They’re Trying to Kill Us

“There’s one thing Black folks hate: don’t play me. And once they realize they’re playing us, there’s going to be a game changer throughout the entire country. It’s going to sweep the entire globe.”

— Mayor Eric L. Adams, City of New York

When gun stores, liquor stores, and Popeyes line the streets, with no grocery store in sight;

When pig intestines go from slavery food to the soul food delicacy called, “chitlins”, turning trauma into tradition;

When food corporations lobby political systems to purposely advertise cheap, dopamine-fueled death-on-a-plate to dopamine-lacking low-income communities;

When food-related deaths, such as heart disease and stroke, far exceed the highly publicized deaths of inner city violence;

When the fork is worse than the gun;

When you pray to the same version of “God” that was said to enslave your ancestors;

When you can lose your job because you wear your hair the way it grows out of your head;

When there’s a 100:1 criminal sentencing disparity for the chemically same substance, yet radically different user groups;

When your people make up 13% of the US population, yet 37% of the US prison population;

When your direct ancestors were denied the right to home loans, education, and business licenses;

When your child’s education is directly funded by local property taxes, yet you were generationally forced into poor neighborhoods;

When your education lacks the direct knowledge path of how to work yourself out of the poor neighborhoods;

When you work yourself out of the poor neighborhood, and now fear your “black-sounding” name getting you fewer job interview callbacks;

When you get the job interview, and now fear not having the money to afford getting a “fresh weave” for the interview;

When you get the job, and now fear having to be “twice as good” to be seen as equal;

When you can’t switch jobs because you lack the connections that your family has historically been shut out of;

When “code-switching” makes you bilingual.

When avoiding “making others uncomfortable” gives you the grace of an aristocratic elite.

When your “microaggressions poker face” becomes good enough for you to sweep tables.

When societal jokes about your diet are because of the government;

When societal jokes about your hair are because of the government;

When societal jokes about your single-parent family are because of the government;

When societal jokes about your neighborhood are because of the government;

When societal jokes about your income level are because of the government;

It is then that you will realize it is not your brother or sister down the street you should be worried about.

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I watched about an hour of this phenomenal documentary this evening while soaking in an epsom salt bath, titled “They’re Trying to Kill Us”. It was produced by Chris Paul and Billie Eilish.

The central focus of the documentary was on how certain aspects of humanity have been systemically placed in Black communities, acting as a slow form of death, specifically food. It represented a vast range of Black Americans, showcasing short interviews from people from various walks of life. Everyone was well spoken, giving great examples that directly contradict the common “judging a book by its cover” stereotypes that Black Americans often face. There were a few stories from Indigenous people sprinkled in, adding representation towards systemic marginalization being something done to communities who threaten the power constructs currently in place.

The framing of the central focus shapes the viewer’s understanding to allow them to see the POV of what has been done to Black, low-income communities directly in the eyes of those who currently reside or have resided in those communities. While someone who does not reside in a Black, low-income community may not understand stereotypes, such as high fried chicken consumption being a stereotype because it has been strategically placed in these neighborhoods with no other option, They’re Trying to Kill Us opens their eyes to such realities without sounding accusatory, or making the viewer subconsciously jump into a defensive mode of listening.

As I did not watch the whole documentary, I won’t explore theory too much. I will update here if I do!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgqmGUdifwA&t=3883s&pp=sAQB