Black Lives Matter

Today marks one week since George Floyd was murdered in an unjust and inhumane way, caught on camera, for the world to witness and take action...



He was someone's friend. Someone's brother. Someone's father. Someone's son.

And I ask myself...how would I feel if I were his mother and witnessed his last moments on earth, in that manner? Perhaps everyone, including privileged white Americans, should be asking this question. To ignore this, to look away, to pretend this isn't happening is, at the very root, the problem itself.

We should no longer adopt the "ignorance is bliss" attitude.

This is not a black problem. This is not America's problem. This is a human problem. Black lives matter.

Calling out for help. Repeating time and time again that he couldn't breathe. For more than eight minutes. This at the hands of men in uniform. Men meant to serve and protect. Uphold justice.  Not murder!

How does this happen again and again. And again?

If I were George's mother... Heck I don't even want to imagine what that would feel like. Yet the mothers and families, of far too many victims, have lived through experiences similar to this. One too many goddamn times.

This past week I, like millions, have watched television coverage of the protests going on all over our country and the world. People of all colors and races, coming together, standing united and marching peacefully is a good thing. It speaks volumes. It shows solidarity.  It sends a message that George Floyd's life mattered. Black. Lives. Matter.

As for all the destruction of property, the looting, and the fires. It is so sad and pathetic that some knuckleheads are taking the focus away from the power of peaceful protests and turning this into something destructive, ugly and heartbreaking. It is unfortunate. But let's keep the main thing...the main thing.  There is protesting. And then there is looting. These are not the same. Protesters aren't looting. Protesters are protesting. Looters are looting.

I hope as a country (and world) we can come together on this. Become more peaceful. Become more loving to each other. Create change. Justice. As I reflect on this past week, I've been trying to put into words how I feel, and it's been hard. And then I came across some quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his words, to this day, say it better than I ever could.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“I have a dream that 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 their character.”

“We cannot walk alone.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

“The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.”

“A riot is the language of the unheard.”

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

“For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.”

I hope these peaceful protests give George's family some comfort. Letting them know that he did not die in vain. I hope it does.

Black. Lives. Matter.