It feels like the world is burning...

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Since the death of Amaud Abrey, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd the world has rightfully been in an uproar! Watching the protests, participating in the protests, watching the politicians pontificate, having conversations with our children about their deaths... adds additional anger, stress, anxiety, depression... to our already taxed mental health. Processing all this as either an ally or as a person who has had to deal with oppression because of the color of your skin, the religion you espouse, your sexual identity... can feel like too much...but always know our site is here to support you, anyday, anytime, always for free.

“You have to demand respect in this world, ain't nobody just going to hand it to you. How you carry yourself, what you stand for-- thats how you gain respect. but little one aint nobody's respect worth more than your own” -Mildred D. Taylor

This world can be harsh, we are constantly told that we can be thinner, have juicer thighs, a small waist, that our thighs shouldn’t touch, that our stomach should be flat, that our muscles should be big, that our skin should be tan, but not too dark, that we shouldn’t rock the boat, that we shouldn’t make others uncomfortable...we are here to tell you, right now, in this moment, you are perfect. Yes, we can all work towards being better people, but better where it counts, kinder, more understanding, more supportive, more loving, more equal….

"History isn't something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities."
-Marsha P. Johnson

We are currently in June, which is Pride Month, so to all our LGBTQIA members, family members, Rainbow Mamas and Papas, we love you, support you and respect you! It was the Stonewall Riots and the bravery of of two Transgender activists that became the catalyst for LGBTQIA Rights. Marsha P. Johnson, an African American Activist and Drag Queen and Sylvia Rivera a Latina American Activist and Drag Queen, both said enough was enough with the police brutality that plagued their community, they refused to stay silent and humbly bow to the status quo.

“I was a radical, a revolutionist. I am still a revolutionist…I am glad I was in the Stonewall riot. I remember when someone threw a Molotov cocktail, I thought, “My god, the revolution is here. The revolution is finally here!”-Sylvia Rivera

When the world feels too heavy and overwhelming just remember, the problems we are facing, intolerance and hatred, are nothing new. It has been going on for millenia, the only thing we can do, must do, is fight for change, change within ourselves, within our communities, within our places of worship, within our history books, we must vote for change at the voting booths and we must teach our children to do better.

Wishing you all nothing but the best-SG

49425

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Amazing, Happy Pride! Hopefully these protests yank our eyes open, our heart open and keep them that way!

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@28945cortneykluger, We could not agree more. Best-SG

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I realized (finally) why I felt so emotional/sad for black people lately AND why I felt angry....
it is a what you say and how u say it kind of thing

While I hear and support the BLM movement and message

There is a part that doesn’t agree with the way the message is coming across....peaceful protest/ok. Riots, destruction of property, looting??? Not ok. Destroys the message...

Imho

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@NCMom, Yes, there is a huge component of anger, but most of the protests have been peaceful and the police have overwhelmingly proven the point of the protesters when they jump to using harmful force when they are there to protect, not attack. Best-SG

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I have a real problem with the current unrest. No one should die unjustly at the hands of the police. Has the news ever reported on unarmed people of any other skin color killed by the cops? It happens more frequently than it happens to black people, but they never report it. There’s something seriously wrong with the way the media reports and creates extreme racial tension. George Floyd did not deserve to die, and it does not appear that he was posing a threat to the police. But just because someone is unarmed does not mean they were defenseless. Many of the cases where the police have killed an unarmed man is because the person was trying to kill the cop either by taking away the cops weapon or just by sheer raw strength. In this case, the killing appears to be completely unjustified. But there are times when a crazy, strung out, powerful person presents such a great threat that the only way the officer can protect himself is to use extreme force which may result in the suspect’s death.

I completely resent society’s accusation of racism against people who claim that “All lives matter.” Nobody should lose their job or be boycotted or shamed because they state that all lives matter. How does that negate the statement that “Black Lives Matter”? People who care about injustice against any person, true equal protection, are losing their jobs if they make a public statement that all lives matter. Or if they make a public statement that they love this country and support the Flag and the National Anthem. Should the battle cry of the rioters be “Only Black Lives Matter”? It seems like that is the only message that may be heard and expressed. The message should be that “Black Lives Matter, Too,” because every life is precious without regard to skin color.

The problem with the protests if that they haven’t changed anything except to INCREASE racial tension. White people are not feeling more accepting and less judgmental of Black people. This is a tragedy! It is also a tragedy that the protests are not making one iota of difference in getting “justice” for George Floyd. If anything, they are hindering justice. The justice department has made a political move to charge the cops as a means to try to quell the rioting. The department usually does its research determine what charge is most likely to result in a conviction. But instead, they have made the charge that they think the rioters want. Did it do any good? No, they are still looting, burning, and killing. Yes, KILLING UNARMED AND INNOCENT PEOPLE. They are destroying the business and property of black people and white people. No, do not support this. George Floyd should not have died, but he was not a role model that our children should look up to. He had a long rap sheet, and his last mistake unfortunately put him in a position of subjection to a bad cop. It’s very sad but there were two things that made it happen: 1. George Floyd once again broke the law. 2. A bad cop used excessive force and killed George Floyd.

A second degree murder charge is not likely to result in a conviction. Second degree murder carries the requirement that the cop had the intent of committing harm to another person even before he arrived or was engaged with that person. Maybe he did. Maybe he knew it was Floyd, and he knew him from their bouncer jobs, and he was going to teach him a lesson. Has any of that been made known, that he knew Floyd was the perp? That he knew Floyd from their other jobs, and that he had bad feelings toward Floyd or toward Blacks?

It pains me to see these situations calling for “Justice” when all of the facts are not known, and most of the people yelling the loudest have no understanding of how the judicial system works. Besides that, they don’t really want justice, they just want the white cop to be lynched.... immediately. Every black/white conflict that makes national headlines calls for the justice of lynching the white person without any due process. There has been sickening bias in the system against minorities in the past, and there is likely to still be some bias currently. But people of all skin colors are sometimes convicted unjustly, and are sometimes exonerated unjustly.

Sometimes black cops kill unarmed black men. Why hasn’t that ever been in the news?

Google Roland G. Fryer, Jr., a black economics professor at Harvard. He set out to do a study to demonstrate that police brutality is racially biased. To his astonishment, he proved to himself the opposite. Black people are NOT more likely to die at the hands of the police. In fact, whites are more likely to be killed. Please read his study and be comforted that things are much better than what the biased media rhetoric. They are only making things worse.

There is no evidence that the current event had anything to do with race, and no evidence that some other police shootings have had anything to do with race. Bad cops don’t care who they hurt.

Unions keep bad people in jobs. After a person passes probation, it is almost impossible to get them fired, no matter what they do. Almost.... What probably needs the most reform is to break up police unions or change the way that the union works so that bad cops can be removed from the force. Everyone in the department knows who the bad cops are, and they also know that they can’t kick them out. That needs to change.

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@Belle-boots, you bring up a lot of good points, there is so much hate and anger, there are so many good cops, there are so many bad, unions, systemic racism, there are real problems and in our latest blog, which we are publishing today, we talk about our thoughts on moving forward. Thank you for sharing your words, your thoughts and your anxiety over all this. It is beyond healthy to delve in, talk about what is in your heart, teach others, learn from others, thank you! Best-SG