I went to bed last night sad, I woke up sad, I’ve spent the day being sad. I know I’m not the only one. I don’t have any wonderful words to share that will make any better including myself feel better. In fact the words I share will probably be taken out of context and offend some; that’s just the way of the world it seems and I can’t change that.
The state of our nation is just sad. And unfortunately I don’t see any change coming. I don’t feel like I need to make any kind of specific statement on this weeks events, everyone else has already done that. I’m sad about so many things I wouldn’t even know where to start. What I’m the most sad about though is how life has transformed with the growth of media and evolution of social media. If you can’t see that, well again that just makes me sad.
I’ve decided this will be my last blog post for awhile. I’ve already taken down the facebook page associated with the blog. The website will remain but won’t be updated. I know there are many of you who like my posts and may even agree with them but you aren’t the reason for the change. The reason is for the millions of people who do not know how to think for themselves, follow everyone else and automatically assume they know what someones heart is by the written words they see without the context or knowledge of the situation that prompted the words or the person behind them. I don’t want to expose myself to that anymore.
Before I go any farther please hear me when I say that I in no way mean to diminish the significance of the current issues facing our land regarding race, racism and the horrible injustices that face many people of color. Period.
What bothers me though is that this is not new. What’s new is the hashtags and the shared posts and the “let me jump on that bandwagon” mentality. I appreciate that so many people are angry as we all should be. The problem I have with that is the fact that so many who are angry now will move on to the next topic in another month if not sooner. I know we all would like to think we won’t, but we will. Is that right? Absolutely not, but it is true.
Think back over the 5 months we have seen in 2020 so far and how quickly your timelines changed. Just a few examples of popular topics were the death of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, the tornado that ripped through Nashville, Covid-19, Ahmed Aubry, Floyd George and now racial injustice protests. Everyone of these things was a hot topic for a time and quickly we moved on to the next. It’s just the way of society and the way things happen with the media and especially social media.
I am not saying don’t watch the news or being informed or be involved. I’m just saying be smart. It is too easy to get distracted but what you see and miss the things that you don’t see. And believe me there are plenty of other topics out there you just don’t know about them if they aren’t affecting you and if the mainstream media isn’t talking about them.
So again, I’m not trying to say that the battle against racism isn’t important because it definitely is. I just want people to realize that a few weeks of protests or common hashtags or donations is NOT going to fix it. If being momentarily outraged was going to fix it we wouldn’t still be in this situation in 2020. I also know that my post isn’t going to change anything either but I need to share my heart.
In the last few months I’ve shared several posts about movies such as “Just Mercy” or documentaries such as “The Innocence Files”. If you haven’t seen either watch them. They are just a few of the many tools out there to educate yourself on. Don’t just be angry and make a social media post, BE the change.
I’ve seen so many governments, police departments, celebrities, businesses, etc make posts and give their thoughts, feeling and stand on this situation. While all of that is great, the polices that were already in place, the behavior that already existed, the feelings people already had; that is what matters. If those aren’t in line with equality to all then get them right! Don’t just make a big media storm about it actually do something.
I’ve seen many from my own community and all I can think is did we forget 2018? I sure didn’t. I remember everything about August 12, 2018 and I always will. But obviously many have because here. we. go. again. Nothing has changed and that is ridiculous!
There are good people and there are bad people. It doesn’t matter if you are black or white; a civilian or a police officer; a celebrity or the neighbor next door. All we can strive to do in this life is be one of the good. Be kind. Be loving. Be compassionate. Be understanding. Be better than you were yesterday. If you’ve been bad, fix it. If you’ve been good, use it. Just be a decent human being.
I pray that God continues to guide me on how to be a good human being. I pray that my heart in no way shows discrimination to those who don’t look like me. I pray that I can continue to support my friends who are good police officers without fear of retaliation from others. I pray that my children remain good human beings and that they are able to raise their children in a safe and healthy world. I pray that change comes to the hearts of those who have hate and that our land can truly become the home of free. I pray blessings over all of my family and friends and readers, may your tomorrow be better than your today, always.
~Carla
Arise and Glow 