IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 6 ENGLISH | Page 108

A Riot is the Language
of the Unheard
Bonita Lee Penn
Journalist
Managing Editor, Soul Pitt Media
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

L

ast time I reported on the killing
of Michael Brown, a young Black
male in Ferguson, Missouri and
the subsequent the grand jury’s verdict
of “justifiable homicide” for white
police officer, Darrin Wilson. Today, I
am reporting on another death of a
young Black male, Freddie Gray, of
Sandtown a community located in West
Baltimore, Maryland. His death involved
six (6) police officers. The initial three
(3) white males who took part in the
chase and take down of Freddie; the
others involved were three (3) Black
officers and one female officer. The
young Black male, Kevin Moore, who
videotaped Freddie’s arrest, reported that
he had been the target of harassment and
intimidation by the police until he was
arrested and then later released.First
those not familiar with Baltimore may be
familiar with the highly acclaimed HBO
series The Wire. This cable television
series portrayed the lifestyle of narcotics
in West Baltimore, through the eyes of
police officers, drug dealers and users.
According to some, this show glorified
black-on-black street violence, but to
others this show touched on the reality
of life in an impoverished Black
neighborhood. The same neighborhood
where police killed Freddie Gray and
where the community hit back with
protests, in a demonstration that has

been labeled by the media as a fullblown riot.
On April 12th four Baltimore bicycle
police officers chased Freddie Gray after
they made “eye contact” with him on a
corner. These events have left us with a
number of questions; where does it say it
is illegal to make eye contact with a
police officer? They chased him down,
pinned him to the ground and cuffed
him. Why was he being pinned to the
ground and cuffed? What law did he
break? What threat did an unarmed
Black man pose? Gray informed the
po Ɩ6RF