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Black on black violence/crime is quite profiitable. Perhaps this is why we do not hear too many complaints about it from the dominant culture until there is a need to distract, divide, and deflect. The counternarrative of black on black violence has been especially hot in conservative circles. Quite crafty obviously, because this counternarrative has been adopted by many who probably would otherwise actually be discussing the injustice of the Zimmerman trial and the injustice of black life in America. How easily we are distracted. What really is our logic behind those who have never cared about black people killing one another spending so much time, energy, and money to put the need for us to stop the black on black violence in the spotlight? Do we really think that they have grown a conscience and now want for us to stop disrespecting, assaulting, and killing one another? Do we have the clarity and the will to stay focused? If we engage in conversations about black on black violence as a post Zimmerman verdict sidebbar convo, hopefully it will not be in the form of a debate with those who have never cared about it in the first place.

In light of the recent events, the question is raised in the black community often: "What has the Zimmerman trial taught you?" I am not trying to be funny here, yet to me, the previous question is comparable to the question "What has calculus taught you about subtraction?" The concept of subtraction was understood well before encountering calculus, so what exactly was calculus "supposed" to teach me about subtraction? At any rate, there are many of us to whom the concept of injustice seemed a bit unfamiliar until the Zimmerman verdict was announced. Perhaps in some cases this is because some of our people thought that we had "overcome". It is said that that if you want to know the ending of a thing, then you must know its beginning. Do we not know the origins of the criminal justice system? Do we not know the history of our relationship with justice according to the law of the land? Do we not realize that "evolved" and "completely different" are not synonymous? Do we not understand that having made "great strides" and having "arrived" are not identical? Evolutionary process: The Slave Code--> The Black Codes--> Jim Crow--> The Present. So where do we go from here? Of course there should be a federal investigation/civil suit for Zimmerman regarding the murder of Trayvon Martin. Do we not yet see that the issues that we face go beyond a violation of our civil rights to a violation of our human rights. The issue of civil rights is limited to concerns which are domestic. Ths issue of human rights concerns is not limited to concerns which are domestic.d However, is that all that there should be? Do we understand that the tragedy of the Trayvon Martin case is not an isolated event? Do we realize that what we are dealing with is systemic? On a larger level, where do we as a people go from here? Is now not the time to give mroe consideration to our being more autonomous? Why does this seem so farfetched to us when we clearly have the expertise to build and sustain our own on many levels? We constantly build for and sustain others. Why not build for and sustain ourselves? Many of our people just celebrated Independence Day. Whose independence? When we talk about black independence, the most resistance first comes from within,