Tag justice

Capt Black
 
I don’t expect justice to be served on a silver platter. Where I’m from it rarely is seen on the menu.
My time as a knight errant in the American South teaches justice is the result of sustained effort- not a given.
The people and causes I support are too often swept under the proverbial rug by “supervillains” of real life: racists; religious bigots; homophobes; elitists, etc. whose everyday attire disguises extraordinary evil.
Speaking of supporting someone’s fight against extraordinary evil, I’m assisting Shahed Wali Muhammad, a retired New Orleans police officer and dynamic senior citizen with more illnesses; issues to resolve and initiative than three lesser men combined.
If anything I do it out of gratitude. He’s been a ” Capt. Black ” longer than I’ve been alive; giving away the equivalent of a fortune to family; friends and worthy causes because he could do no less and live with himself. All the official corruption and personal tragedy he’s experienced are recounted in his tell-all book, ” Beyond The Star and Crescent ” http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/beyond-the-star-and-crescent/6036846.
For me he’s a daily reminder that we get only the justice we’re ready to tirelessly pursue. Injustice, especially institutional, expects you to give up… or give out. Institutional injustice can be in the form of biased public agencies like police departments; courts or prosecutors offices. It also comes in the guise of private groups, employers, or worse, gangs and other criminal collectives looking for folks to dominate.
In the face of such odds activists should develop “automatic pilot” to keep themselves going when elapsed time and opposition make our efforts appear fruitless.
That’s why I don’t expect justice on a silver platter. Everyone from Nazi hunters like Elie Wiesel to fellow creative crusaders of the media-dubbed ” real life superhero ( RLSH ) ” movement demonstrate that minus tenacity justice will never be yours.
We only get justice in direct proportion to the amount of time and energy expended- period.
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes finding your “super” through creative crime prevention; homeless outreach and political advocacy. (504) 214-3082. 
 

By Delphine Schrank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Beltway traffic marooned the roast turkeys, but that didn’t stop a dynamic duo of world-saving, justice-championing, despair-fighting masked crusaders — one with red cape aflutter — from charging down the streets of the capital yesterday, dispensing Chinese-takeout cartons of corn bread, dressing and green beans to homeless people.
Yes, superheroes are alive and well.
Be not fooled. This is no tryptophan mirage. Nor is this a post-prandial attempt to take refuge from a feast-induced family feud by diving into an old Marvel comic book.
On a day when area nonprofit groups and armies of the charitable assisted the needy by distributing food or hosting Thanksgiving dinners in shelters, members of the all-volunteer Capital City Super Squad ventured out in their trademark disguises, each representing an invented superhero alter ego. Their mission: bringing smiles to the faces of many a homeless person as they proffered cartons of home-cooked fare.
That blur of red-and-white lycra brandishing a plastic fork who you could’ve sworn dashed by your window yesterday? That’s Captain Prospect. The one with a pair of scales emblazoned in scarlet felt across her chest? Justice. Sworn members of the six-person Super Squad, the pair sacrificed family mealtime to do what they do: do-gooding. Sometimes that means circulating abuse-awareness pamphlets, but most often it means cooking and handing out food.
“Do you need a box, sir?” asked Prospect, a 31-year-old who allowed a reporter to tag along on the condition of anonymity, citing a possible compromise of his secret identity. He pulled a carton from a Whole Foods bag, as Justice, a.k.a. Jasmine Modoor, handed over napkin and fork.
Quotidian reality, however, sometimes imposes its limits.
“The poultry delivery didn’t make it because of traffic,” Prospect said, his cape flapping behind him as he leaned on a marble statue in front of Union Station. Nice Ninja, another squad member, was meant to provide the turkeys and chicken but was caught in a Beltway tangle for an hour, so Captain Prospect told him not to bother.
“See, your costume is very cute, but he’s scaring me,” said Anthony Jackson, 41, laughing as he accepted a carton from Justice. Jackson, who sat on a bench at I and Sixth streets in a handout jacket with the price tag still hanging from the sleeve, has been homeless for 18 months, he said, since he and his wife separated. “My life hasn’t been right since,” he said. He’d eaten in a shelter yesterday, but the carton was most welcome, he said.
“It beats what I’ve had all day. Nothing,” said Samuel Sterling, 52, on the bottle-littered mound of grass between Massachusetts Avenue and H Street where he had slept the previous night. As he plunged into the green beans, Sterling said he had worked as a handyman in New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina destroyed everything. He made his way up to the District and sleeps where he can, he said.
“Hey y’all, I like your outfit!” he called as the duo bounded off.
Dozens of others sitting on walls or benches silently nodded their thanks. But others politely declined the offer.
“I don’t want a handout. I want a hand up” to find a job, said Bernard Hamilton, 51, a former Marine who regularly sleeps on the marble wall in front of Union Station.
If they only had real superpowers, Captain Prospect and Justice said, they know they could do so much more. Prospect, who works weekdays in social services, would opt for invulnerability. Justice, a first-year student at Howard University’s law school, would choose foresight. Her superhero identity conveys her desire to one day practice law as a social engineer, rather than a “parasite,” she said.
Last summer, Modoor was planning her move to the District for school and browsing Craigslist for furniture when she stumbled on a notice from Captain Prospect calling for volunteers.
“I thought it was a very unique way to approach community service,” Justice said.
Captain Prospect, whose business card identifies him as “the Washington DC Superhero,” dreams of building up the network to a dozen active superheroes and applying for nonprofit status so the group can stop paying out of pocket and fund more ambitious projects.
Meanwhile, he said, “There really isn’t any good reason someone can’t put on a costume and do good deeds like a superhero.”