FEAR ME NOT

Like most, I too have been watching what has unfolding in multiple cities across America these past eight days (and counting per more protests are scheduled).

We demonstrate because there is no other way to be heard

We demonstrate because we have been silent for way too long and

We demonstrate because this need to stop! I am in total disagreement with the looting; I am in total agreement with PEACEFUL demonstrations. 

We MUST work together on and behalf of people and communities facing injustices, to improve their social and economic position in our society, to create healthy and equitable communities for all. Refusing to tolerate injustice is broader than protesting against the police brutality toward under-represented people. It’s not just good enough to understand we are all different as human beings, but to coexist and accept our differences, beliefs, sexual identity, gender, skin color, and religion so that we can coexist peacefully as a society and as a world. It is a tragedy that bigotry, hatred, intolerance and violence still is the high between people in our nation. Racial hatred hurts. It kills: it kills physically, mentally, spiritually, financially, and creates a perpetual PTSD of a lasting trauma.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2iIBYMxff0&feature=youtu.be

**Let’s make this video go viral** YouTube video song "Civil Rights" performed by and with permitted use from J R Perry.

The question has been posed by many Caucasian individuals, “How do I help when I don’t know how to help?” Actually, the answer is easy. Go to the source! TALK to a black man; I promise you he won’t bite. In addition, I have composed a few steps to help such persons.

1.   We as persons of color DO NOT believe ALL White people are racist

2.   WE as persons of color DO NOT believe ALL White people are prejudice, because ALL (humans) has some sort of a prejudice whether acknowledged or not. (According to the well-respected, trusted and accepted source: Psychology Today)

3.   Vote (in ALL elections: local, state and federal) for politicians that are willing to make a change to eradicate “this privilege.”

4.   Check out (at your local library) or purchase the following books:

~How to be an Anti-racist

~White Fragility

~So You Want to Talk About Race

Each are AMAZING books!

5.   Recognize the anti-black sentiments YOU hold and work through them; seek out a consultant that will deeply challenge you.

6.   Call on your fellow Human Resource (HR) professionals: friends, colleagues, or perhaps YOU if that’s your profession, to do the same, and start having discussions around why Blacks are still paid considerably less than White men and women - after all, HR is the one composing and negotiating the offer letters. Side note: This “equality” does NOT mean less for you; it just means being fair and is no means “taking away the good jobs”!

We will always be collectively misguided unless people truly begin to experience a complete change of their mindset. For a brief moment, look into the minds of all black men and imagine what would, could and SHOULD be the joy of EVERY African American male to: Walk alone in ANY neighborhood and not even think about whether he is in danger or that he can (respectfully and tactfully) confront someone in public and NOT worry about the police being called. Let’s take it a step further as has been the case with their Caucasian counterparts, in this instance, the black male calls 9-1-1 with 100% confidence that he will be able to calmly explain the situation when cops arrive WITHOUT being thrown in handcuffs, accused as the aggressor or lose his life. Now, THAT is JOY and THAT is the dream. Again, simply put; acknowledge, show empathy, take the initiative to educate oneself, speak up and out for injustices and take action on behalf of your black and brown brothers. Merriam-Webster defines absence of justice as: violation of right or of the rights of another. Sadly, this happens far too often and in too many parts of life: from the events in Hong Kong to the ongoing persecution of the Uyghur people to the treatment of females in countries like Saudia Arabia and Afghanistan. Let us act through the use of proactive and positive deeds versus words or rhetoric. Afterall, acting locally can influence globally.

As from the famous words in Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from jail to Birmingham, “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

Disclaimer: BLUE LIVES MATTER! I cannot, nor will I, negate to ignore and not acknowledge atrocities committed by some in blue against those that fall in the BLACK LIVES MATTER category. Let’s look deep within ourselves and our contribution to a clearly broken system. It is my prayer once we move past the protest phase to an eventual ACTION phase to implement A SOLUTION. Clearly police interaction with persons of color need significant improvement. Police academies and departments should fully disclose their training curriculum for new recruits and transfers. Peaceful community input should determine what changes could be put in place to enact improvements that would result in better outcomes. Perhaps now, police departments will mandate upon hiring for those to live in the areas in which they patrol.