Missouri morns loss of life at the hands of Police Over-reach and Community Selfishness

There is so much wrong with this story that I truly do not know where to begin.  I say that because it does not have just one lesson that we all should take from it but several which make me even more sure that things happen for a single reason.  That is so that we, as human beings, will learn from it and make the necessary changes in our culture and our lives to not repeat them. Here are the lessons that I took from this.

Police over-reach is a serious and deadly problem where police are becoming emboldened and taking the lives of people without having to face any serious consequences for making ill-advised choices.  That thin blue line that many talk about has become a huge yellow streak down the backs of those watch commanders, trainers, police captains, chiefs and politicians who were hired to serve and protect.  They all sit idly by and allow event after event to take place all over this United States hiding from the truth and running away from responsibility.  The awful truth is they were hired because someone made the mistake in thinking that they were leaders but a true leader will lead and even stand alone in the defense of what is right.  

Only cowards run from responsibility and blame because their soft egos cannot take the truth of their failures.  What we should learn from this is just because you know their people and their people appears to be good people to you does not mean that their offspring are just as good.  We should learn that if we seek leaders, we should not pick them according to their pedigree or their educational background.  True leadership is not something you can learn in school or something that can be taught over time.  True leadership is something you are born with and if you do not know what real leadership is, you will never be able to discern it when you see it. 

The lesson here, any officer who speaks as if they are the sole judge and jury on the innocence or guilt of another should not be wearing a badge and especially carrying a gun.  Any person who believes that they can figure out the thoughts of another person just by looking at them should never be chosen to hold a position of authority even if it’s the job of a dog catcher.  Any leader who does not make discharging a weapon by any law enforcement officer a big freaking deal is just as guilty as the “lone wolf” who patrols these streets just looking for a reason to make the leading role in the television series “Cops”.

For the community, the lesson is even bleaker and may not be so easy to fix.  Many people can relate to the frustrations and anger felt by a community ravaged by those hired to serve and protect them but to make a decision to riot and loot is downright selfishness and nothing else.  A young man loses his life and the only thing many in that same community can think of is breaking into a local business and running out with free stuff.  You say that this happens to demonstrate your frustrations about the injustice but seriously you have just made it all about much less than the life of a person, you have just made it all about you.  You did this to prove a point, my question is what point?  The point that if your selfish butts get a chance you are going to steal and commit a crimes.  How do two wrongs make a right?  How does that show anyone anything except just how backwards and ignorant you are to use the loss of life of someone’s son to justify your desire for free stuff.

Case and point, now officers were not on scene to help find the cause of this shooting and all energies cannot be placed upon this situation to even try and fix it because now officers are used to confront the very community it just affronted a few seconds ago.  Now those officers protecting that thin blue line can show proof of why they act the way that they do because some of you were so selfish that you discarded a human life to break windows and steal.  The community itself has done more to stomp all over that young man’s life than the police could ever do.  It was reported that “Despite calls from Michael Brown's parents and the NAACP to keep calm in the wake of the teen's death, police in Ferguson, Missouri say some protesters have thrown bottles and rocks at police, prompting officers to use tear gas.” (Yamiche Alcindor, Elizabeth Matthews and Christina Coleman, KSDK-TV, St. Louis)  What this teaches me is that Michael Brown’s parents and the NAACP has little if any real connection to their own community because their voices went unheeded.  Unlike the most memorable incident between the late Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, the parents of Trayvon Martin was able to get the respect that they deserved from their community when they asked for calm.

The lesson here, stop talking to your teens about running from the cops or trying to fight back.  Teach your teens to go along with those closet Klan members in blue because even though you may suffer a little then, afterwards you will stand taller as those who disrespected you now have to face their actions and are forced to take responsibility for their actions.  They may win in the short term but you will definitely have the last laugh and even more important, you will be alive to see it.  You see no matter how sneaky you think you are or how important you have convinced yourself you are, we all have to report to someone higher than us.  All the power one thinks that they have is just a fraction of the real power that the one higher than all of us have and to be quite honest with you, I would rather face a million of those who think that they are powerful than just the one who we know are.  Also think about this, if you believe that someone owes you something for just merely existing, then collect it by knowing exactly what the laws are and how those who are supposed to uphold them are supposed to conduct themselves.  Never debate them on the street, debate them in a court of law, where you are still breathing instead of laying on the street with a white sheet thrown over you.  Those who we hire to serve and protect may wish to come over to your side but because you took this opportunity to commit crimes like looting, they are now safe to crawl back into their little holes and hide, so whom have you really helped except yourself.