Inspiring Change

These culminations of words are just my thoughts and personal opinions over everything that is happening in the world right now. This is not written to condemn or offend anyone; this is just my thoughts about the world today. Of course, everyone is different and has their own views so you may not agree with me which is fine. All I am asking is for what I say to open minds and to inspire people to become better.

Over the last couple of days, I have been isolating myself and my thoughts from all forms of media so I can form my own opinion and gather information on my own and see these things through my lens and not what the media or what the public has to say about them. I think this is important because, filling yourself and seeing what everyone else has to think on social media can have a heavy influence on what you think about the situation. Social media can have a lot of influence on your thoughts or beliefs based on what you see or what someone says. Am I saying that social media is bad? No, what I am saying is that you should be careful about what media you let influence you. By looking for information yourself and forming your own opinion, it allows you to know and be concrete in what you believe based off of what you found not what you have seen or heard from someone else. This then allows you to stand up for your thoughts and be confident in your beliefs, it also allows you to inform others on the information you gathered as well as answer any questions that are presented to you. I think a lack of general knowledge of history and even the present is causing a lot of problems in our community. We lack general knowledge, so we don’t know what is going on or possible solutions.

I think change starts with each individual. When you wake up every morning are you carrying stereotypes or beliefs that aren’t true? We should be constantly evaluating ourselves first to make sure we aren’t part of the problem. We should then go on into the world and inspire others to do the same things and start a chain reaction of change. Advocating for change does not mean doing the same things back to our oppressors what they are doing to us, it is changing for the better and demonstrating what we want that change to be and look like. So, I truly believe as a community if we are serious about bringing change then we should start being examples of the change we want to see.

In order to be effective in our stand I think it is important to know who we are fighting against. I think there may be some confusion in who our opponent is right now. This fight is not black vs. white, in actuality one of the keys to this change is having white people speak up and to be with us. Their voice can bring change just as effectively as ours can and it is also important to realize that their voices will be heard by our oppressors. We need them to stand along with us to create a change in society. This fight is also not the majority vs the minorities, it is us as a human race against those who enable social injustices and allow systematic oppression. All cops aren’t bad, and all white people aren’t racist, and as a result we should be coming together no matter who we are to promote a change to those who keep allowing these injustices. Identifying our target lets us evaluate the best way to attack that target which will also make our efforts more effective and lead to success.

For me, probably the thing I am struggling with the most is the realization that this is the same thing we were fighting for in the 50’s and 60’s. People of color were dying for their rights to be respected as citizens back then and it is sad to see that we are still dying because we are not viewed as equal. Are we that bad as a human race that we haven’t changed in 70 years? It is just sickening to think that the same thing my grandma marched for is still happening in today’s society. I think this is because racism was never abolished. Yes, we became free from slavery and eventually were granted rights as a citizen, but those thoughts and acts of racism never went away, they were just suppressed. I truly believe we are fighting ideas and stigmas that have been placed in people’s minds for generations; stereotypes are all they know. The sad truth is that they were raised to think this way and now we have to fight years of incorrect ideology which is a much harder fight. Some people truly believe in how they were raised and the thoughts and ideas that were taught in their household, and now we have been placed with the task of changing those thoughts. So, what can we do as a human race to change those thoughts and move forward towards a better society together? I urge you to get out there and talk to each other. Share your thoughts, share your views because you never know how your perspective might change how someone thinks. Simple conversations with friends, or neighbors, or family members are the small things each and every one of us can do to play our part and spark the change that we have been envisioning for ages.

For those who don’t understand some of the problems that minorities go through this section is to describe some of those. As a minority living in America, it is a completely different life that we have to live because of biases and stereotypes. For example, as a minority we are seen as aggressive, loud, and just overall thugs. It is very rare that we can walk into a grocery store without an extra set of eyes on us because there are stigmas that we are “thieves” or will cause destruction. There are tons of words and ideas that are placed on us by society and as a result we are sort of put in a box. Not only are we perceived as dumb, we aren’t ever expected to be more than a rapper, entertainer, or ball player. Walking around in public the number one question I get asked the most is “Basketball or Football?” implying that I play a sport of some kind. I believe minorities are more than that, we have more to give to the world than sports and music. There are so many talents and great minds in black communities that are suppressed by society and killed by social injustices. It is sad that some people are genuinely scared of seeing an African American on top or in some sort of position of power. Every day we are fighting stereotypes and we are beating the odds just to survive. Typically, black communities are given little to poor education, little to no funding, and is always classified as “the hood”. There are always setbacks and challenges that we must endure just to be given opportunities. I have always found it interesting that black coaches are rarely represented in the NFL or in college. And the few times African American coaches are given a chance it is with a bad team and they are expected to turn that team around in 1 year, all the while white coaches are given chance after chance to be a head coach and show their worth. Even when a white coach gets fired, it is very likely that they can find the same job just on another team. The fear of African Americans in positions of power must be stopped. This fear is fuel to social injustice. We are constantly killed time and time again because people are scared of us because of thoughts that were passed down from generation to generation. I urge those who feel this way to step out of their bubble and evaluate their life, imagine life where you are always degraded, and your life and worth is determined by someone who doesn’t know you. This is not how life should be, we shouldn’t be feared because of the color of our skin, these thoughts must end, we must be seen as equal.

More than anything right now it is important that we come together as one. It is easy to break just one pencil, but if you try to break a group of pencils, it is much harder. There is power in togetherness, together we can stop this evil that is running rampant in the world. Connect with your friends, family, community, come together as one, they will be forced to listen, they will be forced to make a change. Not only must we come together, we must really love one another. If I truly love my neighbor, I wouldn’t be scared of him. I would encourage and help her in time of need. I would see them for their worth and want them to succeed. Love will bring us together, and together we will stop social injustice and lead the revolution to a better society. Our goal is not just to be proud to be black, we should be proud to be black everyday of our life. We should be proud of where we come from and who we are every single day. Even if society doesn’t like us or who we are, we should be proud no matter what. Our goal should be together as a human race to be proud to be an American. Only a select few citizens today can truly say that they are proud to be an American (who are all in the same demographic). It is truly sad that we can’t say that we are proud of the country we were born and live in, that is a problem. Our country is scared of us and constantly killing us because we are feared and not wanted here. Together we can institute change, together we will form a better society, together we will bring pride to every citizen and it will actually mean something when they say they are proud to be an American. Together we will bring chance and bring a stop to racial injustices.