The Soultown! Volume III: Issue 10 OCTOBER 2019 | Page 31
THE SANKOFA VOW
FORGOTTEN!
FORMER STATE TROOPER
BRIAN ENCINIA
SANDRA BLAND
Jean in the chest -- she claimed she feared for
her safety -- after mistakenly entering the wrong
apartment. Guyger lived on the floor below Jean.
Then there is the Fort Worth, Texas Officer
Aaron Dean. Two years after he graduated from
the Police Academy and 18 months on the job,
he shot and killed 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson.
She was playing video games with her nephew.
A neighbor called the non-emergency police
number for a wellness check due to the door
being left ajar for several hours. According to NBC
News, The response to the wellness check by
Fort Worth police was “the equivalent of SWAT”
-- involving several officers “prowling” around
the property before opening fire without ever
identifying themselves as police. Officer, Aaron
Dean resigned. The body camera reveals than
an officer shined a flashlight through Jefferson’s
window and yelled, “Put your hands up and
show me your hands,” before firing a single shot
at Jefferson seconds later that killed her. Her
nephew witnessed the killing.
If I can remember the names of the African
Americans who have died by the actions of law
enforcement, then I will forever remember the
infamous names of the officers responsible for
their deaths. I will say their names over and over
FORMER OFFICER
DANIEL PANTALEO
ERIC GARNER
“Why is it important to
remember the names?
Why not?
It’s the least we can do.”
FORMER TRANSIT COP
JOHANNES MEHSERLE
OSCAR GRANT
I am Chillin’, Innovative Extraordinaire for
The Soultown International Magazine. I’d like to
thank Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland,
Botham Jean and Atatiana Jefferson for having
SOUL! ,
Learn more about the Sankofa Vow at
http://www.thesoultown.com/sankofa-vow.html
Email me: [email protected]
and over again.
Why is it important to remember the names?
Why not? It’s the least I/we can do. The lives
of Grant, Garner, Bland, Jean and Jefferson are
just a few from the very long list of deaths. Those
responsible for their deaths will never forget their
wrongdoings and neither will I.
The Sankofa Vow is The Soultown’s promise to
our ancestors; to return to the Motherland and retrieve
what has been stolen from my ancestry via the trans-
Atlantic slave trade. Our forefathers intended to leave
seeds for us to return to gather, plant, cultivate and
grow. These seeds can be reclaimed and retained
by reading, watching, and discussing with
our elders and also by traveling to our
n a t i v e
continent of
Africa, the
Motherland.
Oct. 2019 • The Soultown International Magazine • Celebrating 2 years • Connecting Our Cultures to Our Cyber & Conscious Communities • thesoultown.com
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