First of all, my heartfelt condolences to the families, friends , and communities of those who needlessly lost their lives at the music festival in Houston as they navigate through their grief, disbelief and confusion.

Having said that, yeah, I’m going to politicize this for a minute. I cannot help but think: Texas… again. Have you people forgotten how to be in public? When the headline of “8 dead in Houston” I instinctively finished the sentence “in a mass shooting.” Next, let’s point a finger at the fact that, yet again, this was obviously an issue where money is the ultimate villain. The amount of tickets sold as well as the lack of security and medical personnel to handle such a crowd, all comes down to PROFIT. What did the producers and promoters think would happen with 50,000 people? (See above re: mass shooting)

Not gonna point a finger at the performers – this is not their responsibility. But they, too, have to live with the PTSD and to some extent, survivor’s guilt.

But more than all that, having heard several concertgoers describe the experience of not being able to breathe, the anxiety, the feeling of impending death. Think about that next time you want to make fun of George Floyd. Or condone law enforcement for their use of force against another human being who was doing something just as innocent and ordinary as they were. They were in a situation where they were STANDING, meant to be an enjoyable thing. Some may even say necessary, given how pent up they’ve been with the pandemic. They weren’t profiled and accosted. They weren’t violently thrown to the ground, wondering “what did I do?”

The next time you see a video of an unarmed person dying because of a chokehold or with a knee on their neck, don’t let your first thought be “if they can talk, they can breathe.”