So much more than a protest over a statue...

I’m sitting here with literal tears in my eyes reading/watching all the shit going down in Charlottesville as white nationalist take to the streets to protest… the removal of a stature and (let’s not sugarcoat it) the fact that brown people also exist on this planet and have a rising voice in the future of this country.

This certainly isn’t the first protest of white idiots carrying guns and antagonizing people of color- ie read a history book. This certainly isn’t the first time hate speech has led to violence in the south- or anywhere for that matter. And it is most certainly not the first time the sane people of this country have united against evil/hate. However, it is one of the first gatherings of these bigots post Trump that has incited a STATE OF EMERGENCY and has made it crystal clear that their numbers are on the rise and that they are ready to willfully commit illegal acts to get their message across. It works for them considering the way the law works tends to turn a blind eye toward white men’s indiscretions.

It’s interesting though, because if you listen to this video of them chanting ‘white lives matter’ (though nobody has ever said otherwise) either due to the counter-protesters or the poor enunciation of the phrase, it sounds surprisingly like they’re changing ‘black lives matter.’ I find this infinitesimally satisfying.

When they’re chanting ‘you will not replace us.’ Who the hell are they talking about? They’re talking about anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe, look how they look, and dare to have opinions that challenge their self-importance. There has been an undeniable rise and vigor to this movement of hate all due to the current president’s unrelenting encouragement of prejudice, injustice, and violence against anyone who stood in his way. Seriously, it’s mind boggling how quickly people want to forget that there was an election that put this orange danger in office. Now his voters are called ‘supporters’ and we’re supposed to forget that it is them who organizes these rallies. I for one will not let it go and I’m tired of being told that I should ‘move on’ and ‘accept the results.’ This violence is a direct manifestation of his presence in the white house and his lack of empathy for this country.

He will not call this protest exactly what it is. An act of domestic terrorism. Sure, maybe in the beginning it was just chanting and speeches, but it has escalated into an all out frenzy.  If you haven’t seen it already, the video below from @brennanmgilmore is horrifying. Click at your own discretion.

Video of car hitting anti-racist protestors. Let there be no confusion: this was deliberate terrorism. My prayers with victims. Stay home. pic.twitter.com/MUOZs71Pf4

A pure and simple act of violence that injured a number of people in the name of an ideology that has led to the downfall of civilizations.

And the spray-tan-in-chief’s words, an empty string of hackneyed phrases and trite words of comfort. The moment he said, we must condemn bigotry on both sides, and repeated ‘BOTH SIDES’ as if this kind of behavior has been displayed by counter-protesters was so abysmal, I had to stop listening. There isn’t a moment of his presidency where he’s surprised me, but this particular moment did make my blood boil. 

This hate isn’t going away. Sure, it helps that there were more counter-protesters in this particular instance, but their base is getting stronger and more abhorrently insolent. We can’t ignore this moment in time, and we cannot tolerate this behavior.

Fuck that free speech argument. They’re looking for war and they’ve made it abundantly clear.

UPDATE: Someone lost their life after that car mowed down people and it’s reportedly a YOUNG WOMAN. Her life was prematurely taken away due to domestic (white) terrorism. Two police officers who were coming to assist with this racist turmoil also lost their lives in a helicopter crash. This shit isn’t helping anyone. We need to do better, nation.

Stop Shooting My Little Brother

This country has gone through a lot in regards to race relations in the past oh fifty years. It’s always jarring realizing the Civil Rights Movement was not that long ago and that progress albeit progress has not been anywhere near what MLK envisioned. Sure, little black boys can hold hands with little white girls, if the black boy is seemingly nonthreatening and wearing a suit.

All of our notions about race are just so systematically ingrained in legislation, in media, in bigoted ideas passed down from ignorant generation to the next it’s hard to see a future where none of that exists. 

The mistreatment of people of color is forever torched into American history with a flame that has extinguished hope, burned an unrelenting inferiority complex into millions and laid waste to humanity in a way that is almost irreparable. 

American Slavery is a big deal. It was more than humans being stripped of basic rights, it was more than families living in constant fear of being ripped apart, it was more than slaves being whipped and beaten by slave masters on a whim, it was more than the human spirit being tortured to the point of suicide, it was more than every violent action done to a person you can think of, it was more than dismantling the laws of human nature. Slavery ruined- no, poisoned the hearts and minds of this county and its ramifications continued to haunt our present in ways nobody wants to admit.

During the Civil Rights movement there seemed to be a special place of hatred and violence singularly preserved for black men. They were the main enemy in the minds of millions of Americans because of the mere color of their skin.Their presence was a threat and their lives an afterthought. 

Skin color was (in some minds still is whether it’s admitted or not) equated to intellect, reasoning, responsibility, the capacity for love and understanding. In slavery black people were not allowed to be perceived as human, holding all of these qualities, along with an astounding magnitude of hope, because then the reality that humans were being treated as cattle would settle in and demolish the whole notion of free, renewable resources (HUMANS). 

Again, I talk about slavery because for me that, later to be repackaged as institutional racism, can be the only source of all the unapologetic violence constantly berating the black community for so many years. We have come from an incomprehensible amount of pain and broken spirits to get to where we are today. I am apart of a community that is bigger than me, that holds a diverse array of minds. I am apart of a community that has been and continues to be subjected to atrocious mistreatment and injustice over and over again.

It scares me that black boys are continuously getting shot or beaten with no hope for justice. It scares me that the system that is suppose to protect the lives of all Americans has been so lax with defending the rights of some. It’s even more frustrating that the justice system ignores the harrowing implications of these injustices.

More importantly, it scares me that I have a little brother in Florida who just wants to hang out and be a teenager, but can’t be because being a black teenage boy in Florida can get you killed.

My little brother is tall for his age. He’s lanky and goofy and is one of the funniest people I know. I love talking to him because he has this airy demeanor of wisdom sometimes or this refreshing, wide-eyed infectious curiosity. He asks me questions about life and listens to my clumsy answers with a furrowed brow and at those moments I feel humbled that he actually sits there and listens. We talk about his dreams of becoming the next Dwayne Wade, but I always tell him he could be the next Neil Degrasse Tyson. I love my little brother. I love him so much it makes me want to cry when I hear about these shootings. And I do. I have. I’m crying as I write this. I honestly don’t know what I would do or how I would react if anything happened to him. It makes me crazy even thinking about it.

It makes me physically ill knowing families have lost pieces of themselves because of unfathomable hatred. It makes me angry that there is nothing I can do to quell the rage or sadness the families must feel.

This has got to stop.

Plain and simple.

There is no excuse for this blatant disregard for human life. I don’t feel safe in this country knowing guns are in the hands of maniacs and guilty people get away with murder. 

This is definitely a gun issue, but even more seriously it’s a human rights issue.

It’s time to start protesting. It’s time to start taking action. We cannot keep living like this.

Never Gonna Get It

I will never understand the hate that people have inside of them for gay people. I can never “see it their way” when it comes to having such vile notions about someone’s personal life. What is it that makes people so angry about sexuality? What repressed emotions are they harboring to feel the need to lash out with such irrational violence? Why is it anyone’s business who anyone’s attracted to and how the hell does that have an affect on a person’s moral code? How dare anyone claim loving another human being is wrong? Why can’t people see the blatant ignorance that is being perpetuated through these self righteous institutions? Why are there laws or lack of laws reflecting these bigoted ideas? Why can’t people just mind their own business? No one asked for your opinion about someone else’s life. I will never understand.

Thoughts

I’m undecided if my sheer disinterest in the Olympics stems from a strong indifference towards sports in general or because the thought of having an event of that caliber means spending an insane amount of money that can be used for far more significant improvements on people’s everyday lives. According to The Guardian an approximate £11bn is being spent on the Olympics, the money coming from the government and an Olympics committee. INSANE. Although, I understand the allure of the Olympics. It’s an age-old tradition that we’ve somehow managed to maintain for all these years and it’s a celebration of the body, mind, and commitment of every single athlete. I get it. However, I will never really understand the logic behind spending so much money on an event when the world is in turmoil and the only thing to fix it is well money. Imagine if the money spent on the Olympics went to a third-world country for a system to give them running water- a luxury for a lot of the world and a dream for the rest. I don’t mean to be a hater, but I cannot deny the ludicrousness of the entire thing.

In other news, there was a shooting at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin and the amount of hatred and violence in this country has been a problem for centuries and if we’re going to fix it we need to talk about it. However, the lack of open dialogue about shooting events has been baffling. We need to talk about some painfully honest issues, but leaders of this country are just not taking their roles seriously and actually leading this country in a discussion of guns, violence, and hate. It exists. We all know it does, even the most naive that want to believe racism was left in the ’60s and that 2012 brings an idealistic beacon of tolerance. In their heart of hearts they know. I hope, because the worst enemy of a situation like this is denial. 

And now for something truly exciting. MARS EXPLORATION.

It's All Been Said Before

It’s devastating events like the abominable, senseless violence in Colorado that force people to lay a scrutinizing eye on our society and truly question what the hell is wrong with the world- when someone attacks a theater full of strangers with seemingly no remorse. When I first heard of the unbelievable act I was at a loss. I didn’t know what to think. What to say, I mean, what the hell could I say? I did however, know what not to say. Jokes about the shooting happened merely minutes after it was reported and I could not tell you the disappoint I felt in humanity. “Too soon?” Yes. Yes, it is and probably always will be “too soon” to make jokes about people getting slaughtered while innocently watching a movie. It will FOREVER be “too soon” for the parents of that poor baby who’s life ended so incredibly soon. In this day in age of fast-paced communication and fleeting regard for, well, tact, it’s still unreal to see how quickly we can move on from things like this. How quickly we fall back into our mundane routines and forget all about how easily it is to attain guns and how quickly lives can just… end. Oh, I’m guilty of it to and this is by no means meant to chastise or judge anyone. This is merely an overwrought observation. What is the appropriate way to respond in a time like this? Do you know? I sure don’t.