I had a really cute blog post queued up about the Target Beauty Box I just received, but I wanted to put that on the back burner to talk about something that’s been on my heart since last night. By now I’m sure you guys have heard about what’s going on in Baltimore. Another life was ended too soon by alleged police brutality and/or neglect and as a result some people took to the street doing the only thing they knew could bring the attention they wanted. Don’t get me wrong, there were quite a few peaceful protests out there as well, but the media chose to focus on the violent riots, even labeling them as riots! Were there protests going on? Yes, even violent protests, but if you’re not going to refer to other incidents like excitement over a team’s win, or loss, or coach being punished for not coming forward and speaking out against sexual abuse to a minor, or even pumpkins as riots then don’t refer to what happened in Baltimore as one. I’ve read a few posts on Facebook and Twitter that said that those aren’t “black people who were looting and burning the CVS, that they’re n***as”. Well what do you call those students and fans in the other incidents I mentioned earlier? I’ll wait.
There was a bible verse that was mentioned quite a bit when I was growing up, Hosea 4:6 “My people will perish for the lack of knowledge”. Now I paraphrased it, but that’s the gist of the verse. We’ve grown so much as a country, as a nation, as a people, but there’s no denying the fact that there are still communities around this country that are suffering from a disproportionate disadvantage. People and communities are literally perishing due to their lack of knowledge. Well balanced diets, a proper education, and shoot just a simple understanding of their unalienable rights as humans and citizens that are stated in the laws supposed to protect them. If they don’t know how to properly articulate their concerns and desires in a non-violent way then they’re going to resort to the violent measures they’ve seen in the media. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning this behavior at all, but people are going to resort to the violent measures they’ve seen to make their voices heard. I understand that I’ve been blessed so far in life and I don’t take my education, home life and local community for granted. I know how to peacefully protest and get my point across without burning down a pharmacy I also understand that not every situation calls for a sit-in or chaining oneself to a tree.
I come from a military family, a family that recognize that it’s a honor to serve, whether that be in the military or as a peace officer on the municipal, state and federal level. Not every officer is crooked and not every citizen is completely innocent either, but people still have rights and shouldn’t be man-handled when placed under arrest. From what I’ve read, Freddie was pursued legally and upon apprehension it was discovered he had weapon on his person. The officers also discovered his criminal record consisting of drug related charges and a few violent ones as well. So in my opinion the officers weren’t wrong for arresting him, just how they went about doing it. Whether it was neglect or abuse, Freddie was mishandled and someone is going to have to answer for that.
My prayer is for peace and understanding during this difficult time. I pray for justice and that people stop making broad generalizations. I swear it’s like a broken record and we can’t go a month without hearing another story like this. All of these stories are quite similar, but still different because each one of their lives matter. I’ve heard a bit of uproar about people using the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ during times like this; preferring that people use ‘All Lives Matter’ instead. I agree that all lives do matter, but with so many of these instances happening now it’s time to make it known that Black Live Matter. That the still matter and that they always will.
I know they get a bad rap, but I watched a lot of the coverage on Fox News and they kept referring to the peaceful protests. Yes, it was while they were covering the violence, but they did continually remind the audience that there were peaceful protests happening. For what it's worth.