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Black and Proud

“Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.”

James Brown

Four months after Martin Luther King Jr was murdered, james Brown penned and performed “Say It Loud. I’m Black and I’m Proud”. His lyrics captured the hearts and minds of people in riot-torn communities across America. Black Lives Matter is another way of saying the same thing. It’s sad to think that almost 60 years later, as a people, we must still demand freedom and safety.

Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud

Now we demand a chance to do things for ourself
We’re tired of beatin’ our head against the wall
And workin’ for someone else

We’re people, we’re just like the birds and the bees
We’d rather die on our feet
Than be livin’ on our knees
Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud

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Truth and Justice

The never ending battle for truth and justice and the American way.

Superman

The quote, used before WWII, didn’t include “the American Way”. That was added with the Superman television series in 1952. America never really fought the battle for truth and justice for all people. Poisoned fruit came over with the pilgrims and was planted in the New World. It began with land grabs, genocide and unequal rights for women. It continued with slavery and, even though a divided country fought the good fight, the roots and seeds remained and regrew as Jim Crow, race laws, lynching, segregation and bigotry. The American legacy includes Racism: the poisoned fruit of a poisoned tree. We’ve got to work much harder to root it out.

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Guilty

The guilty verdict in the George Floyd murder trial isn’t about police reform or political reform. It’s about personal reform. It’s recognizing that murder is murder whoever does it and that justice represented as “blind and balancing scales” has been out of balance for people of color for a very long time. The verdict is about individuals. People have to care enough about other people to make the right and good choice when confronted with any crime against their fellow man especially murder, the most monstrous. It may mean forgoing privilege, or turning the other cheek or simply standing up, but it needs to be done if we are all to move up, not simply forward. Some folks are extolling this a a milestone or turning point. We need to continue to work, and work diligently towards a society that recognizes and accepts equality for everyone. It’s not the line in the sand. It’s the continued journey.