controversies
It seems every time one racially-charged incident ends, a gender or religious controversy takes its place; Ruminate on the issues dividing our nation and world.
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter is not a terrorist organization. It is a movement whose narrative has been hijacked like any other activism that promotes social change. Unfortunately, there will always be opportunists ready to re-write history as they see fit. Propaganda in the media is nothing new. In fact, it’s dependency of content thrives on negative press. However, it is decided upon the people on how you you choose to respond.
By Carly Tillotson6 years ago in The Swamp
The Worthless Black Life
I’m sure some people might get mad about what I’m about to say. Which to each is it’s own. Everybody is entitled to think what they want to and say what they want to right? Not that my two cents matter but speaking for myself and from experience of losing loved ones to senseless violence leads to what I’m about to say. A lot of violence is going on is the world currently a lot of innocent babies lost their lives to senseless violence over the holiday weekend. There is no march, there is no protest, there is not enough outrage. Everybody live to jump on the bandwagon when it comes to Black lives matter, or Us vs. the Cops, or Black vs. Whites and so on. Take a long look in the mirror and reflect upon yourself and what you have do towards other people that was not right. I’ve heard so many people say it’s different because this and that. At the end of the day the results are the same no matter who does anything harmful towards another human being. I’ve lost my brother, my cousins, my uncle, countless number of friends to gun violence and I’m only 33 years old. Going to a funeral is the new normal gathering nowadays. When will it stop. We have to value ourselves first before we can tell someone else to value us. People rather say RIP or free this person or that person in a hashtag before they tell their loved ones no don’t do that, don’t kill him or her. Police brutality is a problem. Injustices on the minorities is a problem. Black on black crime is a problem. I’m not going to pick and choose which is worse than the other it’s all bad. I don’t want to hear about statistics and rates. The fact of the matter is innocent lives are being taken away on both sides. People shouldn’t be planning a child’s funeral unless it’s a natural cause of death not due to a bullet ripping throw their bodies. I can imagine my heart goes out to the families of the babies that this is currently a reality for them. New generations aren’t even living beyond the age of 30. Who will be the elders once everybody born before 1970 are no longer with us, because at this rate it’s just going to be kids running around with no parents if they even make it through to the next day. Don’t be scared to speak your mind out of fear of losing friends. Right is right and wrong is wrong. I wrote this poem a couple of weeks ago when the protest was going on.
By Poetry Lover6 years ago in The Swamp
Black Lives Matter : Why is it So Hard to Infer the Meaning Behind This Simple Phrase
Photo by Chris Henry Inference : Deduce or conclude from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements. Seizing on the latter part, I’m amazed by how much vitriol has exploded over a simple inference : Black Lives Matter. Oh my, this Blue Lives Matter rally really captures the rage. I wonder what William Shakespeare himself would think of our inabiltiy to grasp a basic linguistic vehicle and have the ugly residue spread like Murder Hornets. On the other hand, in the interest of calm, let me give the dispossessed, angry hordes the tools that they need to get by.
By Rich Monetti6 years ago in The Swamp
An Immigrant, Not By Choice
First, I would like put any assumptions to rest about my home town. It is not the starving, drug-riddled war zone that comes to mind when people hear "Mexico". Our little town lies on the coast of Baja California, only a two-hour drive from San Diego,California through the US border. It was a poor, little town 30 years ago, which was why my father came to the US in the typical search for wealth. It has changed a lot since then; it is now home to various restaurants, craft breweries, AirB&Bs (one which belongs to my mother), wineries, spring breakers, cruise ship stops, and as always-the world's best fish tacos. My family has been blessed with successful careers. There is not much to complain about when you live next to the beach.
By Leslie Ramirez6 years ago in The Swamp
My Experience With The Police
I have witnessed domestic violence since a young age. The first time I remember I was five years old. I went out to dinner with my father and another woman, who he claimed was his friend. When we arrived home, I told my unassuming mother I enjoyed dinner with this woman and my father. After an argument, I helplessly watched my mother being choked by my father. The cops were not called. The guilt of this situation weighed on me for years.
By Jenna Bushspies6 years ago in The Swamp
Two Strikes
Growing up, before the Sandra Bland’s the Trayvon Martin’s, the Mike Brown’s, and the George Floyd’s, there was a deep rooted, justified fear in my mother about raising a “black” son in this so-called land of the free. Now, the reason that I put black in quotations is because it is a color and it is not the color of any skin I’ve seen. It is a legal status, that basically means dead, which is why it is ok for us to be killed in cold blood by those sworn to protect us. Only, we were never meant to be a part of the “us” nor the “we” in the “We the People.” It was actually designed for us to be apart, not a part. This is why there is a fourteenth amendment and what are known as the “black codes,” which were laws put in place to convert our physical shackles into economic ones. These “black codes” are what affirmative action, fair housing, and other programs like these are meant to combat. Like my mother always told me, you have two strikes against you already being “black” and being a male.
By Cameron Marquis6 years ago in The Swamp
Protest of Mount Rushmore Presidential Visit
In 1980 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. had illegally taken the Black Hills (the location of Mount Rushmore) from the Sioux Nation. $100 million in reparations was awarded but the Sioux Nation refused the money citing that the land was never for sale. They wanted to keep the land. Although the Supreme Court had ruled the land had been illegally taken the land was not returned.
By Paula C. Henderson6 years ago in The Swamp
