Musings on Baltimore

There been lots of chatter on airwaves, across social media and every news channel for the past week.  If interested here are some of my rambling thoughts …

I can’t fully grasp how desperate and disenchanted some people must be to resort to the type of violence and protests that broke out in the streets of Baltimore  -- Nor can I grasp the thought living day in and day out not knowing if today was going to be the day that the police stop me for no apparent reason.  I can’t imagine being 57 years old, a long time employee of Ford Motor Company, no criminal record, and being yanked out of my car for slow rolling a stop sign.  Then getting punched in the head16 times, tasered, and arrested for possession of cocaine (after the video shows the officer planting it in the car).  That's what happened to Floyd Dent in Inkster, MI a few weeks ago.  I can’t imagine watching my son leaving the house everyday and just praying that the police don’t pull him over or stop him for any reason.  I can’t imagine having to teach my son that he has to be vigilant every day so as not to raise an suspicion from a police officer.  That's the reality for my African American friends.  I can’t imagine …

What happens when people feel oppressed?  After a long time of constant feelings of oppression, violence usually erupts.  Look at these three sets of pictures:

Tiananmen Square:

      

Egypt:

             

Baltimore:

  

  

Notice any similarities?  This is what reaction to oppression looks like.  Most every American I know applauded the scenes in the first two sets of pictures and then condemned and derided the scenes in the last set of pictures.  

WAKE UP, AMERICA!!  

• This is what it looks like after years of racism and oppression.  
• This is what it looks like when communities of people lose hope.

If we and our government and our security forces don’t change, we can continue to expect more of the same. 

What did Albert Einstein say?  “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

If as a country we can’t see this for what it is, then in the long term we are doomed.

We must take a step back and re-invest in ourselves, our people, our communities, our education, our infrastructure.

That’s all for tonight, I’m sure there is more to come …