Monday, July 25, 2016
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Dear Mr. Ryan Cameron:
A few days ago while in my car, I tuned in to radio station V-103. Ryan Cameron and Wanda were discussing a town hall meeting that was to occur in Atlanta the next day. I asked myself why....why do we need a town hall meeting? I also question the effectiveness of us blocking the interstate. Usually when I get frustrated with world matters I turn to social media and anybody who will listen. I tweeted the words below to Ryan Cameron and also below is his response. My first reaction was wow...someone is listening. I sent a follow up tweet to ask for a generic email address where I could correspond with him about the things I have done and my ideas. But of course the conversation ended with my tweet.
There are many people out there who have ideas about achieving this change everybody wants and requests. I am one of those people. We have to formulate actionable items when we leave these town hall meetings. And it takes people like Ryan Cameron to assist people like me, who do not have the reach or visibility that he does. Speaking of town halls, I also felt the town hall with the President would be a waste of time and it was for the most of us, except for the families who were brought there to speak directly with the President. Haven't we learned that the President is not the most powerful person in America? Why do we keep asking him what he is going to do about all of our problems. He can't even get gun control passed. Those grand standing senators in Washington can get it done but won't. And this leads me to another story. Back in 2014, there was a young man running for Alabama's 2nd Congressional District seat. I no longer live there but my family still does. Martha Roby, who holds the seat, only represents the interests of a small percentage of her constituents. I felt the time was right for a change so i reached out to Erick and offered him my assistance in any way possible. He gave me his campaign literature and I did my best to disseminate his materials in a city where I no longer lived. I also posted info about his campaign on Twitter and Facebook. Needless to say, he didn't win. What bothered me the most is that not many people shared the info I shared (2 shares)....the same people who complained about not having any representation in Washington. The same people who didn't go out and vote. If you remember, the turn out in those mid term elections was poor.
So Mr. Ryan Cameron, I am involved and engaged. I need the help of people like yourself who have influence and a large following, who are willing to do a little extra. Although not obligated, we all should do a little extra.
My wife looks at me crazy sometimes when I say most problems have simple solutions but I truly believe that. The solutions are simple, but the execution is what we need to work on. So I will take a little time and throw out some of the common sense things we can do to achieve change.
1. VOTE: Even if you don't believe in the process, try it anyway. It won't hurt anything. The people who have the largest impact on our lives are elected and they are on the local level. Judges are elected, Mayors are elected. District Attorneys are elected. Get the point. And stop criticizing the people who are active voters.
2. COMPLAIN: Whenever you have a negative interaction with the police or any public figure, file a complaint. Documentation is key. Paper trails are key. Most public figures are on social media. Post to their Facebook pages daily. Send them tweets. Send them emails. Call their phones. Send physical letters.
3. CLEAN UP YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE: Each time some unarmed individual is killed by the police, the media and police dig through their Facebook and Twitter pages to find the worst representation of the victims. If that stuff doesn't exist, it can't be re-posted. Change the visuals and the narrative.
4. CALL YOUR NON-AFRICAN AMERICAN FRIENDS TO THE CARPET: Friends help friends. People who turn a blind eye to a friend in need or trouble is not a friend. If they are not for you, they are against you. Ask them how they feel about the current situation and ask how they plan on assisting with a resolution. We have to influence our peers to influence their peers.
5. USE MONEY TO INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICY: The NRA owns Congress and it's not illegal. Why don't we do the same? Why won't some of all these black millionaires buy a senator or two? Why not contribute to a campaign or two? Equal the playing field. Play the same game...chess, not checkers.
6. POLICE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES: We have to change and reform the police department as a whole. We need to find the money to raise the pay of police officers to attract more officers and get rid of these over worked and under paid conditions. We have to stop allowing police officers to change jobs like clothes when they are involved in questionable and illegal shooting incidents. We require teachers, nurses, corporate professionals, etc to take professional learning classes to keep their jobs. Why not implement that in the police department? Why not require them to attend community events which will allow them to get to know the people in the neighborhoods they serve? We have to push for law changes that police departments can exploit and hide behind when an unarmed individual in killed. Most importantly, we need to make it illegal to fire cops who speak out against other cops.
7. VOCABULARY: Can we please stop using the words protest, march, and boycott? We need a new vocabulary. This isn't meant to offend or disrespect our forefathers. This change we demand doesn't always need a black face. The media puts a negative spin on those words and others automatically assume it's a black cause and do nothing to get involved. Those words instantly cause people to put their guard up. Let's say we need to support black-owned and minority businesses more often as opposed to saying we need to boycott a big box store like Walmart, which never works. Do you believe the "Occupy" movement would have been as big if it was called something like a sit in or the like? Sometimes we need to fly under the radar for a greater impact.
8. UNITE AND ORGANIZE: We have to come together and work together to get things done. The big man on the block needs the little man and vice versa. We need access to people in high places and we need people in the public eye to help establish those relationships. We need high profile lawyers to take a case or two pro bono or at a reduced rate sometimes. We need to get people registered to vote at ALL events...awards shows and parties included. Let everyone with a "I Voted" sticker into your club or event for free, if that's legal. We need to be creative. We are creative. We need to give the little man a monthly platform on some of the syndicated radio and TV shows. We need to use the churches for strategic planning sessions as they did in the old days.
I will leave you with a clip from the ESPN show His and Hers starring Michael Smith and Jemele Hill. Jemele puts the President's job in perspective. Her thoughts on change are dead on with mine. I am just glad someone with a greater reach than mine said something....something similar to the things I write about and tweet about religiously.
I have also included a tweet in response to something spoken by John Legend. No one listens to the little man. Like a broken record, we need our stars and entertainers to be out front, Mr. Ryan Cameron. We need consistent voices in good times and bad...during the election cycle and beyond...year round.
The last thing I will leave you with is a song written over a year ago by Jean Batiste that touches on the deaths of our unarmed people, produced by me. Take a listen. Jean Batiste is also trying to start his own school. Yeah, he is not a "rapper". He is an educator also trying to make a change.
@bamaboysent then get it started Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.— Ryan Cameron (@therealrc) July 13, 2016
There are many people out there who have ideas about achieving this change everybody wants and requests. I am one of those people. We have to formulate actionable items when we leave these town hall meetings. And it takes people like Ryan Cameron to assist people like me, who do not have the reach or visibility that he does. Speaking of town halls, I also felt the town hall with the President would be a waste of time and it was for the most of us, except for the families who were brought there to speak directly with the President. Haven't we learned that the President is not the most powerful person in America? Why do we keep asking him what he is going to do about all of our problems. He can't even get gun control passed. Those grand standing senators in Washington can get it done but won't. And this leads me to another story. Back in 2014, there was a young man running for Alabama's 2nd Congressional District seat. I no longer live there but my family still does. Martha Roby, who holds the seat, only represents the interests of a small percentage of her constituents. I felt the time was right for a change so i reached out to Erick and offered him my assistance in any way possible. He gave me his campaign literature and I did my best to disseminate his materials in a city where I no longer lived. I also posted info about his campaign on Twitter and Facebook. Needless to say, he didn't win. What bothered me the most is that not many people shared the info I shared (2 shares)....the same people who complained about not having any representation in Washington. The same people who didn't go out and vote. If you remember, the turn out in those mid term elections was poor.
So Mr. Ryan Cameron, I am involved and engaged. I need the help of people like yourself who have influence and a large following, who are willing to do a little extra. Although not obligated, we all should do a little extra.
My wife looks at me crazy sometimes when I say most problems have simple solutions but I truly believe that. The solutions are simple, but the execution is what we need to work on. So I will take a little time and throw out some of the common sense things we can do to achieve change.
1. VOTE: Even if you don't believe in the process, try it anyway. It won't hurt anything. The people who have the largest impact on our lives are elected and they are on the local level. Judges are elected, Mayors are elected. District Attorneys are elected. Get the point. And stop criticizing the people who are active voters.
2. COMPLAIN: Whenever you have a negative interaction with the police or any public figure, file a complaint. Documentation is key. Paper trails are key. Most public figures are on social media. Post to their Facebook pages daily. Send them tweets. Send them emails. Call their phones. Send physical letters.
3. CLEAN UP YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE: Each time some unarmed individual is killed by the police, the media and police dig through their Facebook and Twitter pages to find the worst representation of the victims. If that stuff doesn't exist, it can't be re-posted. Change the visuals and the narrative.
4. CALL YOUR NON-AFRICAN AMERICAN FRIENDS TO THE CARPET: Friends help friends. People who turn a blind eye to a friend in need or trouble is not a friend. If they are not for you, they are against you. Ask them how they feel about the current situation and ask how they plan on assisting with a resolution. We have to influence our peers to influence their peers.
5. USE MONEY TO INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICY: The NRA owns Congress and it's not illegal. Why don't we do the same? Why won't some of all these black millionaires buy a senator or two? Why not contribute to a campaign or two? Equal the playing field. Play the same game...chess, not checkers.
6. POLICE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES: We have to change and reform the police department as a whole. We need to find the money to raise the pay of police officers to attract more officers and get rid of these over worked and under paid conditions. We have to stop allowing police officers to change jobs like clothes when they are involved in questionable and illegal shooting incidents. We require teachers, nurses, corporate professionals, etc to take professional learning classes to keep their jobs. Why not implement that in the police department? Why not require them to attend community events which will allow them to get to know the people in the neighborhoods they serve? We have to push for law changes that police departments can exploit and hide behind when an unarmed individual in killed. Most importantly, we need to make it illegal to fire cops who speak out against other cops.
7. VOCABULARY: Can we please stop using the words protest, march, and boycott? We need a new vocabulary. This isn't meant to offend or disrespect our forefathers. This change we demand doesn't always need a black face. The media puts a negative spin on those words and others automatically assume it's a black cause and do nothing to get involved. Those words instantly cause people to put their guard up. Let's say we need to support black-owned and minority businesses more often as opposed to saying we need to boycott a big box store like Walmart, which never works. Do you believe the "Occupy" movement would have been as big if it was called something like a sit in or the like? Sometimes we need to fly under the radar for a greater impact.
8. UNITE AND ORGANIZE: We have to come together and work together to get things done. The big man on the block needs the little man and vice versa. We need access to people in high places and we need people in the public eye to help establish those relationships. We need high profile lawyers to take a case or two pro bono or at a reduced rate sometimes. We need to get people registered to vote at ALL events...awards shows and parties included. Let everyone with a "I Voted" sticker into your club or event for free, if that's legal. We need to be creative. We are creative. We need to give the little man a monthly platform on some of the syndicated radio and TV shows. We need to use the churches for strategic planning sessions as they did in the old days.
I will leave you with a clip from the ESPN show His and Hers starring Michael Smith and Jemele Hill. Jemele puts the President's job in perspective. Her thoughts on change are dead on with mine. I am just glad someone with a greater reach than mine said something....something similar to the things I write about and tweet about religiously.
I have also included a tweet in response to something spoken by John Legend. No one listens to the little man. Like a broken record, we need our stars and entertainers to be out front, Mr. Ryan Cameron. We need consistent voices in good times and bad...during the election cycle and beyond...year round.
The last thing I will leave you with is a song written over a year ago by Jean Batiste that touches on the deaths of our unarmed people, produced by me. Take a listen. Jean Batiste is also trying to start his own school. Yeah, he is not a "rapper". He is an educator also trying to make a change.
Thursday, July 07, 2016
Hired Assassins in Police Uniforms
We are all to blame. Myself included. We don't hold anybody accountable for anything in this country. Drug dealers get life and pedophiles get 5 years. Cops that murder get new jobs. We never want to get involved with anything. We don't want to make noise or rock the boat. It's time to flip the boat and sink it. It's time to call out those who do nothing. It's time to call out the "good cops" who work with these murders. Why are you letting this behavior go, being that you are a public servant? The police want everybody to say something when a crime occurs but they don't and will not say a word when they are elbow to elbow with the devil...when they are in the trenches with Satan.
It's time to do whatever it takes to stop murders by police. We need to call out the Oprah's and Jay-Z's of the world. Use your money like the NRA does and buy a senator or two or thirty. These celebrities have a laundry list of friends. How many of those friends are Governors or Judges? Do all the same things that others do and maybe we will see some change trickle down.
I have noticed how the mistreated people in this country operate. We complain to each other but we do nothing. We make t-shirts and signs. We march and we burn down our own communities. Those things might get media attention but have no effect on the problem. We slander black men and women who join the police force but they aren't on camera gunning down their own people. Instead of trying to remove the people who make decisions that are not in our best interests, we ridicule those people in the community who push for you to make real change. We blow off the election process. We always say voting doesn't work but have you tried it? Does the average person know that some judges, district attorneys, coroners, city council members, etc. are elected? If you don't believe in the election process, try something different. Call your senator everyday. Email them everyday. Go to city council meetings and ask tough questions. We need fearless people in public offices to make the right decisions and we need to put them there. We need the entertainers and athletes to help steer the kids to be more socially conscience and responsible. We need police chiefs who change the rules and stick their necks out for the good of the people. There are people out there for the job but we won't help them get there. We all need to do something. Do anything.
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