A bitch is feeling serious...

In 1980, the story of the Atlanta Child Murders broke with a bullet. A bitch was a wee one back then, just 6 years young. I remember the hushed conversations my mother had on the phone with her friends. I remember catching the unavoidable story on the news and seeing the faces, so many young faces, of young black children who were missing or dead. They looked just like me. In a sense, I lost my innocence with this story. People kill children and someone in Atlanta was killing black children with startling efficiency. A bitch was locked up all summer because my mother was convinced it was a national conspiracy.

Wayne Williams was arrested and charged with two of the over 30 murders believed to fit the criteria of the serial. My mother never believed that he was the culprit. Now, it seems that she may have been right. Several cases have been re-opened due to the constant lobbying of parents who believe that the real killer is still out there. But I know that there can never be justice for a murdered child or those they leave behind. Who do we see about this? Who answers for the children who have gone missing since?

Serial killings make for good news and even better made for television movies. People latch on to the “crazed killer” because that poison is easier to digest than the cold bland reality that most children are murdered by someone they know.

And so we go to Zion and the shocking deaths of two little girls. It led the news this morning. Anchors speculated on the crime in the wooded area where their bodies were found. They asked pointed questions about the community and the park. But what they didn’t ask is the obvious question; who in their immediate world could have done this? Most children are hurt or killed by someone that they know. Parents, friends and loved ones are a child’s worst enemy and best defense. Those are the statistics that make the police start with the grieving family and work their way out from there.

Which takes us to Kansas City and Erica Michelle Maria Green. Her decapitated body was found and she remained nameless for over four years. Her mother and step-father have been charged with her death. She is still precious. And she is still lost. And I still wonder who we see about this shit! Who answers for her short, miserable and painful life? What the hell is wrong with these people? What the fuck is wrong with their family, friends and co-workers? Jesus! Didn’t you even ask where their little girl had gone?

I’m pissed off that children are treated like shit in our world. I’m angry that we ignore the connection between the abused and those that abuse. I want to scream and shake somebody until it stops, the death of innocence ends and all that's left on the news is greed and corruption. A bitch wants to be able to do something about this. And that's the problem, isn't it.

Who killed Atlanta’s children? Who will stand trial for the murders in Zion? What justice will the court seek for precious Erica Michelle? Why does this all seem sick and low and insufficient?

And people wonder why a bitch is mad…