I am OUTRAGED. I am outraged because just last night 15 more PEOPLE in our greater Miami community were shot at, most of them children, and the comments on Miami New Times coverage are despicable, ignorant, stereotypical, and racist (see photos). The thoughts expressed by a few folks on-line are what many others think about the Liberty City neighborhood - they have no empathy or respect for the lives of other individuals. Yet how would they react if it were their OWN families which were affected by such an event? I am outraged because when you Google news results for Liberty City or any other lower-income neighborhoods in greater Miami, the majority of stories about them only focus on negativity and violence (see photos). Of course Liberty City is associated with Grand Theft Auto as well, which only adds to the demoralizing perceptions about people who reside there. Then yesterday, I learned that there are communications consulting firms which can actually influence local news stations to cover MORE crime-based stories at a given time in the media. What about the adverse affects that kind of coverage has on the families who live in those areas and have absolutely NOTHING to do with whats happening around them? I am outraged because over $20 MILLION will have been invested into public safety in 2014 - 2015, while at the same time ONLY $2 million has been allotted to address poverty. This means a few hundred cops are taking home $20,000,000 for the right to carry a gun and put more people in jail, vs. a meager $2 mil. thats supposed to benefit tens of thousands of residents, who deal with issues of sordid housing conditions, quality education, lack of living-wage jobs, heathy food access, overall well-being, and much more on a daily basis. How does that even add up??? Where the heck are our priorities?!? I would give anything to see an officer switch places with one of the people they are supposed to protect, but usually incarcerate, for just one day. Please visit the following link for additional background info => miamiherald.typepad/deadline-miami/2014/07/miami-commission-moves-closer-to-funding-100-more-cops.html I am outraged because there is clearly more value placed on the lives of police officers, who are acknowledged as heroes, compared to the residents they have been hired and trained to serve. I witnessed this first-hand when I discovered an exhibit coordinated by the Dade County Police Benevolent Association at Government Center a few weeks ago (see photos). There were black t-shirts everywhere with white lettering that said I Died For You, along with memorial-like monoliths listing the names of about 140 law enforcement officials. I also couldnt help but notice the image they chose depicting a menacing criminal, which evaded the fact that the majority of prisoners are people of color, who have significantly higher arrest rates than any other group for the same offenses. My reflective question for this particular circumstance though is: Do truly honorable individuals blatantly point out that everyone should respect them? What ever happened to being humble...? Last (for now) but certainly not least, I am outraged because a brand new Miami-Dade Childrens Courthouse housing 17 agencies dealing with troubled children has been built for a whopping $328 MILLION. The architecture firm describes it in appealing design terms on their website (hok/design/type/justice/miami-dade-childrens-courthouse/), which makes the building sound like a marvelous place to visit. When I think about how much money and attention to detail has been put into a courthouse vs. the public school system environment, it boggles my mind. There are teachers who have to use crowd-funding sites to raise money in order to purchase basic materials for their classrooms. And lets not forget that many youth, especially those of color, are subjected to unusually harsh disciplinary actions at their schools, which make going there less than desirable to say the least. So are we prepping all of our children for a future of success in the professional world, or investing in the rapidly growing private prison system instead? These are some of the thoughts that rack my brain when I begin to piece things together and look at the bigger picture. You may not agree with everything ive said, and thats fine. But I hope that maybe my sharing will shed some light on the elephant in the room that is systemic injustice.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 20:57:34 +0000
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