This subject may make others uncomfortable, but as a great friend once said “embrace the uncomfortable, because change is uncomfortable and that’s OK! It is OK to feel that way.” –Jordyn Rush
2020 has been a crazy roller coaster for our world. We are living through a lot of history that will soon be in textbooks. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, (born in Houston, TX in 1974) an African-American man, died lying face down on a Minneapolis, Minnesota city street during an arrest by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, who kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds (according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin).
I know this is not the first time injustice has occurred in our nation, but I am embarrassed. I am ashamed that in 2020 we are still dividing our fellow brothers and sisters and fighting a fight that has divided our country for centuries. And I know I understand that I may never understand. However, I stand. I did not want to share just a graphic on social media when I have a platform, and silence is just not an option (not saying that is bad, I just know I can do more. All forms of support are needed.). At this point your dammed if you do and you’re dammed if you don’t speak what you believe is right.
America is living a Tale of Two Cities. Remember that book? Where a city was divided by class. The same thing is happening now. Division. It doesn’t matter what color your skin is, what religion you believe in, or what political side you are on. The issue we are facing is HUMAN RIGHTS, and we are all humans so you should care. Why are we trying to separate one another when at the bottom line, we are all human? What happened to George Floyd was not humane. PERIOD. As a nation, we need to fix that. Our system is broken. Our society is divided, and we have a lot of work that needs to be done ahead of us.
I try to live my life to one of the greatest rules that few have forgotten about. (I say ‘try’ because I am human, and we all make mistakes as we are not perfect.) This rule is The Golden Rule: which is the principle of treating others as you want to be treated. If the roles were reversed would you stand for what happened? Would you want your mother, father, brother, or sister to be treated the way African Americans are treated? The way George Floyd was treated? The way minorities are treated? NO! No, you would not. So why is this still an issue? As humans, we must treat each other as fellow humans, as we wish to be treated because it is the right thing to do.
Have you heard of the shopping cart theory? The shopping cart theory is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing. It states
“To return the shopping cart is an easy, convenient task and one which we all recognize as the correct, appropriate thing to do. To return the shopping cart is objectively right.
There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their care. Simultaneously, it is not illegal to abandon your shopping cart. Therefore the shopping cart presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it.
No one will punish you for not returning the shopping cart, no one will find you or kill you for not returning the shopping cart. You must return the shopping cart out of the goodness of your own heart. You must return the shopping cart because it is the right thing to do. Because it is correct.
A person who is unable to do this in no better than an animal, an absolute savage who can only be made to do what is right by threatening them with a law that force stands behind it.
The shopping cart is what determines whether a person is good or bad member of society.”
Why do we return the cart? Simply because it is the right thing to do. Yet a nonliving object like a shopping cart is treated with more respect than a human. These are the issue that need to change.
Changes need to be made. Words are great but actions are greater. It is time we educate ourselves and our families to do what is right.“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” ― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Until you fix your heart, address, and educate yourself at home and to your family/friends the world won’t change. In order to change things, we must speak if we have a voice and a platform. We must LEAD BY EXAMPLE with our actions. And we must educate ourselves, especially if we do not know what to say. Not only am I just speaking to my audience, I wanted to be a resource. This blog post will be a resource of links to donate, to sign petitions, and to educate.
You have the right to speak your own opinion, but I ask that you ASK YOURSELF these three things before you speak or type a response.
1. Is my response beneficial to the situation?
2. Would I want someone to say these things to me, to my daughter, son, friend, etc?
3. Would I be proud of the words/actions I make today in the future? Would my family or future family be proud of the actions/words I speak today?
As for the looting and endangerment to our communities, ask yourself why these things are happening. I am not asking if you agree or don’t agree. But here is a little food for thought. What was the Boston Tea Party? Stealing/looting and destruction of someone else’s property in the spirit for something to change. Yes, this is counter-intuitive. Yes, it is not right. (Just think of the jobs and money that is taken away from those who need it.) But it has been done by many humans for centuries, including by some of our founding fathers. After the history is written the people who we will call heroes may have been someone who you called a criminal. It just circles back to my questions above.
It is time to remember, and it is time to change. We can all do better!
His name was George Floyd.
His name was Ahmaud Arbery.
Her name was Breonna Taylor.
And unfortunately, the list goes on.
Evil will always walk our earth. Not every human is bad and neither is every cop. We must respect one another and be the change we wish to see in our world every day, not just when things are trending. Black Lives Matter! If you can’t say it today, I hope you can in the future. And I encourage everyone to write down what you’re feeling during this time. Whether today is the day you share with the world or not, its a start. “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” ― Albert Einstein
HOW TO BE THE CHANGE
Here are links to a great resource I found.
Now its time to be better. Let us learn and listen and grow together because we can all do better and live by the golden rule. I love you all.
Love Always,
Alex
