MAKIN’ A DIFFERENCE COMMENTARY by Ken Makin Columbia store murder a cruel callback to LA Riots

Thirty years ago, South Central Los Angeles was on fire.

People were tired of the lack of police accountability, of Black men being beaten in the street for the world to see. People were tired of incidents such as the one which claimed the life of Latasha Harlins, where she was shot and killed over a bottle of orange juice by a convenience store worker.

The people revolted.

I never thought there would be another situation like the one which took Latasha Harlins from her family – from her community. I was wrong, and it happened astonishingly close to home.

Fourteen-year-old Cyrus CarmackBelton was shot in the back and murdered by a convenience store worker during Memorial Day weekend in Columbia. The young boy was accused of stealing, and even if that were true, that is not a crime punishable by death.

From South Central to South Carolina, there is a brutal constant – people see Black lives as an inconvenience.

I could talk about the racial and exploitative components of capital- ism which factor into the attitudes that allow for people to set up businesses in Black communities, yet never truly align themselves with care and compassion for their customers. The storefront is secondary here, though. What matters most is how Black people respond. We should expel any entity from our communities that don’t mean us well. That is a tough task in this country, and that is exactly my point. We must be more critical and selective when it comes to what we consume and how we consume it.

Augusta adds 6 more buses, expands services

Augusta Transit this month received six (6) new diesel buses, four (4) 35ft and two (2) 29ft. These buses produced in April 2023 were manufactured by GILLIG (Livermore, California) the largest transit bus manufacturer in the nation.

Additionally, Augusta Transit is adjusting schedule timings on Route #9 Red Line/Lumpkin Rd. This change, effective from Monday, June 5,

2023, will improve bus ontime performance and reduce missed connections for transferring passengers at the Gordon Highway Transfer Point (Route #4 Purple Line/Turpin Hill & Route #6 Brown Line/Gordon Hwy). Please note, Route #9 operates Monday thru Friday only.

Further improvements on other routes will be made in future as we continue add buses to our fleet and hire more bus operators, bus technicians and more.

This is a general commentary with a specific reasoning – our very survival. The times are too perilous to willfully accept second-class citizenship. In every manner which affects our lives, we must be diligent and conscious.

Ken Makin is the host of Makin’ A Difference and a freelance writer for ESPN and The Christian Science Monitor, among other outlets. Look him up on Facebook at Makin’ A Difference, and you can also send him an email with your thoughts at makinadifferenceshow@gmail. com.

To find a bus route near you, bus schedules and which bus gets you to your destination call (706) 821-1719 between 7 a.m. thru 7 p.m. Monday–Saturday.

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