Be Outraged... But stand up

Hello friends:
 It is a troubling time in the world today. In the United States in particular, there are specific things that are polarizing this country and are causing people to speak up and speak out about their experiences. Hot topics if you will.

  Michael Brown (18 years old, shot and killed in Ferguson, MO, shot 6 times twice in the head by a Police Officer). This happened on August 9, 2014- My Birthday.

Ferguson, has erupted into a "state of war" rioting and looting occurred, which charged an increase of police and media presence. What are supposed to be peaceful marches and protests turn into a scene from a war zone- tear gas, rubber bullets are used to "calm" a crowd, but that type of use essentially ignites more anger and outrage. Yet again, members of the Black community are pulled back into this situation where we are feeling as if our young Black males' lives are not worthy in the eyes of those who are supposed to protect and serve. There is a charged and distorted view regarding a sense of justice in this country. There is a blaming and almost  a sentiment by some that an 18 year old boy deserved to die. It's disgusting, it's degrading and it reminds many that at the core of this conversation, some people would still dehumanize a young man.

My take: The story is not new. It's sad, it's heart breaking, it ignites fear for me as a Black woman with the potential to raise young Black men, that I could lose them too soon. Additionally, the back drop of this story is sad and heart breaking. I am tired of having to retell this story and almost defend the anger of members of my community. It hurts to have to explain to someone of an opposite race, why the senseless killing deserves more attention and a change in the heart of many in this country. It sucks to see that at the heart of this a young man was murdered and instead of seeing a fair balance of justice in this, we are still arguing about a whole lot, that no one really has the want, desire or interest in FINALLY discussing and dismantling of the real ill- RACE anxiety within this country.

I'd rather not walk in fear of raising young Black men. I'd rather not cry when I hear that another young Black male was gunned down by the hand of someone who was supposed to "protect and serve." I would rather not have to look into the eyes of my 16 year old nephew or other young Black males in inner cities and see their eyes with this question of "Am I next?" We all have a responsibility to do better, to be better, to expect better of each other and I just pray that we finally begin to listen to each other.

2 Days after Mike Brown's story began to take over the news channels, another story jumped into the spotlight. On August 11, 2014 Robin Williams (Actor & Comedian) committed suicide and "ended" his battle with depression. 

His image and comments about his acting legacy spread across timelines, news feeds and every other social media and news outlet possible. For some people on my timeline there was a sense of disturbance with the fact that Robin Williams' story was going to out-shadow the story of Mike Brown. There were some sentiments that he shouldn't be celebrated, because he chose to end his life. 

My Take: Until you have walked a mile in another person's shoes you will never know the battles they have to face. Be blessed that you do not suffer in the way others have. Be outraged that someone like Robin Williams wasn't able to find peace enough to not have to end their own life. Be outraged that we do not spend enough time talking about depression or mental illness. We have a history to pen up, shut out individuals who don't express themselves in what we think is normal. We have had mental hospitals, we heavily medicate in the hopes of creating "balance", we don't talk about depression or mental illness as if it is something that almost every person has the potential to fix. 

We shouldn't be angry that one story is outweighing another. We should be angry that another life was lost. That another family and set of friends has to grieve the loss of life, because even if it is at your own hands that loss of life is still very real and very hard on those who are left behind.

His story is what will make me accept the challenge

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge This challenge was started to raise awareness for ALS-  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig Disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that effects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. It causes degeneration in motor skills and is extremely debilitating. It's a genetic disease that is hard to watch someone you love go through it, and equally just as hard to go through it as well. Right now there isn't a cure. Now I am not sure how this challenge got started. But it took individuals to see that there was a need for them to see something changed about an issue they were passionate about. 

Then this thing spread, where people were being challenged to dump buckets of Ice Cold water on themselves and challenge the next group of people. 

There are two sides to this, one where individuals are actually standing up and raising awareness to the disease, not only by accepting the challenge AND also making donations to the ALS Foundation or other organizations that are searching for a cure. 

But then there is the other side of it where people say I'm doing this Ice Bucket Challenge OR I am donating money to ALS.

My Take:  I take issue with the "OR," the purpose of this challenge isn't to just be that person who is dumping ice and water on your head, but to also raise awareness for something. My issue with social movements as of late, is that they fall short of significant action (at least in my opinion) I am a Social Media junkie, I use it to my advantage, heck I am writing a blog about my thoughts and opinions on some of the biggest issues that are inciting so much talk and traffic. But I do more than just blog, I challenge myself to learn more, I challenge others to have the conversations, to push ourselves out of our boundaries. It's not about me being on a soapbox, so when you say "OR" isn't the point a) to raise awareness and b) to also help find a cure, which requires resources and more people making donations. 

My other issue in general with this challenge- we United States residents, Americans- are VERY privileged to even be able to consider this type of challenge. We are privileged to have water to LITERALLY WASTE! While doing this less than 1 minute video plug when there are countries, and people who have to walk miles just to get a days worth of water and we have no problem just dumping it. In my mind not only should we be doing a challenge to support ALS, but we should also then pay an additional amount of money to support water resources in countries that are lacking. California- gotta love my former home, is fining individuals who are posting videos about them participating in this Ice Bucket Challenge. And maybe unlike the person who is getting fined, I am proud of California for taking this stand. California is currently in one of it's worst droughts that have destroyed many crops and there is a clear correlation in recent weeks to continued loss of water due to the ice bucket challenge. 

This example above is probably most reflective of Social Justice and advocacy, in an attempt to find some balance, you recognize that it isn't always going to be fair, but you also have to be mindful of the other negative impacts that can occur as well.

So what does it all mean- Mike Brown, Robin Williams, ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? ( I haven't even mentioned what is happening over seas) For me it means that I have faith. We live in a world that issues matter, while they might be conflicting issues, the reality is social justice is a tangled web of intersections. No issue should be better than the other. And what I have seen at least in these last few weeks with these few stories that I have highlighted is that people care enough to 1 be outraged and 2 stand up and say something about it. 

My final thought prayer. I pray that we see an end to this need of being outraged. I pray that we get it together to realize that we don't have to live in a world with these tensions. Yes it doesn't mean that it has to be pain free, but I believe in a God who cares, who loves the world, who wants more for us than what we are living now. I pray that I don't have to walk in fear that my future sons need to be under a constant state of being mindful of their presence in certain spaces. I pray that not another life has to be lost because they are unable to live in the world and are constantly facing this turmoil and imbalance in their spirit. I pray that we find a cure for diseases, that not another family like Anthony's has to go through generations of pain.

It's our time to be outraged, but it's also our time to stand up...

Killed Softly: Optimism dying

I'm 27 years old. Over the course of my life I have lived through some amazing shifts in our culture, nationally and internationally. How those shifts impacted me was greatly magnified based on the color of my skin.
  Being a member of what I choose to identify as the Black Community, (also referred to as the African-American community, here in the states) has with it a few DEEP rooted feelings and sentiments, ones that have been expounded upon by the likes of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Carter G. Woodson, W.E.B Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Malcom X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., bell hooks-- just to name a few. For many of these profound thinkers the historical legacy of the Black community in the world has caused this symptom or disease that continues to creep into generation after generation. They had different terms for it, I call it FEAR.
  Being a member and a witness to the Black community in the U.S means that we teach our young men to be careful of their actions for fear that they will wind up dead, or in jail. Being a member and a witness to the Black community in the U.S. means that we teach our young women to be careful about who they give their hearts to. One because we are concerned of young women becoming mother’s way too soon, and two in reference to my first point our young men face many challenges but the most prevalent- death or jail.  We encourage our younger generation to strive for greatness and excellence in their education and their own self-value and worth. The backdrop of this fear, a history riddled with genocide at the hands of others and our own.
  In the decades of my life the Black community has been ravaged by Crack-- Black men and communities destroyed by 6 x 8-foot cells. Miles away from the "mean streets" they grow up in and are ultimately placed into what only science and great philosophers would classify as "chaos" or "the root of civil societies."

In the decades of my life, I have listened to and seen  the stories members of my community crushed by poverty. I have listened to and seen the stories of members of my community gunned down story after story on the news of another life lost. We have seen police brutality on a daily basis, that sometimes within the community it is no longer about who it will happen to and more about when.
   Over the last few years the story of the young Black man in the U.S. has been this-- 50 shots took Sean Bell, a gun mistaken for a taser took Oscar Grant, and recently incomprehensible motives took the lives of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis. These are the names of the men that made national headlines, these are not even the start of the many countless men who have been murdered shot and killed, gone too soon and in only something that can be defined as senseless. The undertones in these stories bring back our nation's racist roots. Bringing back the subtle and sometimes not so subtle understanding that we haven't moved that far from the feelings of a polarized us vs. them, Black vs. white dichotomy.
  When was it okay to automatically assume that another individual could cause harm, based solely on the fact that he happened to be Black? Trayvon and Jordan both 17 years old, young men, living the life that my parent's generation cautioned mine about exhibiting, end up being gunned down because of a look, a stereotype about their behavior and who they are. Dr. King Jr. said, in his well-known speech I have a Dream, :
    I have a dream that one day my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of the character.

Today, I think that dream died and continues to die a little more when not only are our young men being judged, but they are also losing their lives because of the color of their skin.

TuPac in his song Changes rapped about the gun violence within the Black community. He also rapped about gun violence and brutality AGAINST the Black community. The chorus of the song: 

"Come on, come on
That's just the way it is
Things'll never be the same
That's just the way it is
aww yeah"

The song for me always made me think that maybe ‘Pac was too pessimistic. On the one hand he looks at the world around him and sees that the same stuff that plagued the community before, still plague the community, in his lifetime.  But towards the end, 'Pac tells his audience that we have the power to see the changes we want to see, but we have to be willing and almost ready to change. 

Whenever I heard this song, I would look out at the world around me and see that there were still the same problems that 'Pac addressed, but as I grew up, I began to feel that we were making bigger better strides for change.

It's in these moments, reflecting on a life that should have been promised for these young men, a life that was robbed from them, from their families and their friends that I think 'Pac might have gotten it right in the chorus- That's just the way it is. There is an EPIDEMIC within the Black community. I don't want to live in a world, where I must be pessimistic and think That's just the way it is, and we are going to have to forever keep protecting our children from the living out the stereotypes that are killing them. I'm tired of having to convince myself that the Black community has it wrong, that we must change, when all Trayvon and Jordan were doing was living their lives, being young men- walking home, or getting gas with friends. They didn't deserve to die, and we shouldn't continue to sit back and toss up our hands and think that this is what our lives must be.

  As a member of and a witness within the Black community, as a future mother, as an aunt to nephews, a cousin to young men in urban environments I don't want to live in constant fear that one day the image that flashes across that TV screen could be them.

 My heart is heavy when I read these stories and see the reports. It breaks and it is full of pain, and a constant reminder that there is still much work to be done, that when it comes to race relations in the U.S we are still taking one step forward and two steps back. We have a Multi-Racial (Black for those of you who must claim it) President and on the one side this descriptive representation of a HUGE part of this society, means absolutely nothing when we are still rife with racist undertones and young men who could have been future Presidents  themselves, are gunned down in this day and age. 

  I am 27 years old, and what I see over the decades that I have lived is that we still haven't learned, and the changes that we had been hopeful for are still far out of our way. I don't want to lose my optimism, but each day that we lose another one of our young generation and our future in this fashion, my optimism gets killed softly.

R.I.P- Sean[23], Oscar[23], Trayvon[17] and Jordan[17] and now Michael Brown[18] (see below)

(This post was originally published on 11/28/2012) 

At the time I was 27 years old. I am now 29 and due to an event on my birthday, the country has erupted yet again. His name was Mike Brown, he was 18 years old. He was unarmed. He was shot 6 times, twice in the head and he lost his life.  

The city of Ferguson, MO is aggravated, and all eyes are on this city. But it's not just Ferguson, it's cities all over the country and all over the world. 

My words above speak for this situation as much as they resonated at the sadness, I felt hearing about Trayvon and Jordan. When will it stop? When will this no longer be our story?