Let the Protests Begin!

Ok, America, it looks like we need a refresher course on nonviolent protesting. I love how passionate most of us are about fighting for change against bad laws in certain states recently, but some of you are going about it the wrong way. Here's a handy do and don't list to follow.

Do: Support businesses who serve all people. They deserve your money, regardless of what state they're in.
Do: Tell others about businesses out there who support all people. The instinct is to boycott entire states, but as I saw beautifully quoted online yesterday, "Boycott the hate, not the state." Besides, the supporters of religious freedom laws will tell you they are doing it to support the free market. So, why not let the free market decide. It can be a double-edged sword, that pesky free market...Let the public decide who will stay in business and who will go out of business. Remember, in a free market, your dollar is your vote. So vote often for the businesses you like, and simply let the ones who perpetuate hatred, fade away from lack of support.

Do not: Threaten the lives and property of people and businesses who support religious freedom bills. This just makes them look like a martyr to their supporters. It also makes you a bully. We're looking to change hearts and minds, or at the very least, create laws to protect all groups of people from being discriminated against. Nobody ever changed their mind by being threatened. It only makes them cling more tightly to their belief.
Do not: Name call or taunt people you speak to who feel differently about this. Nobody likes to be made to feel stupid or worthless. It's really easy to get carried away through social media, but remember why we are fighting: to ensure the rights of all our fellow citizens. Don't lose sight of that goal in the heat of the moment. If you try to live by the Golden Rule, this is the most important time not to forget it. And remember, karma does have a way of kicking your butt when you get too out of control. 

It's really pretty simple, if you follow these few rules. Now, let's get protesting!

Open Letter to Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks

To Pete Carroll and the Seahawks,

You have yet to play the big game on Sunday, but you have already won. A team that plays for one another, and has integrity and the high level of sportsmanship you have, can never be looked upon as losers. A score is merely a number on a board. It won't tell you the hard work that went into it, or the amount of love a team has for one another. It can't tell you how much it brings a city and an entire region together. It doesn't distinguish between playing fairly or playing not-so fairly. Such things cannot be quantified. They come from the team itself.

Regardless of the outcome of Sunday's game, you are the winners. You are our champions, and we will pridefully and lovingly welcome you back to town with cheers and applause. We thank you for your hard work, effort, and dedication to the team and to our city.

May you play on Sunday with strength, dignity, and integrity. May you keep your heads above the fray. May you do your best, try your hardest, and keep a weathered eye out for whatever your opponents throw your way.

Now, that being said, I would really love it if you guys won, because I really want to see Captain America come to town wearing a Seahawks jersey...

Go Hawks!
-Summer Whitesell

My Thoughts on Ferguson and Michael Brown

Michael Brown was a criminal thug who got what he deserved. Michael Brown was a young, flawed man with a promising future and was treated too harshly. I suppose it depends on how you view Michael Brown that colors your view on what is currently happening in Ferguson, Missouri. All life is precious, except if you are a person of color who doesn’t fit your view of a “good” and “obedient” and therefore, nonthreatening, citizen. It’s easy to love and be accepting of people from your own similar background, class and education level, and values, but if we are to love everybody, as the Bible and common human decency commands, we cannot limit ourselves to just those who fit our view of “good” citizens.

There are several points I hear a lot in online and tv discussions that I would like to touch on.

*Just trust in the system/The system works: There is an example from my own childhood that I think speaks to how the justice system works for people of color in this country. When I was a kid, we used to play Kick the Can almost every night in the summertime. The older kids, myself included, would do the counting off to determine who was “it”. However, we knew how to rig it by starting at a certain person so that we were never the person tagged as “it”. We were playing by the rules, rules designed to be fair and impartial, only we were cheating. We were taking advantage of the fact that the others in the group were too young to realize what we were doing to protest or fight against us. All they ever knew was that they were always “it”. This is how the justice system works for people of color in this country, only they do know it’s not working fairly, but they can’t fight it because those doing the cheating are the ones in control of the system. It’s easy not to see the unfairness in the system when it always works out for you.

            After generations of unfairness, you learn to not trust in the system to work out for you, and why should you? It never has yet. It’s like Lucy van Pelt holding the football for Charlie Brown and swearing that this time she’ll keep a hold on it. Charlie grudgingly trusts her after she produces a signed document guaranteeing her promise. With a deep breath and a new sense of hope and empowerment, he goes to kick the ball, only to have her pull it out from under him at the last minute. She then cites some flimsy excuse as to why her signed document was null and void. We watch it every year and say to ourselves, “Lucy, why are you so cruel to him?” and “Charlie Brown, why do you always fall for it?” If we think Charlie Brown needs to wake up and stop trusting Lucy, then how can we possibly tell other people in this nation to just be patient and wait for the system to work out for them?

*This isn’t actually about Michael Brown: Michael Brown is the straw that broke the camel’s back. This is about him and all the other multitudes of black men killed by police officers over the years. This is about being fed up with police officers using excessive force against black people, men and women, when it isn’t warranted. This is about why “Walking while black” is an actual phrase used in this country. This is about the system working unfairly for all people of color, men and women. This is about being so over it.

*You choose how you respond to things: Wrong. We are conditioned to respond to things. When something is done to you enough times, you start to see everything in that light. How a lower middle class black teenage young man sees and responds to a police officer will always be different from how an upper middle class white adult male’s response would be. They cannot be compared and they are both 100% valid.

            There are studies that show that people see black people as being older, bigger, and scarier than they really are, if they are at all. This conditioning goes into the minds of police officers around this country. We could say “Oh, Michael Brown should have just complied with the officer,” but the officer might not have picked him out to deal with in the first place if Michael Brown hadn’t been black. Remember, Officer Wilson stopped Brown for walking in the street, not for the theft report which came about later. Wilson’s story that emerged from the grand jury was different from his original story.

            Michael Brown was conditioned to react badly to the police officer, but the police officer was also conditioned to see Michael Brown as being bigger and meaner then he really was. The fact that he referred to him as looking like a “demon” shows this. There is only a one inch height difference between the two men, yet Officer Wilson describes him as looking so much bigger than himself.

            This is something we all need to work on. If conditioning got us to this point, doesn’t it make sense that reconditioning ourselves could eventually get us past this point?

*But look at all the looting and rioting, this just takes away from the message: The media is showing you the story it wants to tell you. The story that will keep you watching for as long as possible, and it’s working. They are not showing you the peaceful protests and the acts of love and kindness that are also occurring at this time. The more the media keeps you frightened, the more likely you are to tune in.

            One can look at the violence being inflicted in many different ways. You can see it as criminals breaking the law. You can see it as opportunists taking advantage of a chaotic situation. You can see it as people who have no other way of expressing their fury, rage, and disappointment and guaranteeing that they will finally be heard. The system has failed them one more time and sometimes you just can’t take it anymore and you snap.

            I choose to see this all as what hopelessness and helplessness does to a person over time. It tears you down and beats you down until you find any possible way to fight back. Don’t be shocked or outraged over this, be saddened. Be compassionate. I don’t generally condone violence against other people’s property, and never against other people, but what we are seeing is people driven past the point of rationality. There is nothing rational about burning down a building in your community, but there is also nothing rational about treating people so badly for so long that they are left with no other alternative to express themselves. I suppose what I am trying to say is, Don’t blame the residents of Ferguson for what is happening there, blame all of us for not caring enough to change anything before it came to this point.

*Privilege: We look at the world as though everybody shares our same viewpoint, which for me is a middle class white woman who currently has job security and a relatively uneventful and easy life. I have six years of post-high school education under my belt and no debt. It would be very, very wrong of me to assume that everybody must live like this and share my view of the world. I have had opportunities available to me that other people haven’t, solely because of my pigmentation or lack thereof. This is something I always try to keep in mind when a racial issue arises in this nation. I try to see it from the point of view of a person who has experienced it all their life, because I certainly cannot speak to it. But it would be wrong of me to say, “Well, that’s not my experience, so they must be incorrect.” This only perpetuates the racial inequality problems in this country. “I got mine, so to hell with everybody else,” is not the attitude of a good citizen of this country/Christian/human being.

*What should be done about all of this? Body cameras for every police officer in this country is a great first step. It would solve a lot of the “he said/he can’t say cuz he’s dead” disputes. It might make police officers who were inclined to be harsher to people of color, think twice because they’ll be caught on camera if they do.

            There are other issues at play that need to be resolved as well, like ensuring that all children have equal chances at getting healthy food to eat and an education, and when they become adults, ensuring that they have equal job opportunities. We can’t point fingers and say “Why can’t you just comply with the rules? I did and look where it got me,” when the same level of opportunities is not extended to everybody? This is a class issue as much as it is a race issue.

           

I have to believe that things can change in this country. I have to keep hope that there will be a better day. We all deserve to live here in peace and comfort, and it’s on every single one of us to ensure that.

            It’s hard sometimes, being a white ally in a fight where you aren’t always wanted or made to feel welcome. Fighting with your own friends and family is tough, but it’s still important to help other people become aware of their own class, race, and gender privileges. How can anything ever be changed if we stay blind to our own advantages? This isn’t about guilt, this is about awareness. Sometimes the best thing we can do in an unfair situation, is be a witness to it.

            Being a white ally might get you looked at with mistrust by others, and why shouldn’t it? We represent the broken system. We benefit from it. We have to earn it. So the question is, are we going to be like Lucy when she holds the football for Charlie Brown? Will we pull the ball out from underfoot at the last minute with a smirk and a cheeky excuse, or will we be there for him, allowing him to finally make the kickoff? I know what I want to do…How about you?

Citations and good sources to check out: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/25/366567307/florida-woman-in-stand-your-ground-case-accepts-plea-deal 

http://www.propublica.org/article/deadly-force-in-black-and-white 

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/03/black-boys-older.aspx

"Hands up, Don't shoot"

This week has been difficult on multiple levels, but the issue that has driven me to write a blog post  after a year of not blogging, is the continuously unfolding situation in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18 year old young man has sparked protests around the nation. The facts are slow in coming and dubious at best, thus far. The police department of Ferguson seem to change their story daily, and sometimes several times a day. The witness accounts have remained steady ever since they started coming out over the course of the last week. There is a plethora of blog posts and news articles about this unfolding event, but I would like to add a few points of my own.

*Releasing the name of the officer who shot Michael Brown just hours before releasing the video footage of of the convenience store robbery where Brown was allegedly the perpetrator is nothing less than baiting and switching. After digging in their heels for a week, the police were forced to release the name, but the media latched onto the video footage and ran it constantly while the name of the police officer was buried beneath it. The intent might not have been to bury the name, but that is exactly what ended up happening. As a viewer it feels like the police as well as the media said, "Here's the name of the man who shot and killed an unarmed person, but why don't you focus instead on this theoretically incriminating footage instead? That way you'll associate the dead young man with crime and villainy and you'll be more ok with the fact that we shot him to death." This definitely worked as a good distraction away from the man who actually pulled the trigger.

*As a part of the above point, is the idea of victim-blaming. Because the man who was shot and killed was allegedly involved in a robbery just minutes before he was killed, and because the cops need a scapegoat, it's easiest to blame him for what happened. He "deserved" what he got because he was bad. If he hadn't been involved in the robbery, none of this would have happened. But the latest story the police are telling is that the officer who killed Brown was pulling him and his friend over for walking(while black) in the middle of the street and it wasn't until after he'd killed him that he apparently saw indications that he might have been the one involved in the robbery. This means that he was stopped by the officer for something completely unrelated, which makes that footage irrelevant in all of this.

*Another point I would like to bring up is the use of the footage to discredit and tear apart the reputation of Michael Brown. Even if he was guilty of this crime, he was still innocent until proven guilty. He should have been given a chance for the justice system to work. Of course the fact that he was African American and a man works against him within the justice system, but in spite of that, he still should have been given the opportunity to defend himself. Instead, the shooting officer played judge, jury, and executioner for Brown and he will never have his chance to tell his side of the story. And on the flip side, the officer is also innocent until proven guilty. He needs a chance to tell his side of the story, once they solidify what it really is...

*And my last point is this: Nobody is just the worst thing they have ever done. If Michael Brown was guilty of the robbery in the film footage, he deserved a chance to redeem himself. Young people make stupid mistakes all the time and it shouldn't necessarily cost them their life. From what his family says, he was a sweet, gentle young man who worked very hard, had just graduated high school and was going to go to college. All of those things are worth celebrating and go into making him the person he was. He wasn't "just" a "bad guy" who can be written off because of a bad choice he made one day. And again, on the other side, the shooting officer is more than the worst thing he ever did. Not much is known about him, but I would wager to bet he has done some good and amazing things in his life as well, and shouldn't be judged only for this incident, which may have been a choice, albeit a bad one, or perhaps it was a terrible mistake.

There are no winners in this situation. Everybody has lost something. I don't know what can be done to rectify the situation, and when we're dealing with a loss of life, I don't know that you can rectify that. I would hope that if anything good comes out of this, it would be opening the eyes to everybody in this country of the plight that affects so many men and women of color in this nation. They are our fellow American citizens, and they deserve the same rights and treatment that so many in white America take for granted. Let us stand up for one another and speak out against unfair treatment when we see it. Let us try to treat one another with the love, peace, and respect that we all deserve and wish for ourselves.

Syria-My Take

I have been mulling the situation in Syria over for the past week or so, reading as much as I can and watching news reports about it. I have had the words in my head floating around but not forming into anything coherent, until now. I have composed my thoughts under categories to keep it better organized. But I would start it out with a quote, because I think a lot of people are dealing with disillusionment right now and are trying to decide about how to remain loyal to a party they are a part of, even when they are at odds with some of the choices it is trying to make. It's an uncomfortable position to be in, but still, we have to work though it.

"There are all kinds of courage...It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." --Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Hypocrisy and Party Affiliation: If something is wrong, it's wrong no matter who is proposing it. Even if he/she is on "your" side. And consequently, if something is right, it's right no matter who proposes it. Even if he/she is on "their" side. If the previous president had proposed this, we'd be protesting it as loudly as we possibly could. It's ok to stand up to your own party and tell them they're wrong. If people stood up for what they feel is right, regardless of party affiliation, perhaps past recent military actions could have been avoided.

World War Two Connections: I am hearing a lot of comparisons to the Second World War and the current situation in Syria, but this needs to stop. The two are not at all connected. The United States did not enter the war in order to stop the Holocaust and bring justice to those who were killing people in concentration camps. That was just a side effect of fighting against Germany. Germany was invading neighboring countries, and expelling people from those countries. This is why the United States got involved. Syria is in the midst of a civil war. It is not trying to take over other nations. Yes, it's using methods that it shouldn't be, but it is an internal issue, not one leaking into other countries, except in the sense of neighboring countries having to take in floods of refugees. Also, I would like to note that there is a concept known as Godwin's Law. People should familiarize themselves with this concept, because constant comparisons to Hitler/the Nazis, generally cheapens and weakens an argument, instead of strengthening it.

Our Own Problems: When we cannot or refuse to take care of our own people, that says something about us as a whole. And it's not a good something. People going bankrupt to pay medical bills, people out of work for years and we want to drug test them before doling out food stamps, letting children go hungry and suggesting that they work as school janitors for food, not medicating our mentally ill homeless population, etc., these are horrible atrocities right in our own backyard. I would argue that they are unforgivable atrocities as well. We cannot help others, in good conscience, until our own helpless are cared for. To take money that could help these people and use it for military operations we claim are in the name of peace, is madness. We cannot and should not put a third war on our credit card.

Honor/Saving Face: Our president has claimed that this is not about saving face for him, yet I have heard it said that our nation has a reputation to uphold in all of this. What will the world think of us if we back out now? I feel there is a lot of pride involved in the decision-making. I feel that how the world sees us should never factor into using weapons against another nation, unless it is to ask how badly they will see us. Terrible wars have been fought in the past because of national pride and honor. It is something we need to move beyond as a society. Unless you are willing to join the military and fight and possibly give up your own life, you have no right to request somebody else go fight for your honor.

The Slippery Slope: We live in a war-addicted nation that has involved itself in some level of conflict since the end of the Second World War. War is good for the economy, and it keeps our military robust and occupied. We cannot seem to leave well enough alone. Three months of missile strikes will likely escalate the situation in Syria and we'll need more missile strikes, and eventually boots on the ground. I have no doubt that a small involvement will lead to a more, greater involvement in the region.
 As abhorrent as the use of chemical weapons is, I would argue that it is equally abhorrent to involve ourselves in another country's civil war.

What a Strike Won't do: *Bring the dead back. This won't resolve anything, especially if it's done so long after the fact. This would only be an act of vengeance.
*End the Syrian civil war. Most likely it will extend any military actions taken by all sides of the conflict, thus making more people suffer longer.

In Conclusion: Horrible things happen every day in this world. We really are terrible to one another. It's just awful. But we must learn sometime that we cannot resolve the world's problems by bombing them. It only makes things worse. Perhaps I come across as uncaring about the people of Syria, but I am very sympathetic to their plight. I wish we would explore non-violent methods of involvement, including humanitarian efforts. That is the best way to help out.

An Oddly Amazing Moment

I haven't blogged in over a year, so hopefully this will be a good one...If a bit rambly and random...

I've heard it said that some Native American cultures revere people who are insane, because in their view, the spirits spoke to and through them. The people just couldn't handle it, and that's what explained the unusual behavior. And because of this, they were to be revered. I've always found that interesting. Today I had an experience that made me think they might just have been right...

I was coming home on the bus, and a man who is not in his right mind got on in Fremont. He usually waits at a bus stop further along and goes up to the bus, yells out something incoherent, and then scurries away. But today he got on. He called out stuff randomly, and everybody did their best to ignore him, and give him his space. He sat in the front, without anybody else around him. Not that anybody had moved to avoid him, that part of the bus was empty when he got on. Anyway, finally a woman got on and sat across from him, so he eventually directed his gibberish at her. He told her how he was going to visit his mother in Northgate because Cher was visiting and he wanted to see her. Then he pointed to another woman several seats away and said that he thought she was pretty and that she looked like his mother and that his mother was a model. The woman across from him listened politely as he spoke. A moment later he said that he hadn't been chosen for his looks. He looked at her and repeated that a few times. And then he said "I know this, I wasn't chosen for my looks, I know this. Most people will say they know things, but I *know* it." He really emphasized that he truly knew this, as if somebody had told him. Then he asked the woman across from him if she knew what she'd been chosen for and she said she hadn't been chosen for anything, she had no recollection of being chosen. He looked at her as if she was so strange, as if, how can anybody not know they what they were chosen for in life? It was the most obvious thing to him.

It made me sit back and wonder to myself. Maybe he knew he was chosen because somebody really had told him. But not a mortal somebody, like his mother or a teacher, but maybe the spirits really did talk to him and reveal such things to him. Maybe he could see things we can't. It was a really cool moment; it made me realize that you never know what you can learn from a person. Even an insane man on the bus. Even he has wisdom to share with you and the world, and sometimes it's a good thing to listen. You were chosen for something, sir, I absolutely believe that...

Referendum 74

Voting 4 Referendum 74

This coming November, Washington state has the unique opportunity to open our hearts and minds and extend marriage equality to those who want it, or to keep the status quo. For those of you who are undecided on how to vote, I would offer you my opinion on why voting "4 74" is the right thing to do.

*This is not an “us vs. them” issue. There really is no “vs.” in it at all. This isn’t a battle. We are not Eastern vs. Western Washington, Cougs vs. Huskies, straight vs. gay; we’re all one Washington state. Nobody will lose if 74 passes, but many will lose if it doesn’t.

*Gay people serve in our military, fighting and dying for our freedom and safety. They deserve to have the same rights that their straight counterparts enjoy freely. Can we live with ourselves knowing that others fight for our rights when we so easily withhold it from them in return?

*Even if you don’t realize it, you have gay people in your life. Just because you aren't aware of it or they aren't publicly "out", they are a part of your life. They are your neighbors, your coworkers. They are your friends and your family--your children and grandchildren. They deserve equal protection under the law. These people are our fellow citizens, our fellow Washingtonians, we should strive to increase everybody's rights and freedom.

*If 74 passes in Washington state, the main change is that gay people will legally be allowed to get married. Another change is an increased state-wide revenue as people choose to come here to marry. Businesses around the state will see an increase in revenue, the state will see an increase in taxes received and fees from marriage licenses which can then be used to fund badly needed programs we can all benefit from. If 74 fails, gay people will remain unable to marry in our state. But you will know that you are actively oppressing your fellow citizens.

*Don’t let out-of-state marketing campaigns form your opinions for you. Vote with your mind and your conscience. Stand up to out-of-state influences telling you how to vote. Let us choose for our own state to do the right thing for our fellow Washingtonians.