A Heartfelt Message from a Child

A friend sent me this video a few days ago. It is tough to watch but it has a VERY important message. I hope the time comes when the world has changed so much that this 6 year old’s words are no longer needed, other than for a history lesson.

I also found this follow up video:

It would be nice to see a follow up of the follow up.

Song Lyric Sunday: War Zone

Each week on Song Lyric Sunday, Helen tells us that it is fine to choose a song that has nothing to do with the prompt’s weekly theme. I’m taking advantage of that option this week so that I can present a song that addresses current events.

T.I., a rapper from Atlanta, Georgia, recently released a music video that shows “the reality that this country is living in.” T.I. remarked that he wanted the content to be “powerful enough to create the type of dialogue necessary to inspire some form of change.” The video is definitely not easy viewing but it is thought provoking and makes the point in an unexpected way. I believe it is well worth watching.

May the violence end soon.

Lyrics

Can’t you see we livin’ in a war zone?
Guess you don’t notice when you livin’ in it
Like every weekend it’s a man down
Ain’t got no pity for the innocent so I’ma represent it
Dedicated, tell ’em,
“Hands up, can’t breathe
Hands up, can’t breathe
Hands up, can’t breathe”
Hands up, can’t you see we livin’ in a war zone?They left his body swangin’ down in Piedmont
At a Klan rally the day before, but that ain’t mean nothing
Witness said suicide, I said genocide
Hey what you got a gun for? Boy you ain’t finna ride
They run up on you like Baton Rouge, bet you finna hide
That’s the difference ‘tween us, I’ll die to save a million lives
Appointed leader when nobody couldn’t think of shit
I’ll be a martyr if my great grandaughter benefit
They pull you over, ask you where your license at
Be careful reachin’ for it, you know you can die for that
And this ain’t nothin’ new, just got cameras so you can see the shit
Got Dr. King and Abe Lincoln askin’ where the freedom at
This ain’t no equality
Man you ain’t have no justice on your mind when you shot at me
But fuck it, this the way it gotta be
Hey listen, you won’t shoot at them then shoot at me?
Boy you are not a G
Imagine Trayvon askin’ why you followed me
Feel threatened, hit him and whip him, that’s when he shot him down
Do that to a grown fuckin’ man, drop where you stand
Tell my grandma go on with all that prayin’
If it’s a God and he in the sky, he looking down, he understand
I’m just a man, and I’m wrong for revenge
But I don’t get ’em it’s like tellin’ him to gon’ kill again
Keep fucking around, it’s going to be on in a minuteBoy we livin’ in a war zone
Guess you don’t notice when you livin’ in it
Like every weekend it’s a man down
Ain’t got no pity for the innocent so I’ma represent it
Dedicated, tell ’em,
“Hands up, can’t breathe
Hands up, can’t breathe
Hands up, can’t breathe”
Hands up, can’t you see we livin’ in a war zone?

This goes to the white boy that ran in the old church
I hope you get slow murked, and they torture you slow first
Ran in our place of worship to slaughter our grandma
Won’t go kamikaze for that, well what would you die for?
Hold up… I’ll wait, I’ll wait
Heard it from buddy who took for the fall for Watergate
The war on drugs was just a war on us
Give us all these guns, give us all this dust
Change all them laws, lock all of us up
Went from Freeway Ricky, on to BMF (free Meech)
Then hip hop came, that’s when we got rich
Cause white kids gravitated to it like all of us did
And that’s when they got slick
Invented the technology to take our shit
Diluted all of the artistry
Pardon me, somebody tell me what happened to Alton
Sterling, killed Philando right in front of the girl
And the world saw
Everybody’s reaction was, “Hell naw”
This modern day slavery, the prison publicly traded
And the jig’s up
The Constitution and Emancipation Proclamation’s just a fuckin’ piece of paper

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?” →