So lately, there has been an uproar in regards to people refusing to be a part of the national anthem of the USA. Some people say it's unpatriotic while others are claiming "It's about time!". Either way it goes, people are now being forced to take notice. With everything going on in politics, with Caucasians wearing blackface and claiming to be n----s, the US is at a critical point in its history. Either there will be a revolution or the media will beat down the freedom that comes with Constitutional rights as it has done innumerable times in the past. What do you believe will happen? In the 60s people were either on the side of Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X. And the Black Panthers were demonized. However, most do not know that the Black Panthers never hurt anyone who did not threaten or abuse them first. In fact, the offered jobs for women, provided food and schooling for the poor and did a lot more for the benefit of the community, but I digress. Dr. King Jr. believed in civil disobedience, in making use of the rights that were deemed "inalienable" in one of the founding documents and yet him and those who agreed with him were seriously abused because of it. Are not people just doing the same thing in 2016? I shouldn't have to sing a song that I do not agree with. I have the right to take a stand against injustice, or do I only have that right when it does not show the dark side of this country's ingrained values and twisted belief system. If you think I am over exaggerating, there was a young man who killed an elderly Black woman and he only got 60 days in jail with no parole. Yet a Black woman who does not harm anyone, who had been abused in the past got sentenced to 20 years for shooting a gun in her own home.
So what about civil disobedience? It is when we decide that we can no longer stand for the injustice of the justice system and the prejudices of African Americans. And this is not just about African Americans, it is about all of those groups claimed to be "minorities". Black people have been doing this for a very long time, it is only coming to the forefront now that stars are doing it. I never said the pledge of allegiance and I don't even know the words to our national anthem, but I can play it on my flute :). What do you do when you don't believe in something, how can you pretend you do just so that it can look good and make other people happy?
The country has a lot of strongholds that need to come down. Prejudice is one of them. It keeps "minorities" (anyone who is not Caucasian) down. Historically, this has been seen over and over again. People should take a stand, they should make their voices heard because it is about time. We should not let pressure from the rich and privileged force us down back into the positions they deem us worthy to have. This goes for all diverse people. Open your eyes and look at the world in front of you. We are taught that America is the greatest country in the world and yet. We are taught that to live anywhere else would be awful, that everything is perfect in America but the truth of the matter is that it is not, the biases are just a lot more secretive.
We have chains that need to be broken, and although they cannot be seen as in the past they are ever present. Just because there are a few minority "superstars" does not mean the country is past discrimination. And because we have strongholds to tear down I can think of a few ways to do it. Stand for what you believe in and praise God in the midst of the situation, using your words to bring Him glory and honor and giving Him thanks for what He is going to do. Change will happen and we cannot do it on our own but with God on our side who can stand against us? Jeremiah marched and praised seven times and the walls fell. Paul and Silas praised and the chains broke and the doors opened. We have power but are taught not to think about it. We are taught to be comfortable in our horrid situations because "it could always be worse" but guess what? It can also be a whole lot better. But we can not continue sitting on our do-nothings and complaining all day. It's time to form a united front and take action. Don't let yourself be bullied into a corner, going along with something you don't believe is right because you aren't qualified or think someone who is a better speaker is going to come along and wow the world. It's cheesy and played out but that doesn't make it any less true:
If not now, when? If not you, who?
Till the Walls Fall by Martha Munizzi
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