Why is it every time a black person die or get killed the first thing they want to do is name a street, a school or a bridge after them, that’s not tangible, that’s not gone make a bit of difference, quiet as its kept MLK is named after every street in the hood, what a dishonor that is to him. There should be a call to action. You want to show John Lewis how much you really loved him, appreciated him and believed in what he stood for, get the voting rights act set in stone, something he would be proud of and what he fought for. He didn’t get busted in the head for no bridge, he got beaten and locked up so everybody could have a chance to vote. I’m just saying.
Congressman John Lewis stood for love, unity, peace, for all humanity, not a bridge. Stop trying to appease black people and make us think that you’re doing something special. In these last few months we have learned the difference between action and minor small changes. Meet us where the road meets the rubber, stop straddling the fence acting like you doing something for us, when you are doing the bare minimum, now if you want to name the bridge after him that’s fine in conjunction with some legislative changes. One being the Voting Rights Act first and foremost.
Michael Starr Hopkins started the petition to rename the bridge after John Lewis. I admire what he is trying to do and it’s commendable, but IT AINT ENOUGH. Don’t get me wrong it’s a nice gesture, it’s just not enough at this juncture and time. I would rather for us to push for something that would absolutely change the constructs of this political arena. We have accepted so much busy work, and yet we haven’t took care of much business as it pertains to our fellow man and it don’t have nothing to do with the covid.
Yes the covid has been an eye opening experience for everyone young and old, black and white, gay and straight, rich and poor, democrat and republic, to say the least. We have found ourselves at the edge of disaster too many times to count based on what the politicians have said or done.
As many of us are trying to come to terms with the hundreds of thousands dead from a disease we could have been prepared for, while black people are getting murdered around the world on a daily basis, so much so; that we can’t even keep count of how many, let alone be able to put all the names on a T-shirt, by the hands of police and people like karen or kolton, being lied to constantly as we go to the slaughter like lambs, democrats and republicans fighting back and forth with a knick knack patty wack give a dog a bone politics, while communities of color are losing their unemployment, being evicted, losing their jobs and losing their minds with kids at home 24/7 for the last 6 months, and the only thing that we can come up with, with everything that’s going on around us, is to name a bridge after John Lewis, a man of tremendous honor and humility, because we finally realize that the Klan leader shouldn’t have his name on the bridge especially, given the fact that the majority of black people are of a mixed race this day and age; really, that’s the best we could come up with.
How about making sure that everybody who is eligible to vote will be able to vote without risking their health and in some cases their lives.
How about making sure that we are prepared for thousands of elderly people who want to vote, but can’t physically go to the polling place, because of their underlying health concerns. There should be some adjustments in place for them concerning the absenteeism ballots and making sure that their votes do get counted on time and not thrown away like before or making sure that their bus actually get through to the polling place.
How about making sure there are plenty of places for people to go and vote without standing in line for 10 hours.
How about making sure that there are clear directions on how to vote, because they changed the ballot at the last minute. We used to be able to vote for individuals and not have to vote only for a certain party. Now you either vote democrat or republican and if you vote for both your vote DOESN’TCOUNT. How about that.
Tell me; is this vote coming up in November one of the most important votes ever in our lives considering what’s at risk, our very lives are at stake. We have to get this right; at the very least, we all gone be sent back to countries we know nothing about or put in cages like those babies have been for the last 2 years.
Michael how about getting to all the black and brown people who think they can’t vote because they been in prison, not knowing there are special circumstances where some of them can vote.
No we would rather spend our time pissing in the wind to see how far somebody’s piss goes.
No; look at me, look what I’m doing, screaming for attention, doing busy work looking like we doing something; instead of really getting down and dirty and actually doing the work physically, but wait that won’t get no attention.
I was watching a man on the news saying he would rather his kids go to school instead of home school, because all the teacher was doing was giving busy work and not really teaching anything, well if it’s not good enough for the kids what would make you think that’s enough for us; naming a bridge.
This message is not just for Michael but to the many people behind him that think they are doing some monumental feat, but it’s really just busy work, a distraction from the real issues, yeah the bridge will no longer be honoring a mass murderer and that’s a good first step towards a freedom that is really free for everyone, but it’s not the solution that will change things in the world today. It’s like a Hail Mary that we throw and hope and pray it will do something. Yes it will make us feel good today, but what will it change for the future generations? Will they still have to go through getting beat, whipped and sacrificed for the politician’s agenda? Will they have their inalienable rights stripped from them so they can’t vote?
Well they won’t have to if we go a little further up the hill to ensure that what we fighting for, protesting for, marching for, and standing for won’t be in vain. One thing that stands out in my head is that Solomon said everything that he had and did was all in vain. Works without faith is dead. We got to have faith that what we do now will be a solution to tomorrow otherwise; where will we be 20, 30, 60 years from now in the same place, God forbid. We’ll all be dead and gone. We need to make sure that there are laws, rights, and political policies in place for our children and grandchildren; otherwise it’s just a tinkling cymbal. It won’t mean nothing.
The social stigma that is still being manifested in the way that we treat people of color, specifically black people HAS to change. The time is now. We need to do a lot more. As you are spending lots of time and resources for this project, the real issues are being swept under the rug, they are not even being discussed or evaluated, so that we can come up with clear solutions to the many problems facing black and brown constituents. Once we get those issues solved and they still want to name a bridge after him then that’s great, just as long as it comes with a call to actively implement the
VOTERS RIGHTS ACT
John didn’t get beaten half to death on a Sunday no less, God’s day for nothing; Bloody Sunday was real, otherwise let’s stop acting like we got a concussion like John Lewis and can’t remember what we’re fighting for.