Day 289 - What’s Going On?
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, eh eh
Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, oh oh oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
Yeah, what's going on
Ah, what's going on
In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on brother
Right on babe
Mother, mother, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply 'cause our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh oh oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
C'mon talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Yeah, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Right on baby
Right on baby
Seems that Marvin had it right a long time ago. I think he would be sad at how much time has passed and how little we have accomplished...
However, on a more positive note, I read something on Facebook yesterday that was designed to help white people hear the message. I thought it was super helpful and I read it and I endeavored to do what the message said...
LISTEN!
A wise person once told me don’t JADE...
Justify
Argue
Defend
If you are jadeing you have lost your power.
I am willing to see where I have held racist attitudes even though I didn’t mean to. I am willing to see where prejudice still exists in my thoughts, words and actions. I am willing to see it and change it. I do not need to tell you how I am a really good person and my intentions are good. I do not think that blacks are taking issue with my intentions or with my person. I believe that they are taking issue with my participation in behavior that passes for good when in reality it doesn’t pass the smell test. Instead of being offended by the suggestion that I am anything less than loving towards all races...I could instead, look to see where my white privilege has warped my view. I could try to listen to what others say to me and what I say both internally and outwardly and see what is really going on...
I do not believe that all races are treated equally. I do not believe that all lives matter. That is not reality. Reality is that the whiter your skin and the more money you have, the less you have to see what is really going on. I know that some of you will probably stop reading me for saying that...it is ok. I was only asking you to listen, not agree.
Could we all just stop and listen and consider what is going on?
There are too many people dying. There is a disproportionate number of those people being black. There is a big difference between racism and prejudice. All people experience prejudice. Racism is something else. It is prejudice + power. So white people cannot be subject to racism because we have always been in power. We have never, ever, ever not been in power in this country. Let that soak in for a minute...
How might you feel if you were a young child and looked around at the world and you didn’t see people who looked like you in control, in power. What would you then think if you saw the people you did see in power, hurt the people that did look like you? What would you think then? How safe would you feel in the world? How would seeing this same thing play out over and over again in your daily life influence your view of the world? Your experience of the world?
I am never going to know what it feels like to be pulled over because of the color of my skin and nothing more.
I am never going to know what it feels like to subjected to the use of force solely because of the color of my skin.
I am never going to know how it feels to have been out of power and had that power wielded over me forever.
I just can’t know.
But I can listen. I can hear without defensiveness. I do not believe that black people really want us to understand, because they know we can’t. I think they might just want us to listen.
Let me ask one very important question...
Would you change places right now if you could? Would you willingly give up your white privilege and change places with a black person? Agree to live out the rest of your days in black skin?
If you won’t...why would you sit idly by and let others be treated in a manner that you would not tolerate for yourself?
I will just leave that there...
So what is going on?
I think we are being called to listen. To hear. To see. To get past all the justifications, arguments, defenses and explanations. Just fucking listen. How can anything change if we don’t listen. We don’t even understand what is being said...or what is being asked or how it feels or what is suggested as a path forward...
First, we must understand what is going on...
And, I do not. I do not understand despite my true, sincere and honest desire to understand what is going on.
So I am going to now listen. I am going to stop talking about this and I am going to try to soak it all in. I am going to listen with an open mind and heart. I am going to try to hear that which I have not heard before. I am going to do my best to hear, see and then maybe have something to say...
I am going to really, really, really try to see what is going on...
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