is a tragedy. From what I've read in the news, I imagine he was a fine young man who didn't cause trouble and dreamed of making something of himself. I can only imagine the pain his family is going through right now and I hope the police officer responsible is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. In many ways, this is the Trayvon Martin situation all over again, only this time there's an actual police department being held accountable. While Brown's friends claim the policeman instigated the altercation by telling them to "get the f*ck onto the sidewalk," the police department claims that Brown initiated the struggle by trying to reach for the officer's gun (read about it here). Sound familiar? 

History has a funny way of repeating itself, so they say.... 

That being said, I hope that my black brothers and sisters really aren't sitting around waiting for Obama to say something about Mike Brown. Ok. Let's say today he finally acknowledges the situation, then what? Let's say he gets behind his presidential podium today and delivers some prepared remarks about how his thoughts and prayers are with Brown's family and the Ferguson community and how we have to work to prevent these sort of occurrences in the future. Then. What? I can see why some people are disheartened about Obama's silence on the issue, but I personally couldn't care less if he says something about it or not. I'm sorry, but Obama is not a sorcerer; his acknowledging Mike Brown's death will not bring him back, nor will it stop policemen from abusing their authority and shooting more black people in the future. The sad truth is, we're pretty much the only generation in America with the power to stop this sort of atrocity, but we've been pacified into believing that we're doing our part by prefacing our tweets with #RIPMikeBrown. Slacktivism runs rampant and it's a problem. 

Have yall ever heard of Leroy Powell? Probably not. He was 15 years old and gunned down in an alleyway last week after giving an eyewitness statement of a murder his friend committed. What about Jakari Pearson? He was an 8-year-old who was killed in his sleep last month by a stray bullet through his wall. Where's Powell's Twitter campaign? Where's Pearson's? Where's the demand for better witness protection and stricter gun regulations? Don't their deaths deserve just as much attention and mourning as Brown's? Don't they deserve acknowledgement from President Obama as well? Apparently not..

Cuz that's just boring, right? 

Nope, we didn't hear about their deaths because black-on-black crime doesn't benefit the media. I said long ago in a previous post that I believe the media purposely focuses on stories like Brown's because they'd love nothing more than for a riot to break out; that way they can send some bemused-looking reporter out to cover it acting as if they have no idea what sparked it in the first place.

Moving on to Robin Williams, Uncle Rob was an American treasure; his body of work spanned generations and he brought countless people joy. This is not to say that his life was "more important" than Brown's by any means...but one must understand his magnitude. I didn't cry when I heard he passed, but dammit if I didn't come close; Mrs. Doubtfire and Aladdin were both staples of my childhood. The fact that Williams apparently struggled with depression and committed suicide makes his situation that much sadder. Of course people are going to grieve extra hard knowing that the man that brought them so much joy was so sad and experienced so much angst. 

Tony Soprano sums it up best, I think. 

And SHAME on anyone who feels he shouldn't be mourned because he "chose" to die. Depression is real and if you don't understand it, you shouldn't speak. 

In closing, instead of griping over which individual is receiving more attention, let's take this time to honor BOTH their lives. They were both men fighting the brave battle of existence; it's up to us as a nation to learn from their deaths and become better. That's how we pay our respect.

-Nick G.