In a Rage
Last night I couldn't sleep at all. I usually try to keep my opinion to myself, but all I could think about were the images on the news and my social media timelines of the riots less than an hour away in Baltimore. We've been taught that violence and war is not the answer, and there are ways of practicing civil disobedience, but I cannot condemn these riots. Deray McKesson said it best, "Pain manifests in different ways. I don't have to condone it to understand it."
There are several issues here: police brutality, racism, and economic disenfranchisement, and these are issues in every city. My city could be next. There are incessant inequalities in the justice system, employment, education, and housing in the black community which have to change. Millions of dollars are coming into this city but there is a significant amount of black people without jobs and living in poverty. Furthermore, at any moment black men and women are at risk of being killed or injured by the police and treated inhumanely with no mercy. How can we seek peace without first demanding justice? How can we have confidence in a broken system? How do we rebuild trust between the black community and the police? How can we turn frustration into movement and change? There are so many questions running through my head, and it's really hard for me to wrap my head around why some people don't understand why this revolution is happening and necessary at this point. People are angry, sick, and tired. And sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm praying for peace for ALL parties involved. These events have definitely brought attention to these issues and has opened up dialogue. I'm open to this conversation and what we can do to have a positive impact and a strategy for change and action in the community.
"Baltimore is burning because America is burning with racism, with hate, with violence. Baltimore is burning because far too many of us are on the sidelines doing nothing to affect change, or have become numb as the abnormal has become normal. Baltimore is burning because very few of us are committed to real leadership, to a real agenda with consistent and real political, economic, and cultural strategies for those American communities most under siege, most vulnerable. Policing them to death is not the solution. Putting them in prison is not the solution. And, clearly, ignoring them is not the solution." - Kevin Powell
There are several issues here: police brutality, racism, and economic disenfranchisement, and these are issues in every city. My city could be next. There are incessant inequalities in the justice system, employment, education, and housing in the black community which have to change. Millions of dollars are coming into this city but there is a significant amount of black people without jobs and living in poverty. Furthermore, at any moment black men and women are at risk of being killed or injured by the police and treated inhumanely with no mercy. How can we seek peace without first demanding justice? How can we have confidence in a broken system? How do we rebuild trust between the black community and the police? How can we turn frustration into movement and change? There are so many questions running through my head, and it's really hard for me to wrap my head around why some people don't understand why this revolution is happening and necessary at this point. People are angry, sick, and tired. And sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm praying for peace for ALL parties involved. These events have definitely brought attention to these issues and has opened up dialogue. I'm open to this conversation and what we can do to have a positive impact and a strategy for change and action in the community.
"Baltimore is burning because America is burning with racism, with hate, with violence. Baltimore is burning because far too many of us are on the sidelines doing nothing to affect change, or have become numb as the abnormal has become normal. Baltimore is burning because very few of us are committed to real leadership, to a real agenda with consistent and real political, economic, and cultural strategies for those American communities most under siege, most vulnerable. Policing them to death is not the solution. Putting them in prison is not the solution. And, clearly, ignoring them is not the solution." - Kevin Powell