There has been much reaction lately to the terrible situation in Ferguson, Missouri surrounding the death of Michael Brown, Jr. There is not any evidence that supports the claim that Brown was a physical threat to the officer at the time he was killed. This being said, I believe that the federal investigation will show that Brown was clearly murdered by an officer of the law.
While this crime would be appalling regardless of the demographics, it cannot be ignored that Brown was a teenage black male and the mystery officer (the precinct refuses to release his name) is a white man. It seems that every few weeks there is a new case and the participants are always the same. Young black victim killed by white perpetrator armed with a gun and a false sense of superiority. Trayvon Martin and Zimmerman, Jordan Davis and Dunn, Renisha McBride and Wafer... It has been traumatic to witness injustice after injustice and to know that people who look like me are targeted for nothing less than- walking to the corner store, playing loud music in their personal vehicle, searching for help after a car accident, and in the case of Brown, simply walking down the street to his Grandmother's house.
Since the murder occurred there has been a strong police presence in the streets of Ferguson. The armed forces have been tear gassing the protesting crowds every night as well as intimidating unarmed black citizens with high caliber weapons every day. Due to this unrest, many have taken to social media to either promote violence to authority, or to shift the blame onto the victims by devaluing white-on-black murder because there is widespread black-on-black murder. In my opinion neither of these stances adds positive motivation to the daily struggle that we find ourselves in. I believe that to even begin with fixing the violent trends that we are seeing played out currently across the country, we have to start with the root issues. Here are two brief thoughts of mine about how to turn the tide.
1. We need to realize that all violence is wrong.
Even though we live in a world where the lines are seriously blurred when it comes to certain types of violence, I believe that there is never "a time to kill." Every act of violence leads to a loss of spiritual connection- it causes a disconnect from the Divine. It is my belief that we are created in love with the intent to peacefully coexist, and every time we engage in violence we create barriers between not only each other but also between our spirit and the Creator. We have to stop believing that there is justification in hurting people, even when society tells us otherwise. The entirety of humanity is valuable- all races, all religions, all income and education levels. We have to get to a point where our first reaction to conflict is open dialogue and communication- not fighting or killing. However, in order to honestly and non aggressively communicate we have to...
2. Confront and work through our personal traumas.
Every person has issues. Most people are taught at a young age to suppress these issues by devaluing them, and promoting the idea that we should not complain because someone always has it worse. While it is true that we can usually find people who have less than we do, it is dangerous to continuously downplay our own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. The only way we can engage in healthy and positive communication is if we realize and work through some of our own stuff. When we allow negativity and hurt to reside in our hearts it usually manifests itself into subconscious aggression. When we have entire generations of adults who are not equipped to deal with the inward pain, we will have a youth generation that is comfortable with causing outward pain. It is important to realize that our youth have real issues ranging from all types of abuse to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from living in residential war zones. Unless you are dealing with a sociopath, there are traceable events that happen in a person's life that lead them to a point where they become apathetic about committing violent crimes. Perhaps it is time to address these soul concerns.
