The last half of August left my heart tied up in knots. As the announcer informs the viewers, the game canceled, my mind flashed back to March 11th when seconds before tip-off, the Thunder game canceled—a Jazz player tested positive for Covid-19. Within days life as we knew it changed.
My mind leaped to May 25th. The image tattooed on my heart of George Floyd’s murder, a police officer, blatantly displays his white power with his knee pressing on Floyd’s neck, sprang into slow motion. Within days life as we knew it changed.
On August 23rd, Jacob Blake shot by police while they held on to his white T-shirt. Firing seven times into Jacob’s back at close range, the young man is now paralyzed from the waist down. Basketball stops again on August 26th. Players walk away from playoff games in protest to Jacob Blake’s shooting and their stand on systemic racism. My heart tattooed with another image. Is life ever going to change?
It’s time, my friends, to start having difficult conversations. The ones we avoid. Uncomfortable dialogs are necessary for healing and understanding.
Preparing to write this blog, I did some research. Searching for answers, I couldn’t find and facts hard to believe.
Let’s look at the last half of August again. The week of August 17th, the democratic convention starts virtually. The week of the 24th, it was the republicans turn in a mixture of virtual and live audiences. I listened to the key presentations in both. Happy, the TV limited their live coverage to the last hour of prime time. I heard some things I liked and didn’t enjoy both weeks. I still have questions and concerns.
Congress went on break while compromise to help millions of Americans without jobs and insurance in the middle of a global pandemic are left waiting. Why? The Political Divide is like the Grand Canyon. Middle ground doesn’t exist. Every vote demonstrates the importance of people involved and caring for their community.
August 28th, the fifty-seventh anniversary of the March on Washington, brought thousands of citizens to the Mall in Washington, D.C. It appears our youth stand ready for the button to pass to them. I am impressed with the young people I see stepping up. Fifty-seven years ago, I thought my generation would make all the changes happen almost overnight. We were looking through rose-colored glasses.
A Newsweek article states: “According to data up to August 22, there were only three days since the death of Floyd on May 25 in which police did not kill someone—June 4, June 14, and August 12.”
I later learned in the first two-hundred-thirty-five days (235) of 2020, seven-hundred-fifty-one (751) people killed by police violence in the US, as reported by Mapping Police Violence. This fact scares me too,
August ends with a local report of an older black woman’s arm broken by an officer who was putting her in handcuffs during a domestic disturbance call. My sensitivity heightened; I wonder if this much force is necessary and points to the fact officers need more training to diffuse situations to prevent this from happening again.
Covid-19 and systemic racism seem to be working together to keep my heart distressed. No wonder I feel my stress level rise. I see Covid numbers continue to rise as officials use a rolling weekly average. I hear about Thunder supporters withdrawing their support for the team by not watching the games because they protested Blake’s shooting. Really?!
Friends, the time to start difficult conversations is now. I will begin by letting you know I am looking for answers to the facts and situations I have presented this week. Will you join our community and me by going to the website and leaving a comment or send me an email?
When you hear about Covid and racism on the news or in conversation, what emotions arise? Are you stuffing them so you can be in Polite Society, or are you just letting them roll-off, or do you spend time to seek out answers? Does talking about racism make you uncomfortable?
Think about these questions this week.
Next week is Part Two of It Stopped Basketball.
