Video That KILLED ‘Black Lives Matter’

There is a video going around Facebook entitled “Video That KILLED ‘Black Lives Matter'”.
What do you think, my friends? Did this video kill BLM?
First I’d like to address the young male of African descent in the beginning. To say the fact that black people kill black people, justifies people in a position of authority more readily killing people of a certain continent of familial origin is not logical. I know that isn’t the real message. The real message would seem to be “Black people kill black people. So how can black people say, ‘Black lives matter’?”. If that is, in fact, your message, you miss the point. Further, you are lumping all black people together, you are saying one group of black people do not recognize the idea that black lives matter and therefore no black people should be allowed to say black lives should be as respected as the lives of other socially defined races. But 1 + 1 does not equal triangle.
Second, I’ll address the stream of video clips to follow. These clips of individuals of African descent shooting police officers would seem to aim to inspire viewers to feel as though police should be quick to draw their guns on black people. It would seem to say black people are dangerous and that police should shoot first. If this is the goal of this stream of videos, the creator would seem to believe one’s continent of familial origin, and, as a result, the color of one’s skin, causes a person to have a tendency toward violence. This hypothesis is unfounded. While there would seem to be evidence of a correlation between individuals of African descent and crime in the United States, correlation does not mean causation. That is to say that the color of a person’s skin does not cause a person to gravitate toward crime, but rather, a third factor like poverty, economic inequality, or biases in the system may work as the cause for the statistical variation. Even if we exclude this third possibility, inequality in the justice system, the fact that more crimes are committed by blacks would not mean being black causes one to commit crimes.
The video would seem to aspire to inspire us to recognize the correlation in the video – the color these men’s skin and the violent actions in which they are engaging. One could easily create a video of non-violent interactions between men of African descent and police or one of violent interactions between males of European descent and police. The video found here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXv2Pjtc3Zk) shows 2 interactions with police, one of a male of European descent practicing open carry and the other of a male of African descent practicing open carry. The two interactions are very different. Now there may have been many other factors at play here. Only so much can be experienced in such a video. But the video entitled “Video That KILLED ‘Black Lives Matter'” would seem to aim to inspire this inequality.
We are brothers and sisters. We are all in this together. All human lives matter. It is unfortunate that we have to remind those in charge of protecting us that black lives matter. It isn’t the message of BLM that only black lives matter, but rather that black lives matter too. Some of us who take up a cause may do so out of anger and act in hyperbole. But this comes from hurt and generally does not represent the true message of the cause. I support the idea that black lives matter. I support the idea that all lives matter. Neither should take away from the other. I believe our world will be a better place when we recognize these differences are not as significant as we like to believe. In the mean time, we need to be pushing toward that end.

The Truth to Distort

In the land of the Pollex
The Aliusteran
Were born as one

Then divided by culture
The Ravus and Crocos
The old and the young

Classes and castes
The fruitful and barren
The tall and the short

The pretty and ugly
The us and the them
The truth to distort

Brothers and sisters, we are one
But careful toward whom you reach this olive branch
Because you are the one who benefits from these lies
You are the one who cannot be trusted
You are historically celebrated and, as a result, deserve to be condemned
You are excluded because people like you control Aliustera
Your skin, your gender, your sexuality make you the enemy
And you should regret these things you cannot change

Love, love, love
Except for for those who are different than us
Love, love, love
But hate for those who share superficial characteristics with those who seek to repress us
Love, love, love
Guilt by association, but not by intent
Love, love, love
And it doesn’t really mater what the hell you meant

Under the big red sun we are all the same
As sheep, it is easy to have the wool pulled over our eyes
The way to equality is not through division
The way to truth is not to reinforce the lies

We are one
We are one
If this separation is ever to stop, we need to start acting like it.

Autonomous Fingers (Hooray for Selfishness!)

There has been some debate over whether true altruism can exist. While we may help others with no promise of reward, our race tend to look with admiration on selfless behavior. The fact that we identify selflessness as a desirable trait causes any seemingly selfless act in which we engage to find reward, be that reward external in the form of praise or monetary gain or internal via an increase in perceived self-worth. Many of us like to see people of the world in black and white. That is, we like to see “good” people and “bad” people. To be able to identify oneself as a “good” person is a very desirable ability. This makes the helping of others a fairly rewarding experience.

But what if we are all one? What if selfishness is the truly righteous path because the helping of others is the helping of oneself? I believe we act like autonomous fingers, often never understanding that we are not alone, but a part of the whole. If the hand refuses to feed the mouth, the whole body dies. So why not be the change we want to see in the world? It’s not selfless or altruistic. It is selfish. And that is a good thing. Empathy is a natural part of human existence. To the mirror neurons in our brains, your pain is no different than my pain.

What we view as selfishness, the caring for one’s own physical self, is short-sighted. One who cares for only him/herself doesn’t see that we are all one. But enlightened selfishness is necessary for our survival. Enlightened selfishness recognizes your pain as my pain. Enlightened selfishness says it is my responsibility to help you because we are one.

The Ghost of a Dinosaur to the Son of a Gun

What’s the ghost of a dinosaur to the son of a gun?
It’s a reason to leave his chamber
Down the falls out of a barrel

Poison made from mother’s whomb
Blacken her veins
Dizzy her head

Running scared by a spark
Old spirits wander the dark
This metal body is not my own

Raised by the blade
Forged by the Id
Veruca salt in her wounds

But what is a life
When it’s oceans away
My brothers and sisters are oil

What could we expect from the son of a gun?
We are children playing with matches
Perfectly flawed
Beautifully broken
Still in the chaos
Peace in the frenzy
Patiently human
We are one in the moment
And forever