Music speaks.
We listen.
Say something. Again.
It is always within my power to build a bridge...
Rap artists found a way out...by telling the truth. The truth was ugly. It worked anyway. The truth has a way of doing that.
image - Laura and L. D. Nelson (born c. 1878 and 1897)[a] were an African-American mother and son who were lynched on May 25, 1911, near Okemah, Okfuskee County, Oklahoma.
The steel of freedom does not stain.
It is always within my power to build a bridge...
They tried to bury them but they forgot they were the seeds...
"Land of the free. Some terms and conditions may apply." - anonymous
There are cracks in the foundations and we must address every one of them. Slavery is a good place to start. But the actual start of this country is built on a burial ground...of people whose ancestors still live here. What are we doing to make this right?
Not enough. Let me help you with that. Not enough is the answer.
There is a legacy to fulfill here…. Yes, Mr. Cash. We remember. We heard you.
It is always within my power to build a bridge...
They tried to separate them like lost brothers. Man against man. Tear them apart from within. And still they stand. Ready to protect us.
Blue or black, we are headed in the same direction. Can we take care of one another please?
It is not just “police brutality” - we have to call it what it is. It is EVIL. Wickedness itself has used very sick people to hurt, torture and kill people in their hands. They are cowards with guns. Shells of themselves walking around with batons, ready to pummel with rage. These are not cops. They’re abusers and they need to be in prison and be reformed, if possible.
Calling it police brutality gives it a cute little title so it takes the sting out of it. Kind of like we call murder CASUALties when it suits us.
It’s murder. Its systematic murder. It’s torture. It’s as sick as human beings can get. Its domestic terrorism.
THIS IS NOT ALL POLICE.
BUT…
But…all the police live in a hypocritical country where we breath in the fumes of racism, classism, sexism and lies - lies about our history, our present and our future.
In that environment evil can move around in the dark, in the shadows, like its nothin.
Too easy. We made it too easy.
It’s time to turn on the lights. Flick that switch. Expose evil for what it is.
So the police can protect us. So each man and woman of “color’, everyone young person in a hoodie, and any woman alone at night in the hands of a cop- can know they’re with one of the good guys.
Let’s do this. We’ve played dumb for too long. Time’s up.
It is always within my power to build a bridge...
America has had voices of truth. Beacons of light. We usually kill them.
Perhaps we should take a second look.
image - JFK Memorial bridge
It is always within my power to build a bridge...
They still stand tall.
Women have been trying since the start. Abigail Adams begs her husband to listen. He was amused...
Abigail Adams, our first lady intellectual, John Adam’s wife, wrote desperate letters to her husband and urged Jefferson in writing the declaration to add “Women”, not just “men” to the document. It did NOT make it in! In 1776 she begs her husband to remember the ladies....
“I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could.” John Adams’ answer was that he could not help but laugh at her “saucy” letter..
image - Brooklyn Bridge (finished by Emily Roebling. In acknowledgment of her contributions, Emily was the first person to drive a team of horses across the new bridge. She fought for women's rights.)
It is always within my power to build a bridge.
Whose blood is in those stripes?
It is always within my power to build a bridge...
Legacies. The steel is in the frame. The infrastructure. They continue to build on it. On the ideals. The promises. The hope.
Ronald Reagan said, “He aroused the comfortable. He exposed the corrupt, remembered the forgotten, inspired his countrymen, and renewed and enriched the American conscience.” The Department of Justice Building is named for him...
During his lifetime, Robert Kennedy fought passionately for human rights both in the United States and across the globe. He became a champion of the oppressed and impoverished, believing that each of us, especially the young, has both the responsibility and the capacity to make a positive difference in overcoming social injustice.
- RFK Human Rights Organization
image - RFK Memorial bridge
It is always within my power to build a bridge...
Even in death, he won. He changed things. He did it. We must continue to build. He laid his life into those bricks. The steel is still there.
Here's to the beautiful disrupters. Who said "No." and "Now let's..."
image- MLK jr. Memorial Bridge
We thought MLK was a traitor. Link
