I Came To Bear Witness To A Race Massacre. Part 1: Black Wall St.

“Do you know what the greatest expression of regard for a race or civilization is?” “No, what?” “Annihilation. That’s the highest respect a civilization can receive. They would only feel threatened by a civilization they truly respect.”― Liu Cixin, quote from The Dark Forest

Photo take by author at the memorial for Black Wall Street.

African civilizations have been annihilated countless times by European colonizers. Indigenous populations have suffered the fate of annihilation all around the world. In every instance in our collective world history when invaders have made contact with indigenous people, the result has always been annihilation.

In America, we are only now realizing how many former prospering black towns have been erased from memory because of racial violence—towns like Rosewood, Elaine, Wilmington, Colfax, Ocoee, and many more have suffered the fate of annihilation.

Annihilation is a constant specter that stalks black bodies in America. When we leave the confines of our homes in order to perform the basic tasks of existence, we are under sustained threat of annihilation. The harbingers of our obliteration can come in the form of law enforcement…