Black Lives Matter is not an issue of politics, but one of humanity.

Time and time again since the Black Lives Matter movement started gaining traction, I've seen people take up metaphorical arms on the internet. As for me, I've been fighting with family on Facebook since I started vocalizing my support of the movement. I've seen others do the same - calling out friends and family members in righteous anger. 

We are all emotionally charged about this. We all feel like we are definitely in the right. But I keep seeing the conversation go way off track. Too many times, politics are brought into it. I'm thinking of a specific recent post of mine. 

I shared a short comic strip that illustrated the dichotomy of those who demanded justice for Cannon Blake Hinnants, a five-year-old boy who was shot in his front yard a few weeks ago, killing the innocent child. The kid's death is indeed a terrible tragedy, but the local police department treated it as such. They utilized all of their resources (their own words) to locate and arrest the main suspect, within 24 hours even, but nonetheless, conservative Americans launched a campaign for justice using Cannon Blake as its face, boldly saying that the media was intentionally not covering his death while unnecessarily over-covering the death of George Floyd.

Disclaimer: I looked for the original of this comic posted by poorlydrawnlines.com, but could not find it. It may be that someone edited the original comic with the above text.

The comic strip illustrates a man demanding justice for the child's murder, another man holding up a file and stating that justice had already been found, to which the first man set fire and said, "I don't want justice. I want black people to shut up about being murdered by police."

This, of course, spurred lots of heated conversation in the comment section. I understand that everyone is worked up right now. We all feel the need to defend our opinions to the death because it could mean life or death for some of us - or at the very least, an undecided future (ahem, scary!). But I was unpleasantly unsurprised to see the comments turn political. I didn't think Trump or Biden or any politician had anything to do with this. But there they were, several memes slandering Joe Biden stacked on top of each other, and plenty of other off-topic stuff besides.

I hate this stuff. It's not about democratic or republican views. At all! It's not about who you vote for, but what your morals are, how the situations differed from each other, how they are the same, what the community's involvement in each was. Are there other occurrences of this type of behavior? Are there ways we could make a difference so we have less of it in the future? How were the parties involved treated? Does that line up with our morals? What could we do about it?

If we had these conversations instead, we would probably find that we have a lot more in common. Mainly the common goal: to stop unnecessary killing of innocent lives. I think we are all on board there. But it's hard to stop being mad. Sometimes we'd rather die on that hill.

I have been guilty of letting my emotions get the better of me, but I'm going to try harder to keep the conversations geared toward productive conversation. Hopefully, those family members who are disappointed in me and think that I must be ill informed or naive will stick around and participate in the conversation, too.

But to make a difference at all, I may need some help. Who else is willing to stay on topic with me?

If that's you, consider sharing this post or adding a comment below.

Till next time,

Xx Alison

Why I'm Not Mad About Racism

Today I'm using this affirmation. I chose "learning from" the World Around Me because...
well, you'll have to read the post ;)

Good morning free people of America,

I am sipping coffee in my bed and thinking about racism this morning, but it is not with a heavy heart. I see a nation of people standing up against something together and I have something noble to fight for.

Over the last week I've been doing my research to educate myself about what is going on. I don't approve of racism or murder, so it's easy to get behind the Black Lives Matter movement. I've posted a few things on Facebook and spurred some conversation, plus I've been talking with friends and family members about it.

It's not that I'm some expert, but I don't think that matters. I have this strong belief that its more about asking the right questions in a group conversation than offering the right solution, or offering a solution at all.

In my interactions, there's been one goal: find common ground.

I have a very diverse group of friends and family. Growing up in a conservative farm town and now living in probably the most liberal country in the world, Holland, the friends I've kept or made along the way all view this issue very differently. But as we go back and forth about what is the real issue here, I hear from all of them that murder is wrong.

As my Republican friends affirm that white people are killed by police officers, too, I do not hear opposition, I hear common ground. None of us are saying that murder is a-okay! That's something! So if an American citizen being killed by police officers is a red flag, shan't we all address it? Once we realize that we have the same goal we can start to have a conversation about the ways we can come together and affect change. Even the police force can get on board!

Opening these conversations can sometimes make one feel weary and hopeless, because it opens up a whole can of worms. The issues are deeply intertwined and complicated. One bad result is caused by a million compounded decisions that were all made for the greater good, and we easily veer off track and begin blaming whichever parties were responsible for making them. I'm just gunna come out and say it, it's all pretty fucked.

By and large, Americans agree that there are major flaws in some of our systems. The prison system is entirely overpopulated and full of innocent people. Although marijuana use is now legal, men and women all over the country still remain behind bars serving time for growing, using, selling, or carrying the substance.

Our police brutality numbers are incredibly high, and we hear people from all over the world in total wonder at why Americans are dying at the hands of police officers at all. Funded by taxpayer dollars, the police forces in America equip themselves with stealth vehicles, come up with special task forces, and go undercover to sniff out and eradicate "bad guys", but we've all felt screwed over by a police officer before. So many of us have filed a report about a very traumatic event and found the officers unable or unwilling to help. There are millions of Americans who have, at one point or another, been disappointed in our system, felt hopeless and downright angry. This is not to say that every police officer is a bad person. I believe a lot of police officers want to enrich their communities, but I think their approach is all wrong. Americans shouldn't be afraid that the police are watching them, waiting around the bend, they should feel comfortable confiding in them and helping them maintain a strong, healthy community.

The health care system is a subject of constant debate, since millions of Americans living in poverty don't get good enough coverage, middle working class America can't afford it, and while we're on the topic of health care, half of the country is hooked on opiods. (This is not a real statistic, for you sticklers.) Many of those who get addicted to narcotics abuse them until they can't afford them anymore and end up on the streets. The homeless population is crazy high and a lot of them are disabled, mentally ill, or addicted to substances. Refuge centers have to turn them away. Cities don't have enough resources.

These are just a few of the many problems America faces, and like I said, it can get pretty tiring. But the reason that I don't feel tired, or that I don't have a heavy heart when I think about the current status of America, is because I think a lot of us agree on which problems are a problem, its just that we disagree about who's made the best decisions so far about said problems - and which person should be in charge of making them in the future.

But I've come to the simplest realization! (Don't smack me, please.) It is as follows... that: a) we don't need to argue about who was right in making the decisions, or figure out which person must carry the blame for it, because we are simply saying it doesn't currently work in said conditions and b) that we are all in charge of making future decisions! Because, democracy! Hell yeah, America!

So yes, as I sit here with my coffee and formulate ways to save the lives of Black Americans, I am hopeful... and ready. Ready to start conversations with people in my community, thinking not of placing blame but of needing each other's input. Ready to find which causes I think need the most urgent change and finding like-minded individuals that I can grab hands with. Ready to take advantage of the fact that right now, we are all listening.

Let's do this.



P.S.
Upon reading this a second time, I realize that the whole thing is disgustingly cheery. And yes, I realize it is an oversimplification of a very complicated issue. You must forgive me, I'm a morning person.
P.S.S.
It turns out I'm still pretty pissed about racism.
P.S.S.S.
But my theme of coming together still stands.