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“We’ve come a Long way since Martin Luther King”
There was a good man lost in a senseless plight
There was a good man lost, it wasn’t right
To hear the story brings mountain top compassion from the bottom of our hearts
As well as anger for the officer that played the part
And all the ones that looked on
How could it be, that they didn’t step in
We’ve come a long way, what would Martin Luther King say about how to handle this situation
I don’t think anyone is saying the officer shouldn’t go to prison
So, what is the good reason for the looting and rioting?
If reform is needed, then peaceful protest probably will get the best results
As we transition into only peaceful protest, I believe we will be acting appropriately?
What if we channeled our anger energy into prayer?
Is it possible to step outside of our selves and see the truth?
How prevelent is racism, whether it is the police or in the general community
I think that the vast majority of us have risen above judging people on Nationality
What about gay people, what about fat people?
They are probably more judged than black people
Some people think it is ok to still joke about them
And we must remember we, as a community, did vote in a Black President
The crime committed against George may have been about race
But any altercation between black and white isn’t always about race
If white officers are mistreating black people
Then Persisting in Peaceful Protest until we have justice is a good goal
I give credit to those that have remained peaceful in their protest
As we mourn for George and all his loved ones
Let’s strive to think what he would have wanted
Perhaps,
Reform not riots
Love not looting
Progress, not perfection
Truth, not lies
Togetherness not divides
Justice, not anything more
What’s the truth?
Are Blacks really treated differently?
How bad is it really? Sorry if it is really that bad!!
Think of all the progress since what MLK said
Believing white people look at black people wrongly
Might not be truth as much as you think
Some of it might be a perception
Imagining white people don’t see you for the person you are
That there judging an exterior wall
Some of the racism we perceive, may actually be attributed to what is called “racial anxiety”, “implicit bias”, or “stereotype threat.” This does not mean that there isn’t actual racism in the US and in the police force. Learning what these terms mean can help us to understand that what is perceived as racism, is not always racism.
I used to be skinny no matter how hard I tried to gain weight, but it was ok to say OMG you’re so skinny to my face
It can be ok to call someone fat behind his or her back
It can be ok to secretly dislike gays
And most of our souls feel too much hurt if we were to ever judge someone for the color of their skin
We’ve come a long way since Martin Luther King
Instead of a black community and a white community and a brown community
Perhaps we could be one community with a valid attempt for justice for everyone
We pray for all those that mourn
We pray for all those that are hurt
We pray for all those that are angry
We pray for them to come to peace when the time is right
Let’s also acknowledge innocent people have gotten caught up in the violence
We should have compassion for them too
As well as all the looted businesses that didn’t have a wrong
Is there really a lot of racist folks out there in our communities in the US?
My intuition is that it is a lower percentage than many people are thinking.
I apologize if it doesn’t seem like I have compassion for you
The truth is I actually do
I deeply feel whenever someone is mistreated
Like many, I couldn’t watch the video of George
It was too disturbing and sad!!
The sound of him saying “I can’t breathe” is still too haunting to me
I can only imagine what his family and close friends must have felt!!
Also, I feel for any other Black People that have been mistreated by white police.
It must have made you so hurt and angry to see that!!
Let’s not suggest how many police officers discriminate against black people with out knowing the truth,
I believe there are many more good officers that don’t discriminate on Race, Religion, Gender, or Orientation
If there are bad police, we could try to get them to reform or get out!!
While we are at it, perhaps we should look to see if there are any black police that are racist towards white people? It’s possible that could exist too.
If either of their wrongs are wrong enough, we could fire them from their positions
Let us not give all police officers a bad name though
I ain’t saying look away
I’m just saying maybe we should think this out before we go more astray
The best thing we can do is care about each other’s feelings
When we do that for each other we will begin to see healing
Try not to make a bad name for all white people
My intuition is most white people really care about how you feel
And let’s not make a bad name for black people either
The historical journey of peacefully and persistently working towards equality and justice for Blacks is nothing less than heroic.
Martin Luther King was soft spoken. He knew it was ok to be soft spoken when you are talking in truth, the truth will always speak louder than lies. There is no need to raise your voice when you are speaking in the truth. There is also no reason to raise your sword either, for your appropriate non-violent conduct will eventually force those who are in the wrong take a long, hard look at what they are doing and develop within them a strong desire to apologize and reform. This is my opinion, I believe it to be true.
We can’t change the past. For those that rioted or looted may find that a close look at them selves reveals a wrong. A wrong, which they can be apologetic to both sides for. We can all have understanding that they got caught up in the energy and made some decisions that hurt some not in the wrong. As we work towards having forgiveness for them, perhaps they can connect to the hurt within and work towards forgiveness for themselves. They may not know that forgiveness for themselves was needed, but our souls keep track of inappropriate actions, and therefore we must strive to admit our wrong and try forgive ourselves as we move to reform our behavior. At some point the guilt only perpetuates the problem and forgiveness of self becomes the moral code.
I’m sorry for your tears, I’m sorry for your anger
I’m sorry for you being mistreated,
or even the feeling like your being mistreated.
It must be so hard!!
What would Bible say about how to handle this situation?
Jesus said “Forgive your Brethren before you come to My Altar”
That means we can’t even expect to have our prayers answered until we forgive our Brethren
It is that important!!
It can seem unreasonable and unfair. It can seem unjust to have to forgive when someone else did a wrong
Either he tried to hurt him, or he didn’t
If he tried to hurt him, his soul can’t be at peace, his soul would be in deep guilt for intentionally doing such a wrong
If he didn’t want to make him die, but he went overboard and it happened, then he would be suffering there too
If we see him as someone who is suffering, we will be in the truth
Just as we can pray for George and his family
We can pray for the officer and his family
For anyone that holds on to the anger, one day you may see the anger is hurting you.
Heaven, a state of mind, can exist only in peace and serenity. Anger must be left behind
It should be noted that this can take time,
Overtime, anger you may want to see is your sentence
a sentence for something you didn’t do wrong
Living in a state below peace and joy for something someone else did wrong!
Allow your heart to be filled with compassion for everyone involved
and you will be handling it like Jesus would want you to
We can petition for an investigation to see how much reform is needed
We can’t be in Heaven when we intentionally hurt someone
So even though it may not seem right, try praying for all parties involved.
Try to see the suffering of the souls involved and pray appropriately.
Practically pray for an investigation into truth.
Are police treating black people differently?
If it is found to be true, then we must stand for reform
Perhaps a consistent peaceful protest for reform will do
The Wallstreet Journal posted an article “The Myth of Systemic Police Racism”
"Hold officers accountable that use excessive force, but there is no evidence of widespread racial bias."
If they are right in their statistics, or in the ball park of right, then we may be dealing with racism that is much more rare than many are suggesting. I don’t have the ability to check all the statistics to make sure they are true, but perhaps there is an unbiased organization out there that can fact check their statistics. Then we will have a better idea of how often white cops are mistreating black people.
Even if we find less systemic racism than many are thinking, that doesn’t change the fact about being hurt and angry at even one instance of police mistreatment of black people, it doesn’t make those occurrences ok, we need reform and justice for them!!
An impartial party could look into the need for reform, making sure to only look at the facts, and make suggestions for exactly what type of reform is needed
If there’s officers that harbor dislike for black people
Maybe we could talk openly about why that is without persecuting them
If you had their mind and their upbringing maybe you would have learned to have dislike for black people, It might not be all their fault on how that came to be.
“Restorative Justice” is a system that aims to bring opposing parties together to talk about what happened. It gives people an opportunity to apologize for any wrongs, and help others to understand the conditions that were going on that lead them to make an offence. “Restorative Justice” aims to heal the hurt that happens after a crime happens. Perhaps we would be wise to support those in the community that are helping people to heal through “Restorative Justice”
Just like the song “What if we Were Just One” suggests, if we had each other’s minds and life experience, we would have each others thought patterns and behaviors. Acknowledging this truth can help us to have understanding for people with opposing views to ourselves. We would have their views if we had their mind and life experience. We are all “Just One”
We are all an innocent child born into an imperfect world
We can sometimes protect ourselves from the feeling of doing something wrong
but our soul will always know.
We don’t know the guilt till it’s gone.
We can’t have forgiveness of self until we’re honest about our wrong.
As we cry for justice
As we pray for peace
Something will happen when we share our hurt
Something will happen when we share our feelings
Anger is not always a primary emotion
Try to see if you are hurting inside
And if you are, share it with someone
And something will open up
The hurt you feel will miraculously begin to heal
I truly hope this helps!! If anything I wrote wasn't sensitive enough to your feelings, or in the truth I apologize!!, I did try to write in the truth, and found that the truth is so many things!! So hopefully you won’t disregard everything I said that was appropriate.
And I hope we all never forget:
"We’ve come a Long Way since Martin Luther King"
Where there is hurt, may we learn how to heal
Where there is anger may truth and justice bring about peace.
When there is worry, may our burdens be lifted
When there is mourning, may we be comforted
And wherever we are divided, may we come together in Peaceful Truth.
Amen!!
Matt “D” Dynan
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