SILENCE! The new running man challenge.
SILENCE! The new running man challenge.
http://snrnews.us/29A1eQA
Have you ever seen a person take their last breath? You ever see a person struggle with their grip on time and lose it to eternity right before your eyes? For millions of Americans and even more worldwide, such is the case with Mr. Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Last night, Mr. Sterling lost his life at the hands of two Baton Rouge officers who responded to a call in front of a convenience store. Once there, the officers encountered Mr. Sterling who was in front selling cd’s. It was his last time. The last time he’d sell a cd. The last time he’d make money to support his family, and the last time he’d think about his family. You know, his wife and five children.
Click here to contribute to The GoFundMe account for Mr. Sterling’s family
As Mr. Sterling’s blood spilled out onto the concrete the officers scrambled out of reaction and into survival as he lay dying. An investigation accompanies each shooting, so they’ll be good for at least a few weeks. But what then? What happens if the PD affirms the shooting? What do we do in the meantime? How do we feel in the meantime? Do you know how traumatizing it is to watch a person take their last breath? Millions of Americans will go with symptoms of PTSD undiagnosed because of watching the horrendous officer involved shootings that yield no convictions.
While civilians scramble to pick up the pieces, the brothers in blue have their own glue. They’re holding it together by holding it in! Not a peep from an office around the country about it. Baton Rouge is standing alone but very much nestled safely in the fraternity of badge holders worldwide.
DJ Rosenberg felt strongly about the police department silence, watch this clip from his show
Just a few weeks ago, police departments worldwide joined the forray and danced in the now viral “Running Man” challenge. PD’s from all over the world joined and challenged each other. In the wake of last night’s shooting in Baton Rouge, silence is the new running man challenge as departments seemingly challenge each other to remain quiet or ambiguous in the wake of the shooting and turmoil. Now, police departments are running, literally scurrying away from any social responsibility to assure citizens that what happened to Mr. Sterling was a blight on policing and not policy. At today’s press conference, it was recorded that the two officers felt ‘completely justified’ in the shooting.
You don’t have to be black to feel sad for Mr. Sterling’s son who ‘just wants his daddy’ or his wife now left alone to raise their children. You don’t have to be from Louisiana to understand that sometimes officers make bad decisions and you don’t have to be a police officer to want people to understand that not all officers are bad. When officers are killed in the line of duty, communities come together to honor slain officers. When officers take lives unjustly, entire departments shrink back away from the community, shielding itself from any and all inquiries and interaction.
Why are PD’s across the nation silent? This shooting doesn’t affect them, or does it? Not a single one wants to express their condolences to the Sterling Family. Not a single one, today? Not a single department headed by a black chief? Not a single one…?
Dr. Martin Luther King had this to say:
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Who are the friends of the Sterling family, you ask? The men and women in blue who are better trained to de-escalate a stop. The Internal Affairs departments that would have already had Officers Salamoni and Lake badges and guns. Clergy members’ voices are also strikingly mute. It’s after 6pm CST and by now almost the whole world has seen the story on at least a ticker on the news. Of all the religious leaders who beckon for face time on other issues are certainly missed in this sensitive moment.
America seems poised to return to the days of Jim Crow when blacks feared for their lives. While this may be true, this is also true:
#BlackLivesMatter isn’t enough this time. No hashtag or marches will do the job this time. The righteous indignation of a bunch of people who look just like Mr. Sterling has finally been stoked…they ain’t coming in peace, either! -Fred Willis on Facebook
Silence…it’s the new running man challenge for American Police Departments. Now let me issue my own running man challenge. 1) Register to Vote 2) Run to the polls and vote OUT every politician and elected official (judges, D.A’s) who stand against equality and equity in America 3)It’s time to step up and accept the challenge. Run for office, be the change from the chair of the policy makers.
Failing to do so inevitably schedules us here at this same place, in this same sentiment sooner than later. A place none of us will be eager to be found running back to…
