A teenagers life is not less valuable than insured property. I was just watching CNNs civil rights special on the 1960s on Sunday afternoon, and back in 1967 an older black gentleman marching in Birmingham was asked by a reporter, Do you think violence is the solution? His response was, Its funny. I dont see anyone asking that question to the white people. Weve come so far, but have made very little ground. Seeing that black & white footage yesterday afternoon and then seeing Ferguson with my own eyes this morning is sobering. When I bring in guest artists to this city, Im always boasting what a rich and defined culture we have. The more and more I research the history of this city and the influences on our culture, the more and more I find this city has never healed from the race divide it seems to have been founded on. The problem has been slowly simmering, ready to boil over. And its not news. Its just been ignored. A governmental entity cannot serve its governed with a me vs them mentality and have a positive communal experience. So, if you heard about an eighteen year-old being shot in Ferguson and shrugged your shoulders, then heard about the rioting and a gas station being set on fire to only then get up in arms and have an opinion about violence not being the answer, you need to get your nose in the news a bit more, because this is a response. And shame on the majority of us for making a group of citizens think this was their one way to voice frustration. When you watch a sci-fi movie/book/comic book about a mad scientist creating a monster, then having to deal with the destruction that monster unleashes on to the world, what do you think the filmmakers/authors are trying to clue you in on? I dont want my daughter, 30 years from now, to watch video recordings of Ferguson in 2014 and see nothing changed. John Bergman, a very wise man, once told me, Revolutions arent acts of violence, but the start of a process. We seemed to have stalled out and need to get this process back on track.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 03:53:52 +0000