along Hough Avenue Cleveland

There is pride and anger in being Black in America. Everyone deserves a sense of pride in being a person. Anger comes when one's humanity is denied, or attacked. In urban America it is on display.

In front of an art gallery is this portrait of a black pawn. Can the viewer represent this for a Black American? In a chess game pawns are least valued, and least cried over. Bob Dylan wrote the song, "Only A Pawn In Their Game", about the assassination of Medgar Evers.

Behind the pawn, there is a wide mural. This is part of it, a stylized version of a faro. Egypt is in Africa, but it is not Black Africa.

Cleveland had race riots in 1966. When Los Angeles had riots in 1992, some people called it an uprising. Here in a revision of history the word uprising is used. This sign was unveiled a few days ago [5 September].

This sign is an acknowledgement after 58 years of an event that shaped the future of Cleveland. If it had not come then, over a particular event; then it would have came after another particular event. The tension had been building for a long time, and not just in Cleveland. It was nation wide. Civic boosters do not like to bring such events to mind. For those living around Cleveland at the time, they fully knew of the riots. There was a divide on how people felt, largely on the basis of one's race: vandalism or an explosion of frustration that still lingers. It has been almost fully the passing of two generations. Only now it is possible to speak cooly about it?

Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old. He was shot dead by vigilante George Zimmerman on 26 February 2012. The system had no interest in the case, until it became public. The next year Zimmerman was acquitted. In between the matter was a cause célèbre between the races. Black males are killed at a unusually high rate, often by police. White people with conservative [euphemism] views reflexively support the killer. In this case, Zimmerman was not a law officer. Much of the black citizenry feel attacked by the system.

After the verdict, President Obama said, "...You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son.  Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.  And when you think about why, in the African American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away. ..."

Naturally, Obama was attacked for his comments. Republicans, racists, white people with perpetual grievances were on automatic pilot. Obama was subject to racism as supposedly the most powerful man in the world. The boy carrying canned ice tea, and a bag of candy resisted Zimmerman. Zimmerman shot him dead. Here on Hough, Martin is showed with his last purchase.