Commentary

COMMENTARY: The Agony and Normalcy of Gun Violence in America

When it comes to gun violence in America, it’s go big or get ignored. No one cares about the single victim. Unless there’s some strange twist, it won’t get the kind of media coverage that results in public outrage, with hundreds of people in the streets demanding that politicians take action.

Published

1 year ago

April 28, 2023

Oakland Post

Emil Guillermo is an independent journalist/commentator.

Emil Guillermo

When it comes to gun violence in America, it’s go big or get ignored.

No one cares about the single victim.

Unless there’s some strange twist, it won’t get the kind of media coverage that results in public outrage, with hundreds of people in the streets demanding that politicians take action.

We saw it recently in Tennessee.

And that’s why I want to tell you about the boy known to his mother as “Thai-Thai.”

Thai Khin was a young Asian American you never heard of unless you live in Stockton, California.

Unlike many teens in high school thinking about college and their future, there will be no tomorrow for Khin.

Not like another former Stockton resident who is now the mayor of Oakland.

No, Thai Khin is a 17-year-old with a GoFundMe page — to help his family pay for his funeral.

Khin was shot and killed on Wednesday, April 12 during school hours.

It wasn’t a school shooting. It was school-adjacent.

Khin wasn’t in class at César Chávez High School. He was in a nearby Unity Park playing basketball with a buddy.

That’s when someone tried to rob his friend of the gold necklace around his neck.

The buddy was pistol-whipped; Khin stepped in and tried to stop the fight.

The perp reacted by taking out a gun and putting a bullet into Khin, who died later at a local hospital.

“He had this joy for life. He was always smiling, always cracking jokes,” Jennifer Khin, Thai’s aunt, told the Stockton newspaper. “That’s what he did. If you were around Thai, you were smiling and you were laughing.”

But this was no joke. And now Thai Khin is part of America’s sad legacy.

Another one.

One is a bad number for a gun story. Because a single-victim incident is just a statistic in the Gun Violence Archive.

I reached out to Khin’s family, but I haven’t heard back. I still wanted to write about Khin because an Asian American dying from a gunshot wound shouldn’t be considered normal in America.

And because Khin’s kind of shooting death shouldn’t be greeted with relative silence.

When an Asian American teenager is shot and killed, we all should notice.

But last Monday on the week Khin died, America was already “gunned out” with the Louisville bank shooting, where five were killed.

America paid attention to that.

Yet, how many of the victims in Louisville can we recall a week later?

Or even the Nashville Covenant school shooting on March 27 that claimed three 9-year-olds and three adults in Tennessee?

For that matter, how many of the victims do we remember from the Uvalde school shooting in Texas last year?

Do you recall any of these victims?

There are either too many, or not enough. That’s America’s short attention span.

It appears that the media’s preference is to cover the mass shootings in America. They’re the newsworthy ones.

Single shootings happen so frequently now they are not considered newsworthy.

In other words, it’s what’s normal in America.

When Thai Khin died last week, the Gun Violence Archive, which usually shows deaths within the last 72 hours, listed Khin as the 76th death between April 11 and April 14. I counted 395 people injured. And 104 deaths.

If it were 104 gun deaths in a single event, maybe we’d all finally take notice and force legislators to take action.

But spread the gun deaths out over 72 hours and 104 deaths sound few alarms in America.

Most of the deaths also don’t appear to be caused by a high-powered AR-15 style weapon.

Many were simple handguns.

And that’s why banning assault weapons shouldn’t be the sole remedy as we look for answers. We should be focusing on America’s love of violence.

A gun is just a tool.

We need to talk more about ending violence, period.

How do we do that as a society? Fund public meditation classes? Or public mediation? Teach people non-violent communication skills? And not just for adults but for teens like Thai Khin?

Those paths may be more fruitful than waiting for politicians to defeat the gun lobby.

Consider how this past weekend was the 16th anniversary of the Virginia Tech assault where 32 people were murdered — 27 students and five faculty members in 2007. The Asian American perp also died.

Since then, there has been some legislative action, including background checks, but does any of that really get to the root cause? It impacts the tool. It doesn’t solve the problem. Focusing merely on weapons alone keeps us from the peace we seek as a society.

What if we bypassed the gun lobby and tried to figure out what happens in our personal interactions before a gun, or any weapon, becomes the “go to” answer.

Until we can do that, we won’t solve a thing.

As I write, there were more shootings reported over the past weekend.

The mass shooting was in Dadeville, Ala., where four young people were gunned down at a Sweet 16 party. Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23; Marsiah Emmanuel Collins, 19; Philstavious Dowdell, 18; Shaunkivia (KeKe) Nicole Smith, 17. There were 32 others injured. The perp is still on the loose.

In Kansas City, Ralph Yarl, 16, is still alive. But when he rang the doorbell of the wrong house looking for his siblings, why did 84-year-old resident Andrew Lester reach for a .32 caliber handgun? Why didn’t he offer a welcoming hand and say hello?

Lester, white, said he saw Yarl, a Black boy, and was in fear for his life.

How do we fix the implicit bias on Lester’s part?

That’s where our efforts should be.

And it’s not just race. A young white female, Kaylin Gillis, 20, in rural upstate New York pulled into a driveway by mistake. As she left, the white resident Kevin Monahan fired two shots, one killing Gillis. Why was the gun his first and not last resort?

In those cases, at least the perps have been apprehended.

In Thai Khin’s case, the perp got away and is still on the loose.

Justice?

Nobody is even thinking about justice for Thai Khin.

Visit the GoFundMe page for Thai Khin: https://www.gofundme.com/f/thai-khin

NOTE: I will talk about this column and other matters on “Emil Amok’s Takeout,” my micro-talk show. Live @2p Pacific. Livestream on Facebook; my YouTube channel; and Twitter. Catch the recordings on www.amok.com.

Emil Guillermo is an independent journalist/commentator.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024

Published

3 days ago

June 14, 2024

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Grieving & Growing: A Healing Garden in West Oakland Is Helping Bereaved Loved Ones Glow Again

As a natural order of the human condition, we cannot escape death. Akin to life and living, death and dying are a part of our journey as spiritual beings having a human experience here on Earth. One thing we know for certain is that we will all lose someone we love or someone who loves us. And, yet still, as natural as death is, the pain and sorrow we endure when losing loved ones is beyond compare and often ridden with heaviness, regret, despair, confusion, guilt, and self-blame.

Published

3 days ago

June 13, 2024

Oakland Post

Courtesy of Chanae Pickett

By Chanae Pickett

As a natural order of the human condition, we cannot escape death.

Akin to life and living, death and dying are a part of our journey as spiritual beings having a human experience here on Earth. One thing we know for certain is that we will all lose someone we love or someone who loves us. And, yet still, as natural as death is, the pain and sorrow we endure when losing loved ones is beyond compare and often ridden with heaviness, regret, despair, confusion, guilt, and self-blame.

And when our loved ones are taken from us before their predestined time as a result of excessive use of police force, gun violence, homicide, suicide, among other unanticipated traumatic encounters, our shock, bereavement, and grief reactions become compounded, exacerbated and challenging to weather.

Is it possible to heal from the suffering that comes with grief and loss, which often feels endless, cyclical, and labyrinthine? Is there a way out? A way through grief?

While serving as a Psychiatric and Psychological Care Specialist in the United States Air Force, I evaluated, counseled, and intervened with patients at the Travis Air Force Base who were deemed a danger to themselves and others. These experiences profoundly shaped my understanding of mental health.

Despite my background as a Mental Health Technician, the sudden loss of my younger brother to suicide following our father’s unjustified killing by police while unarmed with his hands up in a church parking lot left me with feelings of professional failure and personal shame. These tragedies forced me to reevaluate my priorities, leading me to focus more on making a genuine difference in grief processing, community building, and communal healing.

Driven by my brother Immanuel aka Apollo’s artistic legacy, ancestral guidance, and our shared grief, my family and I founded the Long Live Love Foundation in West Oakland’s “Ghost Town” on June 13, 2020, to honor our dearly departed.

For, the love we hold for our ancestors lives long and for all time. Using my brother’s music and message of love as guiding principles, our missions are to offer a safe supportive communal healing space for those coping with loss and to empower survivors through indigenous, holistic and alternative restorative tribal ministry practices and vital resources.

One of our cornerstone projects is our Long Live Love Healing Garden. A sanctuary for healing, this serene space hosts wellness weekends, drum circles, yoga, and various events, offering solace and respite for those navigating grief and celebrating life.

This year I’ll be the Master of Ceremonies for our much-anticipated 5th Annual Apollo Carter Legacy Weekend on June 8th and 9th in which performers and artists from all walks of life unite for a celebratory weekend overflowing with music, poetry, spoken word, song, dance, and other performing arts. Our Open Mic Stage is a magnet for talented artists eager to express themselves, their hearts, and their spirits, beckoning them to dazzle the community with their unique gifts.

RonKat Spearman of Parliament Funkadelic will be blessing our stage on Sunday, June 9th, as well as other local bands. We’ll be spreading the joy further by gifting the community with fresh, organic fruits and vegetables courtesy of Oasis Community Farm. It’s a celebration of talent, community, and wholesome goodness! To buy a ticket, sign up to perform, donate, join us in our mission, and learn more about our work and how you can support our cause, visit us at longlivelovefoundation.com.

About the Author

Chanae Pickett is co-founder of the Long Live Love Foundation in West Oakland.

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Commentary

Opinion: Will Verdicts Help Black Voters See the Truth?

The news of Trump’s historic 34 guilty verdicts are about a week old. Has it sunk in that the man who insists on being the Republican nominee for president is the former president known officially as CFDT34? If the name sounds like a dangerous radioactive isotope, it is — to our democracy.

Published

5 days ago

June 11, 2024

Oakland Post

CFDT34 is my coinage of a new acronym that we all should adopt. It’s shorthand for “Convicted Felon Donald Trump,” with 34 being the number of criminal counts of guilt.

By Emil Guillermo

The news of Trump’s historic 34 guilty verdicts are about a week old.

Has it sunk in that the man who insists on being the Republican nominee for president is the former president known officially as CFDT34? If the name sounds like a dangerous radioactive isotope, it is — to our democracy.

CFDT34 is my coinage of a new acronym that we all should adopt. It’s shorthand for “Convicted Felon Donald Trump,” with 34 being the number of criminal counts of guilt.

We need to say CFDT34 aloud as a constant reminder. Too many Americans are in denial. Or just lying.

Especially, CFDT34 himself.

Trump insists it’s all a “fascist” witch hunt, but the verdicts were based on an avalanche of evidence. The defense failed to refute the statements of the National Enquirer’s David Pecker who admitted his role in the Trump campaign to catch, then kill, stories that threatened Trump’s candidacy.

The defense didn’t even attempt to explain Hope Hicks, an ally who delivered the damning testimony that Trump knew about the arrangement to pay off Daniels. Hicks was in tears telling the truth. The defense never countered.

And then there were the checks and invoices and ledger entries, that spelled out the whole scheme. The payments were lies, called “lawyer fees” but they really were reimbursements to attorney Michael Cohen who had used his own money to pay off Daniels.

Minor stuff? Not when done with the intent to violate election law. The payoff was intended to influence the election and it became an illegal campaign contribution as well.

And the hero is New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the African American man who led the prosecution. Bragg got justice for all voters denied the truth in 2016.

Contrast Bragg with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla). the key African Americans lying for CFDT34.

Scott and Donalds lack the courage to honor the rule of law. Rigged case, they say. Never should have been prosecuted. Where was the crime?

All of it baloney.

Prior to the historic verdicts, there was some historic polling.

Black voters were seen as abandoning Democrats, with Biden scoring just 70% of the vote. Four years ago, Biden was at 81%.

CNN called the pre-verdict polling the best results for the GOP among Black voters since Nixon.

The age breakdown is more telling. Black voters aged 50 and up were about 85% for Biden. Those who recalled civil rights battles were holding steady for Democrats.

Among Black voters under age 50, a new divide was revealed. A reported average of polls showed young Blacks were 27% for Trump, with Biden at 64%.

Nearly a third of young Blacks were for Trump prior to the verdicts. But what would young Blacks think now? Would they back a person like Trump, a man who comes with racist baggage like the Central Park 5 saga, and is now a convicted felon?

I haven’t seen new data yet. But with Biden and Harris stepping up their attention on the Black community, talking about economics and pocketbook issues, I’d expect a turnaround when young Blacks hear the lies and the overall hypocrisy among the GOP.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo, an award-winning journalist, and commentator has covered race and politics in Hawaii, California, and Washington, DC. He has worked in newspapers, TV and on radio was host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”