CNP Statement on the Second Death of a Black Man Found at the Home Of Ed Buck
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Charles Stephens
Organization: The Counter Narrative Project
Email: info@counternarrative.org
January 8, 2019 – Atlanta, GA – News outlets are reporting that the body of another black man has been found at the home of Ed Buck on January 7th. His name has not been released. Only a picture of his body on a gurney. In 2017 the body of Gemmel Moore, a young black gay man, had also been found at Buck’s home. Buck was investigated, but the L.A. County District Attorney’s office declined to file charges. In less than two years, two black men are dead, and Buck is free.
Our hearts are broken. As we have read and learned about the events surrounding these deaths, we are gravely reminded about the failure of institutions, including LGBT institutions, to protect black life. And we are reminded that if we are to survive, we must fight.
On social media as, we have collectively sought to make sense of this tragedy, there has been rage, there has been pain, and yet there has been clarity. Anti-blackness in the LGBTQ community, as is the case of America as a whole, is literally killing us. This has to stop.
CNP stands in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Los Angeles fighting to bring Ed Buck to justice. We also echo the call from the Los Angeles LGBT Center that this horrendous tragedy is investigated, that the public remain informed about the investigation, and there is justice. Finally, we challenge the media to refrain from using stigmatizing language as they write about the lives of the men who encountered Ed Buck.
We will continue to try and learn as much as possible, stay connected to efforts on the ground in Los Angeles, and hold space for our community members that are trying to make sense of all of this. Most critically, we will grieve our dead, and we will continue to fight. CNP is also hosting a community call tonight. If you’re interested in participating, email us at: info@counternarrative.org
For My Own Protection
by: Essex Hemphill
I want to start an organization to save my life.
If whales, snails, dogs, cats
Chrysler and Nixon
can be saved,
the lives of Black men are priceless
and can be saved.
We should be able to save each other.
I don’t want to wait for the Heritage Foundation
to release a study saying
Black people are extinct.
I don’t want to be the living dead
pacified with drugs, sex and rock-n-roll.
If a human chain be formed
around nuclear missile sites,
then surely Black men can form
human chains around Anacostia, Harlem
South Africa, Wall Street, Hollywood
each other.
If we have to take tomorrow with blood
are we ready?
Do our s curls and dreadlocks and phillies
make us any more ready than a bush or a conkaline?
I’m not concerned
about the attire of a soldier.
All I want to know
for my own protection
is are we capable
of whatever
whenever.
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