It’s an odd anniversary for me today… the ninth year since the day I should have been killed, another statistic in the annals of black-on-black crime*.
It’s one more reason I honor all first responders and medical personnel, because they came and aided me when I needed it.
It’s one more reason I crusade a little against the twin cultures of ghetto violence and white supremacy that lead some black youth to treat people like themselves as disposable.
It’s one more reason I love my little brother Darron above all others on this Earth, because he was there.
It’s one more reason I continue to love my Atlanta Journal-Constitution family, because many, some whose names I still don’t know, stepped in to help with the bills I could not pay during that month I couldn’t work.
It’s one more reason I love my parents LeRoy and Rebecca, because they built a safe home for me to heal physically and emotionally.
It’s one more reason I look forward to watching the new Heroes Reborn series, because the original series was an important bit of normalcy for me as I lay healing in a Grady hospital bed in 2006.
And most of all, it’s one more reason I give all praise to God in Christ, because while He didn’t ordain the evil actions of that night, it did not surprise Him. He does not waste even the wicked we do with our free will.
- * UPDATE: “Black on black crime” is a racist dog whistle phrase used to racialize criminal activity. I no longer use it but retain its use here as a reminder of my own growth as a person.
Bridge Over Troubled Opinions 
