Tag Archives: Violence
How police killings of unarmed blacks affect us
They directly impact both our mental health
as well as our physical health
Have you, like so many black parents and
helping professionals, been wondering what impact
these killings of our brothers and sisters are having
on us and our children?
It affects their health, both
emotional and physical. It’s no coincidence that our
communities have disproportionate levels of heart
disease, hypertension, diabetes and addictions. But
when you see the statistics, it is startling.
A report published in the British medical journal,
The Lancet, validates the negative impact of police
killings of unarmed blacks on black people in the
states in which they happened. The inter-
national response to George Floyd’s death shows
that there has been a measurable impact around
the world. It is validating to realize that people
all over the world have been touched by what
has been going on here in the States.
The mental health of white Americans was not
similarly affected by killings of unarmed blacks,
the researchers found. Nor were negative health
effects associated with police killings of unarmed
white Americans or armed black Americans.
The study, which looked at survey data and
examined a database of police killings, noted that
white Americans were not affected similarly.
They also found that killings of armed black
Americans or unarmed white people did not
seem to generate negative health effects.
While we are seeing the increase in violent crime
with the emergence of the pandemic, data tracking
of police killings of blacks found no correlation with
local crime rates. It is more likely that a firearm
and implicit bias don’t belong together but anti-
racism training and more progressive policing
methods do.
Marijuana miseries
- What do we not know about this now legal drug?
- Marijuana & fertility
- Marijuana & your brain
- Does marijuana cause heart attacks?
- Will it affect children differently?
- How different is the new marijuana?
- My son is still hallucinating, a week after smoking…..
Protecting the Black Body through voting
The world has been given a closeup view of how the black body (this time in the forms of George Floyd and Breanna Taylor) continues to be disrespected and often extinguished by those who are supposed to be our protectors. This is what can clearly be seen in the videos of Mr. Floyd’s murder. This is what is obvious in examining the details of the murder of a sleeping Breonna Taylor. But this is also what every black person knows to be true. We are watched, hunted and blocked in every environment, be that along lonely rural roads or in a luxury retailer’s men’s department in New York City. How this affects the black mind is of utmost enduring importance.
How has this assault on the black body been addressed by the government which we form through our votes, the businesses that we allow to exist through our dollars and the service organizations for which we provide the labor? Our former president had suggested that we be met with dogs and weapons, not unlike Bull Connors, an ignorant, racist icon of 50 years ago. Our local police departments are saying “Well, it shouldn’t have happened but we’re continuing to work on a more” enlightened” force. People of color and those of open mind and heart know what they are seeing: the result of centuries of ignorant domination of the kind-hearted, the meek, the suppressed and the hopeful. These problems exist for all blacks, regardless of location, occupation, education, religion or income. That means that racism is alive and well everywhere. So we have to be observant, aware, prepared. We have to determine effective ways to deliver our messages to our representatives. Our power is in our voices and our numbers. Ally your voice with those who share your goals. Support those organizations and programs that will step out in front and speak up to elected officials. Expect your church to speak up. Serve God through insisting on your government and institutions treating you fairly. Vote! Vote! Vote!
We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation by Jeff Chang
“Race makes itself known in crisis, in the singular event that captures a larger pattern of abuse and pain,” writes author Jeff Chang (Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, Who We Be) in the introduction to a series of essays on the significance of ongoing police shootings, social inequities, housing discrimination and campus diversity.
As an historian, Chang helps us focus on the broader picture (and effects) of the long-term system of racism and how it has played out and continues to develop in our country. Chang touches on Trump’s speech in Mesa, Arizona (December, 2015), demonstrations in Ferguson, MO (where he was arrested for participating) on the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, and the effects of gentrification to produce a powerful punch through the veil of denial that shrouds and nurtures systemic racism.