What If?

Thoughts

After the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks at the Atlanta Wendy's my mind is a jumble with the thoughts about this. Here was a situation that never should have escalated to the point of Mr. Brooks' death, and it becomes clear that this was another case of racism.

Let's imagine that I was the sleeping person in the Wendy's line. Maybe I had too much to drink and Wendy's is so slow that yes, I fell asleep in the line. What if an employee of Wendy's saw this sleeping white woman blocking the order line in the parking lot? Would he or she have called the police on me? I imagine a Wendy's employee stepping beside my car, asking if I was okay, and then instructing me to move my car. End of story? No. They probably would have offered me a cup of water to make sure I was okay.

First off, everyone knows the way the police have treated black people. Even a nice cop will incite fear in the approached black person. There was no need to ever call the police, to begin with, on Mr. Brooks. But they did.

Mr. Brooks was found to have an alcohol level just slightly about the legal limit and placed under arrest for driving under the influence. He wasn't driving. He was parked. Maybe he knew the condition he was in and pulled into Wendy's to get food in his system to help to sober up. In other words, having been in a not great state of mind, he took precautions to fix it. I give him credit for that. He didn't continue to drive.

The argument here is that he had been driving or how would he have gotten to this spot. Fine. Would they have arrested me for the same act? I don't know, but my gut thinks, 'No.'

Although Mr. Brooks started with his "Yes, Sirs; No, Sirs" and full cooperation in the arrest, something changed. He resisted, grabbed the stun gun, and ran off. He pointed the stunner toward the policeman but never actually shot it. I read a defense from an officer stating that "IF" he had stunned the policeman, he could have taken his gun and have been a threat. But as I said, he didn't shoot it. Plus, the officer had a partner with him.

Different actions by the police were now needed.

1. Let him run away. They have his car, so it would not have been hard to find him.
2. Chase, at the risk of being stunned.
3. Use the other officers stunner to calm him.
4. Shoot the leg.

I had an officer friend who once told me that the police are trained to shoot to kill. I argued, why not injure him, in which he repeated, "We are trained to shoot to kill." Maybe it's time for some new training.

Finally, please do not take this as victim blaming, but I have to mention it. Every black parent trains their sons on how to act around the police. Everyone knows that some cops are racist and do not act as they should, so why did Rayshard Brooks resist arrest and run? Maybe he was scared. Maybe he was drunk and not thinking straight. Either way, I'm sure his mama is crying out in anguish, "Why didn't you listen to me! Why?"

Music

First up is Twisted Sister with, "We're Not Gonna Take It."

Next up, is Michael Jackson with "Black or White."

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You are Not Alone #MotivationMonday

Motivation Monday

As Monday rolls around again, I'm tasked with giving you advice to motivate you; however, I'm struggling with motivation myself. There is so much trauma in today's world that many of us have a hard time focusing on what needs to be done. My post today is to tell you, that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

I've seen people discussing failures in my health journey group as well as various

Art by Ron Leishman

other groups such as focusing in business and work. There are so many difficult situations reported in the news, and I confess to being a news junkie who listens to it all.

An analysis of today shows us that we are reliving not one but three difficult historical times, all at once. First off, we are flashed back to the 1960s. This was a time of racial turmoil when individuals fought for black rights. I have to wonder, are we any better than we were in the 1960s? I hope so. For one, many people of a variety of races in cities around the world have joined together as one voice. This is huge since the mistreated people are no longer alone in their protests. But we have serious trouble with police violence toward black people. Sensitivity training, social workers helping people in trouble, or something else must be done! Twelve nights of protests have brought about some change, but we have so much further to go. How do we get motivated to do anything with these bigger concerns? I don't know.

We also have many living like post 1929. This was a time when many have found themselves out of work or struggling to make ends meet. People who have never sought out help or thought they would ever join a food line have come forth for a bag or groceries or a bite to eat. Furthermore, our government sent one bailout check to Americans in need. But for many, this is not nearly enough. If you don't know how to pay your bills, you're probably not motivated. I understand.

Art by Ron Leishman

We are also fighting a pandemic, just as our grandparents or great grandparents fought in 1918. True that COVID-19 is different than the Spanish flu, but horrible, nonetheless. A main difference is the attitude about the disease that has killed over 110,000 people in our country. Many do not take this seriously because they do not believe the numbers are accurate or are convinced it is not a problem for them.

If you have no one close to you who has had the disease and hear only 1% or 2% of people die, maybe you think this is media hype, too. Please believe that being among the 20% with symptoms, and maybe even surviving, is no picnic, either. Back in March, my sister was sicker than she'd ever been in her life. We worried about her daily and wanted that text message or call telling us she was okay; however, there were some days when she was too weak to let us know about her health. Although  she recovered from the disease after over two weeks, her cough lingered. She also had trouble regaining her sense of smell. Even in her days of recovery, she felt like she had just finished a marathon. If someone you care about is ill, or you worry about people who are compromised, it's tough to be motivated to do anything.

For these reasons, it's hard for me to get motivated to do anything. Hopefully, you have more motivation than me. Also, please understand that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Monday Music Moves Me

The theme for this week's Monday Music Moves Me is songs that start with /J/. One song immediately came to my mind, especially in light of how the world is today and what we need. We actually saw these old men perform in Tunica, Mississippi several months back.

Here is "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. Did you know that a three dog night is a night that is so cold that you have to sleep with three dogs to stay warm?

Next up is "Jaded" by Aerosmith. People become jaded when bored or annoyed, which seems to fit a lot of us these days. We have had too much bad news, so here is "Jaded."

Finally, here is a song by the Eagles called, "James Dean." Dean was an actor, known as a rebel, who tragically died way too young in a car wreck. Since so many are feeling rebellious, I saw this J song as fitting with my theme.