sarahpickardcole

[sarahpickardcole]

The Police View: 2 Different Worlds Coexisting As 1

I have been thinking a lot about Black Lives Matter and why it needs to exist in 2018. I blogged about this recently and will keep talking about this because it does NEED to exist even if it makes people uncomfortable.

I recently had a Facebook discussion on the Syracuse Black Lives Matter page about a Hispanic Child who was being forcefully held to the ground by 3 adult men and 1 who seemed to think it was necessary to knee the boy in the ribs during the time they had him held down.

One of the Facebook commenters said, “ . . .  What exactly do you think should have happened? Things were (seemingly) going peacefully until the teen kicked a table and tried to run. Would you have preferred a taser or pepper spray, or a full-body tackle? A leg sweep, or a punch or a kick that knocked him out? “

My response was, “ Not being a police officer, but part of the public and a mother, I can tell you 3 adult men on one 14-year old is excessive in any way you wish to see it. I have a 14-year old son and I know it wouldn't take 3 adults to subdue him even if he was as angry as one could be. Here's the thing and this is he has a best friend who is his age and is a black child. He's large for his age in stature. I worry about him every day. I worry about him in a way that I don't find myself worrying about my own son and that is where the problem lies. Change needs to happen and we ALL need to demand it. “

Really, in the end, the problem lies in how the police treat the people of color versus how they treat white people. There’s a HUGE difference. There’s also a HUGE difference in how children of color are taught to interact with the police versus white children.

I never taught my son the following or had it been taught to me:

When you are stopped by the police keep your hands on the wheel

Don’t talk back or question an officer

Don’t walk with your sweatshirt hood pulled up after nightfall

Make sure you aren’t in any neighborhoods that are predominantly white

And so on . . .

This is how I would have to talk to my child if he were not white.

Why is that? If there’s only 1 way the police behave towards both people of color and white people then why does one race view the police as protectors and the others view them as something to fear? 

[sarahpickardcole]

Why? Why Racism?

I have always had trouble understanding why racism still exists today. I think the real problem is I have never understood fully the historical beginnings of racism.

I watched a 60 minutes segment this past weekend and ended it believing everyone should watch it. I never really thought about the history I learned in school so many years ago, but I do not recall this important period of history being in our lesson plan. If it was taught then it was glossed over because the images of these lynchings would have been seared into my memory had I seen them as a child. They are after having watched it last night and having seen the images of a mother and child being lynched. It was as emotional as the Holocaust photos and in reality, it was similar. It needs to be taught in school.   I have heard people say it is history and we need to move on. We can't move on if we haven't learned from it. The same as the Holocaust. We haven't healed as a nation and that's why this ignorance still breathes in our country.

Let's start with this fact. Did you know 1 IN 3 BLACK MALES will be incarcerated in their lifetime?  Compare that with 1 in 17 WHITE MALES. So the lynchings may have stopped but unjust incarceration rates continue to skyrocket which continue to hold the black community down. There's no freedom in this.

Excerpt from Huffington Post, "1 In 3 Black Males Will Go To Prison In Their Lifetime, Report Warns"

The problem begins with police activity.  According to Justice Department data cited in the report, police arrested black youth for drug crimes at more than twice the rate of white youth between 1980 and 2010, nationwide. Yet a 2012 study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that white high-school students were slightly more likely to have abused illegal drugs within the past month than black students of the same age.

Blacks are also far more likely than whites to be stopped by the police while driving. The Sentencing Project report largely attributes the racial disparities in both traffic and drug arrests to “implicit racial bias” on the part of the police.

“Since the nature of law enforcement frequently requires police officers to make snap judgments about the danger posed by suspects and the criminal nature of their activity, subconscious racial associations influence the way officers perform their jobs,” the report contends. Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/04/racial-disparities-criminal-justice_n_4045144.html

Syracuse NY has an equal problem with the national levels of racial disparity. Follow Herve Yves Comeau, as he continues to try with all his soul to get this message heard. He's an activist with Black Lives Matter Syracuse New York. Most recently he had to stand alongside a mother who witnessed via video her son who has special needs being brutalized by a local police officer and even with video evidence the police officer faced no punishment and the child was vilified. I know from past conversations with people that it always goes like this -

"Well, when she was pulled over she shouldn't have sassed the police officer." (Subject Sandra Bland's unjust death following a traffic stop)

"Really? Have you ever yourself or someone you knew talked back to a police officer when you were pulled over for a traffic ticket?"

"Of course not. I would never . . . !"

Here’s the thing though. I've never heard of white people being killed at a traffic stop for "sassing" a police officer. I've never heard of white people being gunned down in their grandmother's backyard while holding a cell phone. I've never heard of white people being choked to death for ALLEGEDLY selling a "loosie" cigarette. 2 SETS OF STANDARDS. 1 for white people and 1 for black/brown people.

Read Herve's latest post - https://www.facebook.com/blmsyr315/posts/604289483249777

Here's another interesting and admirable person named Jane Elliott. She is still fighting as an activist and is in disbelief that she still has to talk about this problem/scar we have on our nation. A long time ago she did an experiment with children called the "Blue Eyes Brown Eyes" experiment. It really touched on the roots of racism and what can be done about it. In my opinion, until it happens to us (with some people, at least) it doesn't matter. Jane puts you, as much as she can, in the shoes of being a minority in this country/world. Here's the video: https://vimeo.com/153858146

What can you do as a single individual? A few things.

Start by not saying, "ALL lives matter." "Blue lives matter." . . . We know Blue Lives Matter. We cannot say ALL Lives Matter when BLACK Lives do not matter and that's the message we are sending. We are trying to knock down this movement by adding our own play on words. It is not a play on words to the black community. It is their LIFE they are fighting for. 

I plan on participating in the local Black Lives Matter rallies. We need to stop simply quoting Martin Luther King on his birthday and the anniversary of his brutal death. We need to live a life which honors the man and what he was trying to accomplish.  

Side with those who experience racism. Become allies and seek out ways to help and be of service.

Do not allow racist jokes in your presence. If you see something, say something. 

On a national level, vote for people of color and for people who wish to end racism and have the past to prove their advocacy. 

Let’s change this country and finally, mean it when we say ALL people shall be equal. To do that we need to face history head on and learn from it. We need better training for our police officers. We need deeper history lessons in school. We need more heroes in the movies depicting black men and women. We need CHANGE period. 

[sarahpickardcole]

After six years, 4,200 hours of shooting, and 720,000 pictures, wildlife photographer Alan McFadyen finally managed to take a perfect shot of a kingfisher diving into the water with no splash.

(Source)

[sarahpickardcole]

Examples of my visual marketing content for my clients’ social media accounts.  Visual images are what grab people’s attention while they are scrolling.  Email me if you’d like me to create some for you. sarah.cole66@gmail.com

[sarahpickardcole]

(via Join me and save monarchs from Dow's chemical assault) Sign the petition.  Make a difference on behalf of the monarchs.

#change #campaignforchange

[sarahpickardcole]

The United States once led the world in terms of the percentage of our young people who had college degrees. Today, in a highly competitive global economy, we are now in 12th place. Hundreds of thousands of bright young people have given up on the dream of higher education, while millions of others leave school with oppressive debt.

Bernie Sanders, 2015 (via millennials4bernie)

[sarahpickardcole]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIma4CR3kSc) Bernie Sanders - My Opinion.  

[sarahpickardcole]

The United States once led the world in terms of the percentage of our young people who had college degrees. Today, in a highly competitive global economy, we are now in 12th place. Hundreds of thousands of bright young people have given up on the dream of higher education, while millions of others leave school with oppressive debt.

Bernie Sanders, 2015 (via millennials4bernie)

[sarahpickardcole]

How does that work with America being his next company?  I mean he’s running and supported based on his business background, right?  That scares me as I really want the country to be something I’m proud to leave to the next generation.  I don’t want to leave them a burden.  

[sarahpickardcole]

That’s right!! “Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run . . . finally the tables are starting to turn. Talking about a revolution.” 

[sarahpickardcole]

Favorite Mother Teresa quote.  “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.  Mother Teresa

Change starts with us. One person at a time

[sarahpickardcole]

#BernieSanders2016

[sarahpickardcole]

Bernie wants to do away with standardized testing. I agree with him. Teachers only teach the test. They don’t make sure students actually comprehend ideas, they just make us memorize useless dates and figures.

[sarahpickardcole]

Start from nothing, stop for nothing. #quote #quoteoftheday #entrepreneur

[sarahpickardcole]

What is this invoice? You said you charge $75 an hour. This animation is only 20 seconds long! That’s 42 cents, and that’s if we’re generous and round it up! This is what we agreed to!

Client response to an invoice for 60 hours work on an animation project. (via clientsfromhell)

[sarahpickardcole]

BETONBERNIE.COM

[sarahpickardcole]

Start at 21:25

Each Koch Brother makes $1.8 million every HOUR At $7.25 an hour, it would take a minimum wage worker 76 years to make $1.8 million.

Does that mean anything to anyone?

$23 million was given by the Koch Brothers to think tanks that published 4,055 studies, papers, and media projects targeting minimum wage.

If there was such a strong argument against minimum wage WHY did it take $23 million to prove it?