Friday, October 11, 2013

"SHOOTING CRAZY" by Mumia Abu-Jamal

SHOOTING CRAZY, [col. writ.10/4/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal

SHOOTING CRAZY
[col. writ.10/4/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal

A young mother, her infant quietly snoozing in the back seat, drives a car down Pennsylvania Ave., in Washington, DC, where she meets a forest of barricades, and, seconds later, over half a dozen cops, pistols drawn, shouting, and pointing guns at her.

Perhaps she panics, and follows her instincts; she puts the car in reverse, rolls back a few feet, and tries to drive away.

In seconds, the vehicle is Swiss-cheesed with bullets – and the young woman is dead.

Miraculously, the child is unharmed.

Before the smoke cleared, news accounts tell of “an exchange of gunfire”, and a “shoot-out’ in DC.

In fact, the 34 year old woman was unarmed.

Miriam Carey of Connecticut, who reportedly suffered from post-partum depression, was killed by DC police.

Media reports are often unreliable shortly after such events, given confusion, and more often, the one-sided reports provided by police.

Later media accounts painted the woman as psychotic.

Assuming she was, is mental illness treated by semi-automatic gunfire?  Some cure.

Modern American life is intensely stressful, especially given the financial and social pressures faced by millions.
Capitalism, as in the ruthlessness of dog-eat-dog, exacerbated that stress. Perhaps these stresses overwhelmed a young mother who couldn’t get a grip.

Perhaps.

But the cops didn’t solve these problems; they merely created another one for a child who is now motherless; and family without a sister, a daughter – a loved one.

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