Clarion Vol. 4: Tiona Nekkia McClodden: MASK / CONCEAL / CARRY
WHO IM FINNA TEACH WITH THEORY HOW NOT TO KILL ME?!
Excerpt:
I obtained my license to carry in Philadelphia in January 2021. This process was years in the works but accelerated by a series of events and scenes that occurred in summer 2020. The pandemic was at its first of many heights, and there were several moments when I was forced to rush home after running errands because white men in fatigues with machetes, and openly carrying machine guns, were physically beating other white men as the cops watched only five minutes from where I live. It was chaos. People were protesting about the inequalities they finally acknowledged being aware of due to their own forced stasis. Police presence was being challenged by those who previously sought their protection. These were white people who stepped forward and were severely beaten in real time in public by police.
This is when I knew.
To get a license to carry you have to go to the one police precinct in all of Philadelphia that accepts the application. It took me four tries. Standing lines the length of two blocks. All of us Black folks in those lines and we were aware that what we had seen and heard of was finally here, yet again. We refused the ignorance and refused to trust that anyone would protect us.
My first firearm purchase was a Glock 48. COVID was the least of my worries.
