Mekhi’s life mattered, but you didn’t know him
“14 killed in Chicago, among them a 3-year old boy and a 13-year old girl …” so said the person reading the headline on TV. Guessing each of these victims has a name, I found the story online – with pictures. I scrolled past the headline and something about “another violent weekend in Chicago.” I stopped at the picture of a baby boy named Mekhi James. I felt rage … rage that Black lives matter when murdered by a policeman, but not when murdered by a gang-banger. The silence is deafening.
When will protests begin? Riots? Garbage cans on fire? Windows broken? Where are the talking heads on cable? Where are the clergy? Where are elected leaders? So Black lives really don’t matter unless they serve a political purpose? Shame on me for not learning the names of other young victims like Mekhi. Shame on people of faith for doing nothing radical to prevent this. Shame on politicians who have yet to mention Mekhi by name. Shame on all of us for allowing this to become commonplace. Surely, in a nation of 360 million human beings with a brain … there is one that holds the key to stopping this. Surely. Mekhi’s life matters.
Dr. James D. Wilkins
Cleveland, Tennessee