Same As Before

Please be kind as this is being done on my phone.

"It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard." -Martin Luther King Jr 

Powerful words written nearly 60 years ago that still ring true today. 

As I watch and learn of the riots in Baltimore my heart breaks. People who have no way to be fully heard, and fully understood than acts of violence and chaos. While people hundreds of miles away condemn them and speak words of hatred. People who have never felt the pain and anguish as these have. People who have never felt the helplessness and fear these have. People who have never felt the injustice as these have. Yet these people feel they can decide who and what she be done. The correct way they should have acted and should have said. I could not imagine the pain of feeling your words and life mean less than others because of how you look, could not imagine the fear of knowing that no matter how hard you try and how loud you speak your voice is still quieter than the white man next to you. I could not imagine the struggle of having to do twice as good as others just to be counted as half. The riots aren't because they don't want to listen to authority. It is because authority is not listening to them. The death of a man should not be ignored. Justice should be served even if it is to those supposed to uphold the law. 

There are no excuses, no if onlys, no amount of I'm sorrys that can help this situation. Justice and change. But how can that be done when the need for change comes from people who are ignored. Why bother with something as hard as change when you can push it aside. Ignore those so desperate for it unail you can no longer ignore it. Then let's blame them for the mess. Wrong. No one but ourselves to blame. No one but those who swept these people under the rug for so long to blame. We like to live in this special bubble we have built around ourselves so we don't see the ugly. It doesn't exist if we can't see it. We can't control what others do if we don't see them. Wrong. Speaking up for those who can't or those who are ignored. Open our eyes to see the ugly and try to change it. People are opressed, and people are suffering right here in our backyards, in our schools, not half way around the world. Right here. 

So before you say something about the desperate actions of others look around, what have you done to try to help, or spoken up or even taken the time to understand the real issues behind their actions. What would you do if you were them?