It seems like our mentality is frozen in this country. There can be no progression in certain areas. A voluntary deafness has preceded an unwillingness to change.
We the people are listening to “some people” who constantly show us acts by “those people” pointing the finger at “you people.” Can we stop listening to the talking heads and just talk to each other?
The media has turned the justice system inside out. You’re now guilty until proven innocent. Due process is lagging in this country and by the time a verdict is reached it’s not sensational enough for the media to sell it… unless the verdict will cause outrage, scandal, or any type of drama that rich television executives can capitalize/monetize.
“News” is now a commercial selling humans, that plays before commercials selling the products that sponsor it.
Fear grips humanity- fear of what’s different, of change, of the unknown. We encounter people that don’t resemble what we see in the mirror and shy away at the different way they talk, walk, or dress.
We lack RESPECT. Bottom line: we should have common courtesy for our fellow human beings. We have no hold on the past and no sight into the future. We live in the now. How are you treating each other right now?
What happened with George Floyd was a sickening murder that should not have been allowed. Fellow officers had a duty to serve and protect and they failed. They failed Mr Floyd, they failed themselves, and they failed to protect Derek Chauvin from himself.
“Killer Mike” makes some real sense in the video above. He poignantly speaks about using “political bully power” to beat up politicians at the polls. We should look at it that way. It’s time to take things back aggressively. We start by actually getting involved! Knowing who is running for what offices, what they stand for, and if their voting record actually backs up what they’re saying. FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. Don’t let me, one website, or one political party convince you of anything.
What’s happening at the state and local level is having a much greater effect than many realize. We need to care about local elections, school boards, and not become hyper focused on the presidential election. That’s just one person- even if they veto bills from Congress, congress can still win that battle if they are working together (and hopefully backing the will of the people they represent).
The police that so many despise are not a federal entity. They are state and local. Their policies, training, and so many other aspects are determined right around us.
Stop destroying your own cities! Nothing says, “I don’t own this,” like trashing something. It’s time to OWN our cities, OWN our political officials- they are supposed to represent us- ALL of us, because we worked together to elect them.
We marginalize the message with violence and hate.
Dr King achieved some of the greatest civil rights advancements in the last century by promoting unity, solidarity, and peaceful protests. His legacy is embodied in these two simple words: equality and nonviolence.
Intelligently organized and peacefully executed, the protests that King brought about do not resemble what we see today with the chaotic youth that rally unofficially under the Black Lives Matter movement.
Dr King would be weeping at the tragic loss of Floyd but he would be righteously angry with the fools that have burned cities, fought police, looted stores, blocked traffic- perpetrating actions that cause police to have suspicion of them. This only increases tension between some officers and the black community.
https://blacklivesmatter.com/rest-in-power-beautiful/
In the above link, the hashtag #DefundThePolice is found. I find this to be an odd concept. I think that would exacerbate the situation. A lone officer with minimal training and no partner (because the city can’t afford one) is set up to fail. A partner can be a moral compass, an interpreter, and many other things if the correct pairings are made.
I believe hiring more minorities as officers of the law would be a better solution than removing the department’s funding. More screening prior to employment, more initial training, more communication skills focusing on negotiation and deescalation would be better than defunding the police.
“I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight.
Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort.
In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black — considering the evidence there evidently is that there were white people who were responsible — you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization — black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another.
Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.
For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times.
My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: “In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.
So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that’s true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love — a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.
We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times; we’ve had difficult times in the past; we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; it is not the end of disorder. But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings who abide in our land.Let us dedicate to ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.”
I’ve prayed for Floyd and I’ve prayed for Chauvin. I just said a prayer for you. This all starts with one person- YOU. You be the change you want to see in this world.
Romans 12:9-21 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,“I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
-Drew OUT.
Drew
June 1, 2020 13:26“First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action’; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a ‘more convenient season.’ Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
Today I saw it implied that any white invoking the name of MLK and an “altered” memory of the “peaceful” civil rights movement has spawned these thoughts from a comfortable white supremacy or privilege. I’m not implying that change is achieved without struggle, sometimes violence is necessary. What I am pointing out is that this righteous anger that is being felt must be directed and strategically applied IOT have maxium effect on target. These disorganized riots are not accomplishing anything positive for the progression of racial relations.
“Killer Mike” used four words, twice, in the video embedded in the post above- “Plot, Plan, Strategize, and Mobilize.” The empowerment of the black community must come from a rise to local, state, and federal power, not a coup.
https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2019/01/22/the-part-about-mlk-white-people-don2019t-like-to-talk-about/
The above link is where I sourced the quote at the top of this comment. I’m not endorsing all of it’s content but if I only posted what I agreed with then I’d be guilty of narrowing the truth as I’ve already been accused. This topic is going to be hot for quite some time and I hope for open dialogue, new perspective, and hopefully enlightenment.
agoh7872
May 31, 2020 08:40Well spoken brother, couldn’t have said it better!