Pockets are usually a plus when it comes to fashion. Although you loved the cut and color of the dress, it was the pockets that sold it! When it comes to work, for some, pockets are a necessity. From pens, and pads to mechanical doodads; pockets have always been those handy little inserts that makes transporting items a little easier. The word pocket is derived from the Anglo-French word pokete meaning bag. According to The Art of Manliness, Pockets were first pouches worn outside of clothing until the 17th century, when theft reached an alarming peak; after which the pocket as we now know it, came into fashion. Pockets come in all shapes and sizes. Various people use them to carry things such as photo Id’s, currency, lucky trinkets and even weapons to protect themselves. The word is such a favorite; it has been included in numerous catchy phrases and idioms like the following:
Out of pocket: to spend personal funds without reimbursement.
Pocket veto: the implied veto of a bill by the President of the United States or by a state governor or other executive who simply holds the bill without signing it until the legislature has adjourned; those killing the bill.
In my pocket: to have someone under your control.
Line one's pockets: to make much money, especially in an illegal or questionable way.
Burn a hole in one's pocket: suggesting that a person feels the need to spend money quickly.
Live in each other's pockets: they spend too much time together.
Deep pockets: an organization or a person that has a lot of money.
Pockets are very personal; they are located inside our garments close to our skin. In fact, a pocket is so private and secluded, if one of them has a hole, no one will know because it’s a pocket. We carry our families, our finances, and our freedom in our pockets. The purpose of an actual pocket holds true to its connotative purpose or translation. Our emotional pockets conceals our failures, secretes, and insecurities.
My interest in pockets has been provoked by the viewing of an extremely disturbing video of a 37-year-old black man who was also a husband and father. After watching two police officers annihilate Mr. Alton Sterling of Louisiana, I observed one of them taking an object out of his pocket as he lay helplessly on the concrete, literally taking his last breaths.
Why did the policeman feel the need to take an object out of the pockets of a wounded man, convulsing on the ground desperately trying to hold onto his soul as it swiftly seeped from his body like sand in one’s hand? It was quite clear that Mr. Sterling had neither the strength nor desire to use whatever it was in his pocket.
The position of Mr. Sterling’s lifeless body carried my thoughts to the Spike Lee movie about our beloved Malcom X. Near the end of the movie brother Malcom stands before a crowd to make a speech when all of sudden there is a startling cry from a man in the audience demanding the person next to him to “Get Your Hand’s Out of My Pocket.” Before studying the African Diaspora, I used to think that was the strangest line in the movie, now I realize it’s the most powerful line of all times.
Since the days of the Congo when African’s lived under the soiled soles of King Leopold II boots, the black man screams “Get Your Hands out of My Pocket!” Injustice has picked the pockets of the black race for centuries: educational pockets, financial pockets, freedom pockets, and the list continue. Pocket idioms have been in effect long before we ever defined them.
The black race yet struggles to pay out of pocket for a freedom that is rightfully theirs. It is time for just men to live in each other’s pockets in order to find a way to bankrupt the deep pockets of Institutional Oppression that is being reinforced by those in authority that are preoccupied with lining their pockets with funds from the accounts of injustice. No longer should the peace of humanity fall prey to a pocket veto.
We must gather the diverse fabrics of our nationalities and stitch together a pocket that holds sacred the civil rights for all people. More importantly, we ourselves must be willing to become P.O.C.K.E.T.S. “Preventers of Corrupt Killings Executed Through Separatism;” it is this fashion of living that will never go out of style.
