Running ON Empty

The long summer of our discontent continues playing out each week with new levels of gun violence, more demonstrations and the public outcry for peace, justice and gun control.  The issues are mounting due to the recent disturbing and questionable tactics of police that left two black men dead, with both events being caught on cell phone video and shared on social media.  Additionally, the wounding and killing of several police officers is also adding fuel to an already burning fire on race relations in America.  In addition, the unsettling rhetoric of those running for public office, racist groups and those with personal agendas are making things more complicated.

   

With so much occurring each day it is hard to find a path forward that works and that leads to a solution that garner support and by in.  For a new and younger generation, what is happening is shocking and unbelievable.  It seems foreign with many of them having a difficult time coping and understanding what it all means.  For many older African Americans, the current issues are alarming and outrageous, but are reflective of what occurred during the 1960’s that included the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X; the Vietnam War, countless marches, voting rights, housing rights, Kent State shooting, beginning of head start and urban riots.  

   

What is being seen on the surface is just the tip of the iceberg; however these recent events are sheading new light on some old underlining issues.  And to be truthful about it, many of these issues have always been with us.  However, these recent events have brought a sense of urgency on how to restore the loss of trust between residents and local law enforcement and the Criminal Justice system.  This is a tall order to be sure, but not as impossible as some my believe it to be.  

The issues are real, the events are real, and the people are real.  In the larger narrative, unless we make the investment to look deeper and to go deeper into these issues, then things will only remain the same.  But in the wider view, the more we dig into those issues, the more will come to the surface and that is where we will see the healing.  If we want to change our world, we must seek for the solutions regardless of the cost involved.               

Finding Our Way Through

It’s been a rough year already in terms of gun violence in America and its only July.  At this rate most major cities across America will surpass historical records on gun deaths. With each passing day some kind of gun violence event captures the news headlines and before long the event has gone “viral” on social media.  Getting any kind of positive media coverage on any notable program is hard when there is an event that involves a weapon, especially a gun.  As one person recently cited “if it bleeds, it leads.”   

In the wake of so must recent domestic violence many elected officials, activists, religious leaders and good citizens are at a lost on what is occurring in their communities.  Some suggest that as a nation we are at a “tipping point” on gun violence and gun ownership.  Trying to get a handle on underlying issues or to just begin to understand what is going on is a perplexing endeavor.  Of course every community is different; share some similarities, but the challenges on how to deal with gun right laws, drug abuse and mental illness are not unique to any community alone.  We are all sharing in this struggle.

The current wave of unexpected gun violence is “rocking our world,” to say the least.  For a new generation of African Americans this stuff is altering the way they are seeing things.  In the view of some of us who are older, this is nothing new; we have been here and seen this before.  The legacy of our American experience is full of examples of oppression, injustice, racism, abuse, slavery, intolerance and driving while being Black.  We know we have come a long way and yet believe much more work is required to make America better and safer.       

In light of what is going on, there is always a way forward, there is always hope, if we can only see it and search for it.  Just like our forefathers and mothers who believed that better days were coming even with so many issues unresolved, the race is still not finished.  I know if our ancestors can find a way out and to deal with the issues, to vote, to march, to boycott, to protest, to dialog, to run for public office, to own a business, to train, to teach, to preach, and to reach, then we too can help impact change.  And regardless of how we see it, solving many of these complex and connected issues are a tall order and require some level heads, prayer and some common sense.