So things are crazy. Keep your loved ones close to you. My daughters have been following this most recent case very closely especially my youngest(13). A lady in our town organized a protest yesterday that the Ziz wanted to check out so we went to it for a while. Today the NAACP sponsored another larger protest with all the right permits and whatnot and we went to that one too. It was great probably 500 or so people in the downtown, police were there but being very cool. Speeches were made and then there was about a 2 1/2 mile march through downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods. The people along the route were for the most part very supportive. I only heard one angry old man yelling about white lives (not that he's wrong,he's just an asshole) which all things considered is not bad. Haha. I remember protesting when I was a teen in this town and there was a lot more backlash then and people throwing things at us. This was pretty sedate.....until the end.
At the end of the march we ended up back downtown. I just felt like things were wrapping up and I should get the girls home since I also had a spare kid with me and we hadn't eaten dinner yet and it was seven. As we were walking back to the car we were only about a block away and we heard a motorcycle engine revving and then 12 cop cars screamed by us. Some jackass plowed his motorcycle into the crowd hitting several people and then took off.
So many things are wrong with this the least of which being that from a logistical stand point who rams anything with a motorcycle? If you're that passionate about killing people bring the right tools for the job. Second, before this happened the lady walking closest to me was telling her friend how shocked she was by the turn out and how diverse the crowd was and how uncharacteristically calm and helpful the police presence was. It was really one of the most positive, unifying, black lives matter things I have ever gone to. I tend to shy away from those things not because I don't believe in the cause but because at least in my area the organizers have been very polarizing people that deliver their message in a very derisive way. I came to this one because it was done by the NAACP and they understand the power of bringing everyone together. It was a rare and beautiful day ruined by one asshat.
So one lady was hospitalized and others were treated and released on scene. My friends we had been walking with were close enough that they had both just missed stopping the guy. Rather than the day ending with hugs it's ended with threats of tear gas and more outrage. I haven't gone back downtown to see what's going on but I haven't heard any sirens or seen any smoke and no one has called me for bail so I am hopeful that things dissipated with out any more bloodshed.
So things are fucked up. They were fucked up yesterday and they will be fucked up tomorrow. What we can do right now is be our best selves and try to cut everyone else a little slack. Everyone else. Because on top of our never ending battle to see true equality and justice for all people we have also all been locked in our houses for 3 months while we went broke and had to eat our own food and tensions are high.
I'm going to post this picture and then I'm going to tell the story why
So this girl is my God daughter and my business partners youngest. A is by her side. The cop is one of our regulars in that he shows up at every public event we do food at and eats with us. He is also the husband of a lady we do business with. Very cool guy very respectful and the kind of cop you want in your neighborhood regardless of your ethnicity. He and A get along well and they had just taken pictures together with their signs. So they were getting ready to part ways and Little F told her mom she wants to say hi to the cop but "I'm scared". My partner said no you don't need to be scared of Kyle you can meet him. She looked at my partner and said "you don't think he'll be mad I called him the other day?" And A laughed and the picture happened. What did she mean about calling him?
A couple weeks ago A was at home cooking dinner, his wife was sleeping because she is a 3rd shift CNA and little F was playing by herself. There's a knock on the door and it's a cop. He knows he's clean so he just says hey what's going on? The cop says "does F live here?" Yes. "I just have to ask, does she really have a horse named Pinkaliscous? They both busted up laughing and he confirmed the she does in fact have a horse named Pinkaliscous. The officer met her and Pinkaliscous and they had a little talk about not calling 911 unless it's an emergency. It was so cute no one could be mad.
So there you go. Be excellent to each other SG.
