This is Amerikkka
In Texas, Karmelo Anthony was convicted after acting in self-defense during a confrontation that ended in the death of a white teenager. The jury rejected his self-defense claim. In South Carolina, Rick Chow was acquitted after chasing and shooting 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back, claiming he was defending his son. The jury accepted that defense
The legal facts of these cases are different. The circumstances are different. But the outcome leaves us asking the same question: Why does self-defense seem easier to recognize when the person pulling the trigger isn’t Black?
A Black teenager fearing for his life is seen as a criminal. A grown man who chases a Black child and shoots him in the back is seen as a reasonable citizen.
For generations, Black people have watched courts, juries, media outlets, and politicians extend the benefit of the doubt to others while denying it to us. We have watched Black children be treated as threats and Black victims be placed on trial after their deaths. Black fear is discounted, Black humanity is questioned, and Black lives are afforded less grace by a system that promises equal justice under the law.
Justice cannot be color-coded. Self-defense cannot depend on the race of the person making the claim. And equal protection under the law cannot remain a slogan that Black people in American never fully experience.
Same state. Different justice.
2023: Alec Adamson (Prosper, TX) shoots & kills a Black student, leads police on car chase + foot pursuit.
Sentence: 4 years. Served: 2.
2025: Karmelo (Frisco, TX) gets jumped by white students, defends himself with a knife.
Sentence: 35 years.
Tell me this isn’t two-tiered justice.
“If you do not vote, you have sold us out. If you sit at home talking about neither party is doing anything for you, you’ve betrayed us. Every time you sit silently and won’t use your voice or your vote, you have enabled evil”
~Dr. Howard-John Wesley
Alfred Street Baptist Church
Great spring coaching with @KySelectAAU. Helping all of our players develop as they get ready to return to their HS teams for the month of June. This was my last tourney for the year as I prepare for football in July but my 21st year was just as good as the 1st.
#DevelopedHere
Blessed for the opportunity to compete this summer and learn from some great coaching staffs. Excited to get to work.
WR/S | C/O 2029
6’2” | 185 lbs
@CovCathFootball@CovCathFBAlumni
Proud of @Roman_Combs1. 3 years ago he told me he wanted to give up football and be a basketball star. I told him it would be the worst mistake he’d ever make. Now he’s gearing up to play P4 college football and eventually in the NFL. Go get it!
Yesterday our 15U & 16U Teams faced off against each other, with a trip to the Championship! The 15U prevailed and went onto with the 16U Division! Kids battled! #DevelopedHere
🚨 THIS IS HOW IT’S DONE: Jon Ossoff just unloaded on Trump’s Republican allies in Georgia:
“I am running against two Trump lackeys who would be voting for this crooked ballroom and this insurrectionist slush fund.”
Then he went even further:
“They’re pro-war.
They’re pro-tariff.
They’re pro-cutting health care.”
That’s the kind of direct political framing Democrats have been missing for years.
✊🏾
@MattGuerrieri@OGWalt_ One to put on your 2030 radar. @SmithBrandon_1 started varsity at safety as a freshman for one of the premier high schools in Kentucky, Covington Catholic. Will attend camp in June. Appreciate the hospitality at the HS clinic.
@MattGuerrieri@OGWalt_ One to put on your 2030 radar. @SmithBrandon_1 started varsity at safety as a freshman for one of the premier high schools in Kentucky, Covington Catholic. Will attend camp in June. Appreciate the hospitality at the HS clinic.