More Action

More interested in solutions than just verbalizing my outrage, I spent part of today thinking of what else can be done to raise the level of public awareness about the murder of Rashawn Brazell and create the type of dynamic tension needed to get authorities to agressively pursue this case. I’ve came up with five ideas.

1. Write to New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. I firmly believe you should start at the top and work your way down when trying to get people to pay attention to you. This is an election year and politicians get nervous when large constituencies raise their voices. Let’s make him nervous.

2. Write to NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. Police brass also jump when groups of people question their effectiveness.

Here’s the email I sent to Bloomberg and modified for Kelly.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

I would like to know the status of the police investigation into the murder of Rashawn Brazell, the 19 year old Black gay Brooklyn man whose dismembered remains were found in the subway tunnel along the A train line in mid-February.

As a tax paying resident of this city who also happens to be a Black gay man, I was at first shocked and saddened by this senseless killing, but also disheartened by the fact that since the initial news accounts of the case, little else has been reported. I hope this is not indicative of a lack of urgency about this case by the NYPD, and hope you will provide me with some assurance to the contrary.

There are a great many people in this city who want to believe that the lives of murdered Black teens are as valuable as those of murdered aspiring actresses and that the New York City Police Department will investigate this death as vigorously.

3. Write to Fernando Ferrer and City Council Speaker Gifford Miller. Besides being prominent public officials, they are both running for mayor against Bloomberg. A flood of letters to both a) keeps pressure on Bloomberg in fear of this becoming a campaign issue, and b) lets them both know there is a sizeable constituency they need to be aware of if they want to win. (Freddie Ferrer already knows we exist. We endorsed him last time he ran.)

4. Tell everyone you know about this case. Especially people outside our community. This can’t just be a Black gay issue. A horrible, violent act has been committed against another human being and everyone should understand how terrible it is.

5. Organize a reward fund. If everyone who has blogged about this or commented on a blog, contributed $50-100, we’d easily have several thousand dollars. That money might get someone to come forward with information. It would of course be given only to the person providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of Brazell’s assailant, to keep crackpots and money grubbers from calling in phony information.

Finally, it is important for all of us to realize our own vulnerability to violent crimes, whether they are hate crimes or the result of unsafe dating practices. Despite what some people think, this is not a time to go back into hiding or live life even more on the DL. Instead we need to be visible and more open about our lives, so people know we’re everywhere and aren’t going away.

You can’t defeat an enemy hiding in a closet. And no one will be able to come to your aid if you’re creaping around. Letting other people fight the fight you should be a part of is cowardice under fire. We all have a stake in this.

“When they came for the communists, I was silent, because I was not a communist;
When they came for the socialists, I was silent, because I was not a socialist;
When they came for the trade unionists, I did not protest, because I was not a trade unionist;
When they came for the Jews, I did not protest, because I was not a Jew;
When they came for me, there was no one left to protest on my behalf.”

Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984)