Seattle: A Sanctuary City

Seattle is a sanctuary city and proud of it. On this day that our new President signed an executive order blocking federal funds to sanctuary cities, I feel compelled to share the signs that I saw in my neighborhood when I came home from India last week. They speak for themselves.

Daily Prompt: Ten (and in this case several more)

cropped-senior-salon Shared on Senior Salon

Driving Out Darkness

Murshed Zaheed, from CREDO Action <act@credoaction.com> just wrote CREDO members and said:

“We are simply reeling.

The killings by police this week of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the mass shooting in Dallas that killed five police officers, shine a harsh light on the way that white supremacy, systemic racism, and a culture of gun ownership driven by fear and hate puts the lives of far too many Americans, especially Black Americans, at risk.

There is much to be said in the wake of these tragedies: That Black Lives Matter. That the fight for justice has too often been littered with unnecessary violence. That too many are living in fear.

We have much work to do. At the end of a week where the world feels dark, we are thinking of the message of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is love that calls us to resist hate, racism, and violence. It is love that calls us to imagine a better world, and to fight for it. It is only love that can drive out hate.”

Murshed asked that we send out this message/picture through Facebook and Twitter. It is a message I also believe in. Since I don’t participate in Facebook, I am choosing to post it here.

Martin Luther King

Overwhelmed by the Violence?

Sreejit’s Dungeon Prompt this week asked us to address these questions:

In many countries where guns are not legal the police also don’t carry guns themselves – only the military does. In America, because guns are so widespread, we couldn’t even conceptualize an unarmed police force. But now, with the full militarization of the police, do you think that it has gone too far? Do you feel scared when you see the cop strapping a gun while waiting for coffee in line next to you at the Starbucks? What is your relationship with the police and how do you think your race has colored that? Has race colored your perception of police brutality?

I have decided to address those questions and more. During the last few weeks, I have felt overwhelmed and disheartened by all of the violence occurring in the world. What keeps going through my mind is “Have we gone crazy?” I have heard the same sentiment from others. Continue reading “Overwhelmed by the Violence?” →