I spent most of the day, today running. Not physically, no. Mentally. I spent all day trying to keep my mind off of the lynching of black bodies in America. I jumped from movie to movie, to ridiculous episodes of Empire. Binge-watching “For Life” with so much angst, but joy because I know that eventually, he comes out on top… if you want to call it that. They still stole parts of his life. And it is representative of just another common miscarriage of justice for Black Americans. Ugghhh… I digress.
My best male friend escapes often. It’s his Xbox. At first, I was perplexed at how he actually spends hours on that thing, cursing, and screaming as if it’s real life. But then, after another lynching of George Floyd, I understood why. He was enraged that day. Silent for most of it. And then he sat down in front of his tv, with the game controller, and played. I understood that he was escaping this egregious reality. For a few hours, he’d be able to scream, release frustration, and fight (all be it virtually). All the things he wants to do here, but he can’t. So ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto’ it is.
What’s worse? That a black person has to escape reality at all. Why can’t our escape look like our caucasian counterparts and just go on vacation? Because even on vacation, we still know there are no days off from being Black and hunted. There’s a target on our backs no matter where we are. It’s sad. It’s draining. And I’m tired.
Logging off now. Maybe a little “Bob’s Burgers” will ease my stress.
