The question is...

What’s going on good people?!

I apologize for not posting on the site for the last couple of weeks.  It has been a whirlwind of emotions for me and I haven’t necessarily felt compelled to share them at any given time for fear of not “verbalizing” them correctly.  I have went through the complete range of feelings recently and I wasn’t exactly sure how I was feeling at any one time.  I’ve felt happy, sad, relieved, disappointed, anxious, frazzled, blah, expected, and nauseous.  And sometimes more than one at a time.  

There is, obviously, a deep seeded resentment when it comes to the Trayvon Martin vs George Zimmerman verdict.  While I am not at all surprised by the verdict, I am hurt by it.  Yes, the jurors did follow the letter of the law and based on the facts, they found there was a reasonable doubt in the argument that Zimmerman’s defense provided.  No, I don’t believe the prosecuting attorneys did all they needed to do to prove otherwise.  Good news - we have a legal system and it was followed without shenanigans or questionable calls; bad news - a life was lost based solely on someone’s prejudices and ignorances and he was not held accountable for that.  (I personally don’t think that it should have been murder charges, but manslaughter and the outcome would have been different - but I’m not a lawyer).  

I am glad that there were no riots following the verdict because the LAST thing that we need is for us not to get what we want and then go into a violent rage.  That’s called a temper-tantrum.  I don’t like it from my 2 year old.  I don’t like it from grown ups.  If we feel the need for reform in some type of way, we should work through the channels set up to make it happen.  Which is what I believe is happening with the addressing of this nonsense they labeled “Stand your ground”.  Let’s show that we know the game and can play by the rules.  Make them work to our advantage (again).  This happened before, but we began to abuse it and take it for granted, and we are now on the verge of losing out completely.  If you don’t know what I’m referring to, I’ll bring it back up at a later date.  

The most disheartening thing, I feel, is this trial has basically opened the door for everyone to say and vent what they feel.  I have read different articles, mostly online, and not only do I see the hurtful comments that people leave, but at the same time, I look at the enormous amount of support they get behind their comments.  It hurts to come to the realization that so many people in our world still believe that the majority of Black America are thugs who do nothing but smoke weed, hate on white people, pimp out hoes, and listen to gangsta rap.  For the record - we don’t all do that, but if we do, guess what, it’s a personal choice.  No 2 people are exactly alike, not even twins.  So to classify one group of people as such, well, is just “racial profiling”.  Last time I checked, that was wrong.  

The question I have now, the one I’ll pose to my 2 year old son for the rest of his life, and look myself in the mirror and ask myself is: “What am I going to do about it?”.  How will I portray myself in a light that says “I am an individual. Don’t profile me until you know me”? How will I fight the ignorance and close-minded people that continue to look at me and assume that I am up to no good?  

The answer will change everyday, so I must continue to ask, because I’m in it for the long haul.