I
ask the question –
How
much do black lives matter to black lives?
As
for the Black Lives Matter Movement
Black lives should matter to
black people.
We
must be held accountable, and take responsibility
for the fact that
too
many of our black people are gunned down, cut down,
beat
up and beat down, stomped on
and
left for dead…by other black people.
Black
children should matter to their
parents.
Black
parents should matter to their
children.
Black
brothers should matter to black
brothers and black sisters.
Black
sisters and black brothers should matter
to each other.
One
of the conditions to become a member of a gang
like
the Bloods and Crips were (and maybe still “are”)
the
pre-condition of membership…
the
candidate was to draw blood -
To
go out and do harm, maim, or kill a brother –
murder in cold blood.
So
he’s saying, as I see it,
his
brother’s life does not matter in the least,
of
no importance, of no worth, insignificant, irrelevant.
He
can just drive up and down the streets where black people
live and breathe, and
make their home, their sanctuary,
and
just shoot aimlessly and take a black life, any life,
a
child innocently standing by.
Black
lives don’t matter so often to his
own person -
His
own life does not matter.
So
many young black men don’t think in terms of their future lives,
or
their individual lives.
Too
many don’t care if they live or die today or tomorrow.
It doesn’t matter.
If
it doesn’t matter that over the 4th
of July weekend (written in 2016)
there
were over 60 murders in the city of Chicago,
where’s
the hope of living?
Life
mattering, as I see it, means your values
matter,
your
responsibilities matter, your duties and obligations
matter;
individual honor and decency
should matter.
If
they don’t matter, you are condemning
your own self
to not mattering;
if
you just don’t matter to yourself;
if
your people don’t matter; if your
history doesn’t matter to you,
how
can you really stand correct and honorably,
and
require/request that your life should matter
to someone else.
(Though
in all truth under God, we are to love one another, all.
And
there’s the matter of regard for
humanity.)
Nevertheless,
as it stands, it is evident that our lives too often have
not mattered to one another,
Also
a truth.
There
is blatant disrespect in all categories - men to women,
to our elders, parents;
and men and women disrespect themselves.
To
express someone matters, means a show
of respect and honor
and dignity for
yourself and towards others.
Your
character should matter. Your integrity should matter.
Your
reputation should matter.
At
the same time, I’m not disagreeing that the lawlessness
continuously demonstrated
against black people
by the establishment order
should
be brought to judgment and stand accused of crimes
against
humanity, and against all that is holy.
Why
not let us, black people, take hold of the teachings
of Dr. King and
put on “The Drum Major Instinct.”
To
quote a line or two –
“The instinct that I must be first, I must be
supreme…
it’s a good instinct if your
use it right. It’s a good instinct
if you don’t distort and pervert
it… But I want you to be first in love…
in moral excellence…in
generosity.”
“Wisdom from above is first of
all pure, then it is peace-loving,
courteous (considerate),
yields to reason,
full of compassion and good
fruits; it is whole-hearted
and straight-forward, impartial and unfeigned (free
of insincerity).”
James 3:17
“First take the beam out of
your own eye”. Matthew 7:5
“The way of a fool is right in
his own eyes, but he
who listens to counsel is wise.” Proverbs 12:15
“Give instructions to a wise
man and he will be yet wiser;
teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning.”
Proverbs 9:9
Special
Note (2016):
According to a Huffington Post report,
810 people have died in jail since
Sandra Bland supposedly
committed suicide on July 13, 2015.
“Black people are more likely to die in jail
(than other groups)
because they are more likely to be
arrested than any other
racial group, for reasons that have much to
do with double standards
in the justice system and historic oppressions as
they do with crime.”
(Story
by Dana Liebelson and Ryan J. Reilly – 7-13-2016)
“I will make justice the
measuring line and righteousness
the plummet (fall, plunge); and hail will
sweep away the refuge
of lies, and waters will overwhelm the hiding places.”
Isaiah
28:16
“You have not chosen Me, but I
have chosen you, and
I have appointed you…
to bear my fruit, to be the
fruit of My Spirit.” John 15:16
Amen (so be it… that’s my
voice)
