One of my favorite Spike Lee films is School Daze, and I have found myself thinking about it a lot recently. The movie offers a glimpse into the secret world of Greek life, including pledging, hazing, brotherhood and even the comical salutations demonstrated by Lee’s character Half Pint, when he salutes Dean “Big Brother Al-Migh-Tee.” As members of these fictional Greek organizations evolve from their personal issues of skin color and hair, they begin to realize there are much more relevant challenges that face them as a young marginalized community. Similarly, I see a real-life movement being formed through a metaphorical fraternal order of activists coming together protesting 18-year-old Michael Brown’s death and similar incidents of injustice.
Like many of you, I have been quite disturbed by recent news regarding Brown, the black teen shot and killed by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer. A number of conversations have arisen since the shooting and, more recently, the grand jury’s decision to clear Darren Wilson. In our collective attempt to process these events, we are all analyzing the teenager’s character, condemning the looting, cheering on the protestors or symphathizing with the parents.
What has captivated my attention most is the subsequent national and global protest that has spread like wild fire in response to these events. My social media feeds are bloated with outcries all sharing a similar message of frustration, anger and a call to action. This growing collective is organizing against a system that they feel shows historical disparity in the treatment of its citizens, especially as it relates to marginalized communities.
I have dubbed this expanding fraternity of disenfranchised voices as Not One Iota — as in they do not give one flying Iota about the status quo.
Membership is largely comprised of folks from marginalized groups, and victims like Michael Brown are part of this order. Often, not everyone associated with those communities claim membership until they are uncomfortably or even tragically reminded that they do not enjoy the same rights and privileges as their mainstream counterparts. The sad truth is that some members are becoming younger and younger and succumb before having the benefit of counsel from more established members. Just ask the family of 12-year-old “Little Brother-Shot-2-seconds-after-officers-arrive-for-having-a-toy-gun” (Tamir Rice).
Not One Iota has plenty of supporters. They may not know all the inner workings of the group but have an appreciation for their mission. These global acts of solidarity between members and non-members is significant because even those who have not been racially profiled or victimized by the system themselves recognize, like Martin Luther King Jr. stated, that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Greek organizations are easily distinguished by signifiers, such as their colors. Not so with members of Not One Iota, although some in the mainstream and even some closer to home will attempt to identify members by broad assessments of their character (calling them predators and thugs) or by their dress, demeanor or even association. Non-supporters of Not One Iota do this in some futile attempt to justify the injustices against these members because maybe if they were not dressed in a hoodie, or listening to hip-hop or engaging an authority figure, they would not be victimized. Maybe we should ask “Little Brother-Unjustly-profiled-in-his-own-community” (Trayvon Martin) or “Little Brother-Gunned-down-for-listening-to-loud-music-like-any-typical-teen” (Jordan Davis) or even “Big Brother No-your-Harvard-professor-status-does-not-protect-you-from-being-arrested” (Henry Louis Gates).
Unlike other fraternal organizations, Not One Iota members do not enjoy a “crossing over” ritual where the pledge and hazing process ends. Ironically, once you have been inducted, you tend to experience continued hazing by the system. You can be victimized at any given moment if the power structure or authority figures characterize you as a threat. Just ask the family of “Big Brother-Death-by-choke-hold-due-to-suspicion-of-selling-loose-cigarettes” (Eric Garner, New York).
Members and supporters of Not One Iota also know that what happened in Ferguson happens in all corners of our society. Even here in the Carolinas, we have seen instances, of, at best, slack justice and citizens victimized due to gross characterization by authority figures. Check out “Little Brother-Found-hung-in-mysterious-circumstances-in-white-neighborhood”(Lennon Lacy, South Carolina) or “Big Brother-Shot-in-broad-daylight-for-attempting-to-produce-ID” (Levar Jones, South Carolina) and even here in Charlotte, “Big Brother-Shot-and-killed-after-seeking-assistance-after-serious-car-accident” (Jonathan Ferrell).
Despite all this, I am still encouraged. How is that possible? Well, another poignant reference from Spike Lee’s film School Daze may help in justifying my optimism and supplying maybe a partial explanation to why Ferguson has inspired a global movement of activism. Folks have finally decided to “Wake Up.”
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2014.
Brilliant!
@Tina Thank you for reading and your support!
My BROTHER, my BROTHER! You lowered the boom on em right here! Up until now, I have never caught the Holy Ghost while reading!!
These are profound words, Mr. Easley and you should get them out into ALL communities. Our children (from 5-25) must know their legal constitutional rights as well as displaying professional respect to not end in death. However, our criminal and judicial system needs restructuring or re-educating on handling our precious lives as being important issues to our African American families instead of some one less human or important thereby easy to dispose of.
@Donna Frazier Thank you so much. I have been meditating and asking for ancestral wisdom to bring clarity to my words….smile Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Awesome
@Joyce Layea you are correct that the system needs to be addressed but in the mean time we have to educate our own communities to even be more aware of their filters. It is not just enough to be respectful of authority and the like when it seems these incidents are escalating at an alarming rate. Thank you for reading and sharing your views on this subject!
@Tharealog Huey Hoover thank you for reading!
Brilliant!! Not One Iota represents the power of the ppl. And the power of the people is greater than the people in power …
Wonderful and insightful article Charles Easley! I’d like to share may I?
Oh and don’t forget about the new inductee: Brother Walking with my hands in pocket because its cold(Detroit). He was hurt physically, but its truly a sad reminder of how low humanity has sunk.
Fantastic, Charles! It’s so heartening to still be reading the insightful words of CL writers like you and others who have continued to get better and better over the years. Your voice is hugely important in Charlotte, NC.
@kimbogem I the thought you shared. Thank you for reading and sharing your views!
@MsTruthseeker I heard of that incident and it is sad that folks cannot even walk and react like any other citizen. Why is someone under scrutiny for walking with your hands in your pocket during the winter months. Thank you for reading and sharing your views!
@Mark Kemp Thank you Sir that really means a lot and I have to also give a shout out to a great editor Kimberly…smile She really gave me great feedback in this piece. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Loved the article Mr. Easley, people have voiced out all over the world. The thing that surprises me that most are people my age are out there protesting, I have even been out there protesting out here in Atlanta. It saddens me to this day that us blacks or formerly known as “African Americans” are still getting murdered by the hands of the white man, understanding that black on black crime is an epidemic some most know that white on white and white on black crime happens just as much or more. To not understand our pain is like not to understand history, for example: blacks were slaved, experimented on, breeded like animals and also murdered for going on something like 400 years from now, and not only that slavery ended only 150 years ago and you know when the civil rights act was signed? In 1964. The year is now 2014 and for some reason we still are getting killed by whites, and its more than just that. We need jobs in our community(how are we a minority and we still have more unemployed than the whites and asians?) Better schools and teachers, and out of all of what I just mentioned we just want to be equal and not judged because we are black.
Excellent job Charles!!
I’m in agreement with Joyce Layea.
As a white man who has been harassed, wrongfully detained and arrested, and threatened with physical violence by white cops, I feel there are additional underlying problems with the status quo beyond race. Police officers are frequently lacking education (both formal education as well as ignorance of the law and civil rights), they are frequently power-hungry and abusive of their privileges, they are lacking accountability and oversight (they hide behind their thin blue line, and almost always look out for each other and extend preferential treatment to each other), and they view themselves not as public servants of the people but rather as rulers over subjugates. They expect animal like obedience from the people they are supposed to be working for, and they become incensed and irate whenever any individual questions their tactics or stands up for individual rights. These harmful police qualities are nurtured and fed by a society who pledges blind allegiance to the state and its agents, and who fall victim to the emotional propaganda that encourages people to “thank the boys in uniform for serving and defending our freedom”.
Mr. Easley,
Tell me everything you know about Dillon Taylor without Googling the name.
And while you’re at it, also give the solution for the quadratic equation and conjugate some verbs.
Don’t date some of us with all of those School Daze references … lol.
Ferguson has shown and taught many of us a great deal, some things favorable some not so much. But overwhelmingly it reminded us that protests remains an effective tool to draw attention to injustice and racism’s institutionalization of it. And yes, School Daze reminds us how we have to look beyond our internal “fraternizing ” oftentimes to bring about a greater external “order”.
I must admit how pleased I am that the wind beneath the Ferguson not-gonna-go-away-ism has lasted much longer than I thought many things could in the American live-and-let-live of today. That brisk gale that drives the attitudes of those closest to the scene of Michael Brown’s violation were not without their effects miles EVEN CONTINENTS away as others too were raised and gave voice to what they expect this country to be.
But what has me MOST encouraged is that an unmistakable group driving a lot of this “new” day struggle how they look a lot like some “old skool” groups of afore ” —young people.. of all races and backgrounds. Others certainly—maybe others still the majority. But these young are extrapolating so well in their own right. They are bold. They are fearless. They make the nuance connections even… they give us hope far beyond Ferguson perhaps, as we prepare to take on Ferguson’s macrocosm in the new congress, the repressive-minded folk that this country sent to Washington to steward BOTH bodies of our legislative processes.
Professor, School Daze will always jolt a lot of memories for many of us. I get the feeling this new group, with some familiar others, has gotten its “wake up” and doing something with it. And you best believe those who thought –or even hoped—that a whole generation was in daze while they planned the worst for them has much to keep them awake.
It’s the aggressive, militaristic mentality of the police. This youtube video exemplifies it quite well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlY9C6pzxK…
As a white female with a white male police officer in the family…there are a lot of things to react to in this saga. Why did Mr. Brown feel that he could take whatever he wanted from a convenience store? Why did the officer not have backup if the area and situation demanded it? Why did the Grand Jury not indict–how broken is the system? Are my black friends as safe as I am walking around downtown? Is my nephew safe if he is, indeed, out there doing police work the right way? I do understand that not everyone in America (not even everyone in my neighborhood) has experienced the same America I have. Is the solution to stereotyping to cast stereotypes on others as well? ALL cops are power hungry. ALL whites are entitled. ALL Asians own convenience stores. Of course not–it dehumanizes all of us. But that is what’s happening, and the media is driving the bus. I’m not saying this does not happen, Charles, or that it’s not a tragedy on so many levels. Lets start digging down deep and get ALL the ugly up and in sight so we can deal with it and become better. I hope that’s where we’re headed.
Wow! Where do I begin. @marty; as a mother of a young black male age 24, I was schooling my son from age 8 the rules of engagement on how to conduct yourself in public-such as no hands in your pocket while in stores. Where a belt in your pants at all times-there are more general rules but I want fill this page. However these have become just what we tell our son to learn to respect authority to keep them alive. But as they develop individualism it becomes eliminated by laws or custom. So yes! Let’s bring the “ugly” up so that officer will get there respect back.
@johnqpublic-Dillon Taylor was a white young male shoot by an officer wearing a body cam – he was intoxicated & the media search his Facebook page to give every reason to justify the officers’ action. –
As a PSTD certified therapeutic provider, I believe in addition officers should be trained in recognition of such behavior- just note the the No One Iota is growing for young black males in America.
@Daisean Mills I am very encouraged that you are not allowing yourself to be governed with rage but are using that energy to speak out. It is also very encouraging to see so many young folks finally getting involved. The real enemy is apathy. Thank you for reading and sharing your activism!
@Rusty Sheridan I do not disagree that everyone who challenges the system can become a target but I still cannot deny that there is a large disparity of when such challenges become volatile if not fatal when you add to the mix that the targets are from marginalized communities. Thank you of for reading and being a consistent agitator! We need more voices like that heard!
@Tony Tony Stark I am right there with you in celebrating the level of activism being shown by this young demographic. I group that many including myself thought was lost to collective apathy. It is more than encouraging to see them make their voices heard. Thank you for reading and always sharing your enlightened views!
@John Q Public I believe another reader has addressed your point. Thank you for reading.
@Marty Kindall Chester I agree and as someone who has family and friends who serve as police officers I know that there are bad seeds in any group but the escalating incidents of violence as it relates to folks from marginalized communities is too frequent to ignore. I believe most good folks are willing to do the work but the scary thing is that those bad seeds can and are doing real harm in the interim. Thank you for reading and always sharing your thoughts!
@Katherine Smith You are correct that part of the indoctrination of being in this fraternal order is understanding the rules of engagement when you are part of a marginalized community especially as young black men. Thank you for reading and sharing some very important points of discussion!
@ Charles Easley,
So, you’ll respond to people who pat you on the back, but you’ll ignore a question about an incident nearly identical to the Ferguson shooting? Pretty irrefutable proof that you’re nothing more than an insincere race-baiter.
@Katherine Small,
What does the allegation that Dillon Taylor may have been drinking have to do with his being shot in cold blood by a policeman? In what universe is public intoxication a capital crime? Do you read that new CL column about the little chick who gets plastered five times a week? Does she deserve a couple slugs to the chest?
So sad to see so much ignorance in the black community..
All this noise over nothing……Michael Brown was shot because he assaulted a police officer and was a criminal, he wasn’t some innocent matryr. Eric Garner died of a heart attack after resisting arrest due to morbid obesity, not because of a chokehold which wasn’t actually causing him to lose breath—-if you can’t breathe, you can’t speak…..
The vast majority of the country is sitting back and watching the morons out protesting while rolling their eyes. Nothing is going to change because the true problem isn’t being addressed: the black community will not own up to trying to change the criminal nature of their young men. Black men commit crimes in such high numbers percentage wise as compared to the prevalence in the population. If you want to keep them from dying, then let’s start talking about how we can lower the participation in crime among their ranks. You can’t commit crimes and assault police officers and not expect some casualties along the way.
The Truth.
@The Truth and thank you for sharing your ignorance
Please let me know what isn’t factual in the post. The problem is, you would be able to. Protestors are dealing in emotion, not facts. Everything in the post above is factual, and can’t be contested. Take your head out of your ass and look at the facts. If you want the black community to advance, you need to address the correct problem.
I’m just here for the comment s
Why can’t we all just get along
@jovaJamison we can’t because some folks don’t play fair : )
This is brilliantly written! I love the comparison with School Daze (also one of my favorite films – and the film that inspired me to attend a HBCU). The references to “Big Brother such and such…” are eloquently presented. I do feel like those of us who experience racism in our daily lives are part of a group (or fraternity) that those outside the fraternity just don’t understand, regardless of who many times we attempt to explain our circumstances. On the flip side of that, our “fraternity” (or sorority in my case) has fun, unique, extraordinary experiences and culture that I wouldn’t trade for the world. Great work, Mr. Easley!!