We asked ourselves if we knew what we were doing but we knew we didn't. I stared at the aged oak railing that had been worn away by wind and rain and looked out across the shields that told me I knew what I needed to know already. A line of plastic shields and frowning faces snaked its way down the street and around the corner.
How many were there? How many of them wanted to be here? And yet I knew that they were not ready for what was to come. A peaceful protest (minus a few morons who decided burning a convenience store was the key to social change). They kept staring at me. They were staring at us.
For a supposedly free country, it sure didn't feel that way when I looked at the firehoses, the tear gas grenade launcher, the plastic truncheons and the tasers. It was about control. It was about the status quo.
But the world was turning. And that thin plastic line wasn't enough to stop it. They could murder one or two of us, but they couldn't change the truth. The biggest wall to that was the wall of ignorance, maintained by those who wanted to live in a sanitized Andy Griffith world long passed.
And then someone began to sing a hymn. It was catchy, and while I was terrible with the lyrics I could join in on the chorus. The plastic line shifted nervously. They didn't like this. They didn't want this. But they held firm.
Then we joined hands and began to march to the park. That caused them to freak out. We were 'attacking' them, so they opened up with the tear gas. It felt like I had salt and vinegar poured down my throat. A lot of others scattered, but I held still.
Then they leapt forward and began to beat me. There in the shadows of twilight, my skin color didn't matter. My social status didn't matter. I was a threat to the status quo. I was a threat to their order. They didn't like it.
I heard someone moan as the defenders of 'justice' began to beat them. They were being filmed, but they didn't care. The Wall of Ignorance would protect them. As I blacked out I wondered...will we ever have justice? Maybe. But it will be earned one martyr at a time.
