"If you are silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it," Zora Neale Hurston, author.

Dear Friends,

Grief, pain, anger and frustration are only few of the emotions we felt when the powers that be finally announced Monday what we knew police officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted for murdering Michael Brown. We knew this was coming but it was hard still.

Zora's quote which was retweeted dozens of times must be altered slightly to say "they'll kill you and say you killed yourself."

Several other casualties preceded the indictment announcement. Akai Gurley, 28, was "accidentally" shot in a dimly stairwell in Brooklyn's East NY on 11/21/14 and a Daily News headline blamed the poorly lit staircase for the shooting not the rookie cop whose gun should have been holstered. On Sunday (11/23/14), 12-year-old Tamir E. Rice was shot by a cop in Cleveland, Ohio outside a recreation with a toy gun.

Our young men cannot be boys, they must learn that certain games (cops & robbers) can lead to their demise or merely walking in the street with a Twizzlers and a hoodie can result in death (Trayvon Martin).

On Monday, having Brown skin in America was the true indictment.

Over 300 years of unspeakable acts of violence have been enacted on African-Americans and other people of color (Native Americans) to build our Republic. Many struggles have been fought for us to earn the right to breathe as human beings on American soil.

The struggle continues and we must not be silent. On Friday, I encourage you to join thousands of shoppers in re-directing your Black Friday dollars to support Black-owned businesses.

I have enclosed a very short list of some businesses to consider — please share, add to the list and pass forward.

African-Americans have $1.1 trillion in purchasing power in the U.S. but only 2 percent of it are spent in Black businesses. One powerful form of change is spending more of those dollars supporting jobs, schools and cultural arts institutions in our communities.

Enclosed is a short 10-minute video from one family that spent a year buying only from Black businesses. It's worth the watch.

Using your purchasing power is just as important as protesting in the streets and voting....

~ CONTINUE: https://madmimi.com/p/d31a95?fe=1&pact=26523521925

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