As I watched the news unfold about protests around the country for George Floyd my heart was heavy with pain for the families of all the innocent lives taken by law enforcement. I am angered at how our leaders are blaming one another for not keeping cities safe from the outrage of their citizens. Newsflash, our cities are not safe and its not because of protesters. People are outraged because the organization that is sworn in to protect and serve are targeting and killing. A man died for no reason. His arrest allegedly, was over a $20 counterfeit bill. What the fuck? We are in a pandemic, people are struggling and four policemen deem that a reason for detainment. The cruel and inhumane treatment of this man lead to his death. All four officers are responsible. When you heard George Floyd cry out, “I CAN’T BREATHE”, no one protected him and that is abhorrent. Our world and this country are in the midst of total collapse. Citizens are fully woke to the injustices of our society. The hypocrisy is that a black man can die at the hands of our police for a petty crime and the current President and his administration can commit crimes, incite violence and threaten our democracy with reckless authority. We cannot let this happen. We, the people, are all at risk of losing our rights and our lives if we continue to accept this as normal.

We can stand together even with our differences and agree that this is not a GREAT AMERICA.

It is shameless and disgraceful that a black man can’t go for a run without being hunted and killed in broad daylight, and yes that is a recent and real atrocity that just occurred to Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor was a young woman with a bright future and she was murdered in her home by police. No- knock warrants are a threat to us all and a violation of the law. There is blood in the soil and the law protects those in the highest offices. The threats of violence to the individuals who expose these acts of murder speaks to the collective anger of the time we live in. Our anger should be centered around the unregulated free agency to kill human beings with no consequence and the protection for those persons under the law.

What I hate is VIOLENCE. Brutality breeds rampantly in our lives. People have endured physical, sexual, emotional, economic and psychological abuse by the governing systems that work to separate us.

I believe we can live in a non-violent world. There is a better way.

The ideal of a great nation is worth fighting for.

The small print of the headlines are important to understand. This is not an isolated incident. Protesting is a result of officials not taking action over and over again. There is so much pain from all the corruption and silence. Now people are taking a stand against the systems of violence in our society, and I have hope we can change it for the better.