by Calvin Miller, II, Speakin’ Out News columnist
During the period of this brief challenge, some, maybe many of you, will think that I’ve lost my mind or that I am getting close to becoming insane!
Trust me, I am fully aware that the statements I am about to make and the stance that I take are not going to sit well with many of you and for that alone, I am sorry but offer no apologies!
My attempt in this challenge is to help save the lives of the present and future generations of Black Men and Women. I am not worried about their diginity; I want them to have a dynasty! I am not concerned with their pride; I want them to be protected. I care not about their perceived rights; I want them to be WELCOMED right – AT HOME – SAFE!
No one out there needs me to, and I will not insult your intelligence by, listing the names of beaten, bloodied, maimed, and murdered members of our communities across this nation just because of the color of their skin by so-called authority figures.
The problems are compounded and dangerously multiplied when those same law enforcement personnel have pre-conceived notions on future conduct of Black folk based on color, tone of voice and physical presence are added to the equation.
Now, add to this mixture of volatility the fact, however late, that some of those UN-lawful personnel have been charged and found guilty by juries of THEIR peers, you have a fullfledged recipe for disaster at the next confrontation between those who desire to be lawless and those who want to be law-abiding!
Here is where I want, need, and beg for your help.
WE need to reverse a trend that so many of us in the past and present started in an earnest effort to reclaim and retain our dignity, pride, and rights. We taught and told ourselves and others that we were proud Black men and women and that as such we would stand up when wrongfully confronted and not let anybody turn us around!
That sounded good and that is where the problem rears its ugly head. For something to sound good, you must hear it! But the game changed. You do not hear choke holds, knees on the neck, kicks to the body or gunshots until it is too late to hear!
I want our folk to get home safe following a confrontation with so-called authority figures! No matter what the issue was and is, your dignity, pride and rights are not worth anything if you are busted up or worse yet, buried because of your perceived dignity, pride or rights.
If stopped for a traffic violation or an ugly smile, just humble yourself and comply with the directions given. Seemingly harmless comments such as “What did I do”; “I wasn’t speeding”; or “You are just bothering me cause I’m Black” can do nothing to soothe a tense situation.
A military adage states that you do not give bullets to the enemy!
Keep your Blackness and attitude in check so that you can return home without harm where you can with dignity and pride express in a more favorable forum that your rights were not respected.
A delay in exercising your rights is not a denial of your rights. The difference is you are in a better posture, hopefully unbruised, unbattered and able to tell your side of the story from home and not the hospital. From your perspective and not from someone else’s.
At every confrontation with a law enforcement official, it should be our constant thought that we want to get home safely. I do not care what they call me – I’ll go deaf. I do not care how many tickets they write – I’ll fight that battle later, alive and in court. I do not care if they impound my car – I’ll walk, just so long as I can get home – safe, sound with dignity, pride and in my RIGHT mind.
I will threaten to sue the municipality and police — — LATER. I will hire some hot shot Civil Rights Law- yer—– LATER. I will say what I wanted to do to the offending authority figure —–LATER. I will lie or brag to my friends and family about how brave I was—– LATER. The key factor here is that LATER comes after I am home – safe with my dignity, pride, body, and my rights still intact.
In the Poem ‘Invictus’ by William Ernest Henley, a paragraph reads:
IT MATTERS NOT HOW STRAIT THE GATE,
HOW CHARGED WITH PUNISHMENTS THE SCROLL,
I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE,
I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL.
Stand Up for Your Dignity, Pride and Rights – After You’re Sitting Back at Home!
