The Un-United States

It has been nearly a year since I last blogged, and the reality is I have struggled to make sense of what the world has become and moreover what our nation has become. I am beholden to an oath to my country as a public servant to serve with unyielding allegiance. And though I have the right to express my opinion on my own time, doing so can put me and my family at great peril -- so really I don't have that liberty! I therefore must temper my words with the fact that I can and will be held accountable regardless the guise by which I author my thoughts. I cannot acquiesce to the pangs of my spirit and decry the iniquities perforating my country, my community. And though I have tendered some of my posits via the ever watching social media machine, I mostly remain silent, vexed and disheartened at what has become of America.

In the aftermath of the shooting at a baseball practice in Alexandria that occurred on June 14, 2017, I find myself in an apoplectic stupor, listening and reading about how people are surprised that a person's political leanings can lead one to such heinous actions. And yet one only need to peruse the internet to see the alleged leader of the free world telling folks in an unambiguous manner to remove folks by force who disagree with his leanings, offering to pay the legal bills of those groupies who carry out his orders. Moreover, the man charged with leading the greatest democracy in history has shown the proclivity to act aggressively towards people, mocking their disability, dehumanizing them by leveling egregious accusations and admitting to violating their rights for his own satisfaction. These actions coupled with policies that defy human decency and the promise to weaken the sovereignty of the nation he represents, stoke the fires of fear and desperation of many who try to exist within the parameters skewed towards the Have's and privileged white America.

Many want to choose to live in oblivion, feigning ignorance, electing to believe many of the tragedies of late happened in isolation. They didn't! And we know this. The breadcrumbs are so obvious, even Big Bird couldn't eat them all to obfuscate the truth. The eight hundred pound gorilla in the room is jumping on the table, eating our lunch and pulling our hair. The hate, prejudice and vitriol is inextricably tied to the violence and discord we are seeing throughout our nation. As we as a nation try and move beyond an ugly past into a place of reckoning and accord, there are some who despise the thought of a country unified as one, determined to celebrate a shameful past and refuse to move towards a future that is inclusive and prosperous for all. 

Let me be explicit here. This is not about Democrats and Republicans. This is not about abortion and the right-to-life. This is not about the right to love who you want. This is a fundamental divide in ideology regarding the constitution of our country. No, not the document, the people. The Black American, the White American, the Latin American, the LGBTQ American, the Asian American, the Disabled American, the Muslim American etc. The fear of some that extolling and exercising the true tenets of freedom by allowing everyone to exist without fear of persecution, ridicule and/or prejudice somehow lessens their own existence is the TRUE problem.

No, I will not rehash the history of this nation by reiterating how this country was inhabited long before European settlers ever laid foot on this soil and therefore is and always will be the land of its native people. I will not recount the horrors of slavery by White America to satisfy their narcissism and blatant disregard for human decency. No, I will not reignite the flames that illuminated the hate and terrorism proliferated throughout this nation via contrived practices such as Jim Crow, Sundown Towns, Black Codes and Red Lining. Moreover, I will restrain from cataloging the contemporary actions of some to preserve the symbols and statues of national traitors an audacious hate. These things speak for themselves if only people choose to open their eyes and see them for what they are. 

What I will say is this, we can only truly be United once we collectively choose to accept the past with the promise to usher in a better future. We must take account of our own insecurities, prejudices and fallacies, reconcile them within ourselves and then embrace the willingness to unequivocally accept those of others. Human is the only race. We are our own greatest threat, choosing ignorance over knowledge, hate over love, and greed over solidarity. And though there is no magic elixir to right the ship and get us moving as one towards a more perfect nation, we have the greatest commodity at our fingertips to get things moving in the right direction -- US! (And yes the pun is intended)

S. McGill

One of the most powerful things in the world can be obtained and used liberally by anyone who chooses to use it.  "If" can be the beginning of something great or the acquiescence to defeat. How will you use your "if"?

Because I Have The Right

As a blogger, I challenge myself to find the words to articulate how I feel. My writing is therapeutic, cathartic for me and intended to be entertaining to anyone who chooses to read them. And as my thoughts are my own, I don’t expect or want others to agree with me as much as I ask others to understand my position. The diversity in our thoughts and convictions is the kindling that stokes the fires of innovation, negotiation and fidelity. And through this negotiation, we can foster compromise and coalesce in our likeness while learning to catalyze the power of our differences.

I offer this preamble because I am troubled by recent events (Alton Sterling, Castile in Minnesota) and am struggling to parse my words. I am angry, hurt, vexed, and tired. I have obligations in my life that don’t afford me the liberty to say all that I want. But to be clear, I am not interested in leveling indictments against anyone, any agency or party. And although there is salient evidence to support systemic indiscretion, the precipitous use of propaganda, misdirection, and miseducation allows the truth to be obscured and manipulated.

Hence my opinion:

The narrative of American history is neat and concise, packaging the stories it encapsulates in pithy anecdotes that tend to forget or ignore the ancillary issues that shaped the outcome or the people/communities impacted by the actions that made up the larger story. Modern technology is mitigating this issue, providing us with records of the story as it happened. And though some of the videos provided do not show the whole story, many offer enough evidence to support the claim of egregious, deliberate actions. Perception indeed plays a role in how we see things and thus allows for nuances in interpretations, the simple facts of these videos are indefatigable in their exposition of the reality.

The agency that is the Black community has a charge to its history, present and its future. Inherent in this charge is the courage to be accountable. That is, we must understand and accept that our actions are our own and the consequences that accompany them are ours as well. Conversely, this truth applies to those agencies, communities, and individuals that coexist with us. We must be in countenance with this edict in our everyday lives if our expectation is that others too will comply. So yes, we have a clearly defined role in stopping the heinous attacks against our community and in particular our men, my brothers.

Undoubtedly our society has successfully labeled the black man the enemy, and examples of this are not hard to find.  For instance, black people in general have historically been considered the minority in America yet have the ubiquitous identity of a Number One male/female in law enforcement. Legislation and policy crafted to disenfranchise and perpetuate the hegemony of the Black community with the Justice system widely accepting the unequal application of the law to purposefully diminish the presence and effectiveness of the black community in American society. This is not conjecture. This is not hyperbole. This is fact.

The assault on our community is endemic. The assent of Donald Trump and the brazen nature of his constituents is emblematic of a pervasive consciousness percolating in America today. It is incumbent upon us to educate ourselves so that we can mobilize and mitigate the overt attacks against our community. I believe that every man, woman and child has the right to exist in this country as a productive citizen with the liberty to be who they are, express their opinions, and exercise the right to oppose that which they feel is an affront to them; and they should feel free to do this respectfully despite the authority or agency confronting them. As such, I am not disillusioned and understand that the constitution that governs the laws that I live by was not written for me. I know that the color of my skin is still a precondition for my acceptance in many places. I understand that I am a liability to some because the perception is I do not possess the intellectual capacity. And I know that there are those who will willfully take my life because they understand me to be the threat or simply less than.

The thing that bothers me the most though is that the faction that now considers themselves the victim, the one who is under attack and is threatened, is the one who unapologetically through history is responsible for many of the most heinous acts against man on record. I, on the other hand, have done my best to live in peace and harmony with my fellow man, loving each as an individual, accepting them for who they say they are until I learn different. And, I choose this approach because it is how I want to be treated. The fact, though, is my history, our history is unrelenting in its evidence that me and my community are still considered the problem … the enemy. And despite our contributions, sacrifices, and capitulations, we still are condemned when we highlight and rail against the insidious acts that exist in the margins of the narrative in an effort to get justice for ourselves and our community so that we may one day live in peace, free of fear in our country.

So hear me when I tell you that I share this not for you to agree but to understand. For this is not my perception, this is my reality.

S. McGill

Black, Father, Husband, Son, Veteran, and American 

One of the most powerful things in the world can be obtained and used liberally by anyone who chooses to use it.  "If" can be the beginning of something great or the acquiescence to defeat. How will you use your "if"?

Which Black Lives Matter!?

I have come to a realization that there is a word missing in the ubiquitous mantra Black Lives Matter, and that word is “SOME”!  And it is with intrepid indignation that I write this blog. It is absolutely vexing to me that a community can so blatantly and boisterously march to such a hypocritical drum.

 

Do black lives matter? Yes! But all lives matter. Moreover, all black lives matter. This is a point that seems to have escaped the faux-crusaders who want to decry injustice when a white police officer kills a black man.  How these same protesters are conspicuously absent from the inner city streets where countless black lives are extinguished by other black lives in senseless violence is confounding to me. If indeed black lives matter, shouldn’t the black community itself lead by example and demonstrate this as the rule and not the exception?

Black lives matter, but black lives must matter to the black community first before the community implores others to do the same. Instead of having one Toya Graham, the Baltimore mother who beat her son for rioting, and a thousand apathetic who-ha’s proclaiming their child’s incapacity for anything violent or illegal, we should see just the opposite. The black community should be able to identify the guilty, inform their parents, and hold all parties accountable.

If you think I am crazy, think again!

Growing up, any adult in my community was given tacit approval to correct me and/or take me to my parents. From a very early age my parents articulated to me my responsibility to represent myself and by extension the family well in the community. Even as a child I understood the embarrassment and shame I was capable of inflicting should I do anything to besmirch our reputation in our surrounding community. I was accountable not only to my family but also to those countless families that lived in our immediate area. There were no signs, posters, or public service announcements to remind me of this, it was understood by me and every other adolescent that populated our neighborhood; and that is where it started … and ended, for that matter!

The black community should be angry, and not with the police or the government. The black community should be angry with itself. The community should be apoplectic at its apathetic indifference to its own responsibility. The onus is on the community itself to right the ship. The majority of guns aimed at the community come from within the community, not the police. The death and destruction inflicted on our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers finds its origin many times in our own backyards. Our willful disregard of these facts is no longer acceptable. In fact, it is criminal and detestable. It is not until we stand accountable for our own failures, our own tolerances, and our own indiscretion that we can proudly stand united and thwart injustice emanating from outside of our community. For as long as we perpetuate and perpetrate egregious hate, murder, misogyny, and countless other immoralities within our own ranks, we will never rise above a milieu rife with death, destruction, and interminable failure and shame.

If the black community needs a rallying point let it be their neighborhood streets where they can once again perpetuate strong values and morals that permeate the fabric of the community and every family in it. Once again hold parents accountable and charge them with the responsibility to lead the way by example. And if the parent fails to meet that charge, hold them responsible and culpable. Indifference and loyalty to an absurd code of silence is unacceptable and inane. All lives matter. And if you portend to others that black lives matter but don’t demonstrate that in your own community, then you are a liar and a hypocrite by definition. You want to hold up a sign that says black lives matter? Do it in the inner city streets where black teenagers are being gunned down by black teenagers. Do it in the shadows where teenage boys and teenage girls have unprotected sex spreading disease and creating babies with a greater promise of a single parent and failure rather than one of family and success. Do it on the corners and in the flop houses where drug dealers peddle meth, crack, and weed to our community all under the guise of a hustle. Do it in the homes where the mothers and fathers are more absorbed in their own indiscretions, forgoing discipline and love for their kids, failing to ensure strong values and appropriate choices. If you want someone indicted for abuse and neglect, violence and indifference towards the black community, we need to indict ourselves. And I am positive with this indictment will come an unequivocal guilty verdict. And the sentence, of course, should be a lifetime of community service.

I suggest instead of holding up signs that say black lives matter we should start using the hashtag #ACCOUNTABILITY. If we don’t care, who will!?

S. McGill

One of the most powerful things in the world can be obtained and used liberally by anyone who chooses to use it.  "If" can be the beginning of something great or the acquiescence to defeat. How will you use your "if"?

Time Will Tell

It seems not too long ago that I was the youngest one in the room. At work I was the hungry go-getter who wanted to prove that I could handle the toughest jobs, that I could save the world. I was eager to accept the most difficult challenges, using my professional prowess to win the day. Personally it was my desire to right every wrong and raise my flag on every hill, gaining justice for all. I was indefatigable in my efforts, uninhibited by any obstacle, impervious to defeat.

And then …

I had an epiphany.

Something has changed.

I am now one of the old-heads. The Millennials are now the future and I am the old guy in the corner with the sour coffee breath grunting at every whisper of optimism. I shrug my shoulders in ambivalence when faced with change and sneer in delight when an up-and-comer evinces grandiose ideas of change and improvement.  And though I cannot put my finger on the exact time or place when I crossed the threshold from young and vibrant to old and crotchety, I am cognizant of the fact that indeed this epoch has passed.

The interesting thing is I am alright with being this guy. It may sound strange, but I see myself as taking the torch from my elders continuing the legacy perpetuated by those who came before me. I am part of that history we don’t want to repeat. My cynicism is not so much destructive as it is cautionary.  My aim is not to quell the fires of optimism and enthusiasm as much as it is to temper the spirit and harden the resolve; because I know that victory is not the all or nothing we seek when we are young and spry but the compromise between failure and success. And this is not a concession that total victory is unobtainable, yet the acknowledgement that the energy expended and casualties amassed from such efforts can sometimes be pyrrhic.

The truth is we all have this old person in us from day one. When we are young we don’t listen to the inner-old because it is safe, boring, predictable, skeptical, and cynical. The inner-old is no fun, a Debbie Downer. But what we find as we get older is that the inner-old is right most of the time. And at that moment we begin to recognize and listen to the inner-old is when youthful naivety slips away and seasoned experience takes the wheel.

Take Bill Cosby – ok, I couldn’t resist – he is the personification of what I am trying to say here. I grew up with the Coz as my moral conscious. I loved Fat Albert. Moreover, I was enamored of Mudfoot and his wisdom – if you are asking yourself who is Mudfoot, now is the time to skip to the next paragraph, for this will be lost on you. Mudfoot’s moral integrity and salient wisdom always came at the right time to help guide the Gang in the right direction. And although they still encountered troubles, life lessons were always imparted to the Gang and me when Mudfoot spoke. What’s ironic is that this wisdom, presumably, was coming from a young Bill Cosby. Who, while imparting this knowledge, was allegedly sexually violating scores of women in his real life.   It is the epitome of contradictions. Cosby, an icon and moralist who clearly grasped the vileness of moral turpitude juxtaposed with the importance of personal humility and integrity himself failed to heed the cautions of his inner-old.

The point is not to deride the young and ambitious, making them capitulate to the notion that there is no hope -- quite the contrary. I want the young to be dubious of their heroes. I want their enthusiasm to be measured and their resolve calculated. And though I want to be heard and my cautions heeded, I also want to be proven wrong. I want to see the person heralded for being good and righteous live up to that moniker. I want to see societal change that embraces tolerance, freedom, and unity. I want to believe that our Constitution is predicated on the premise that all men are created equal. I want to believe our judicial system adheres to the edict that every man is innocent until proven guilty. I want to believe that those charged with leading the way do so with humility, integrity, and compassion; ensuring that those who follow are afforded equal opportunity to enjoy the inalienable rights to live, work and thrive in their community without the fear of persecution or prejudice. The truth is, though, I can no longer hush my inner-old. I am relegated to the park bench where I am left to impart my knowledge, wave the proverbial yellow flag of caution, and extol the lessons of my experience to ensure the young go-getters are prepared for what lies before them. And though my inner-old now reconciles that though much has changed much has stayed the same, my now subdued inner-youth whispers in defiance, still believing and routing for the Good to prevail and the happily ever after is achieved. 

S. McGill
One of the most powerful things in the world can be obtained and used liberally by anyone who chooses to use it.  "If" can be the beginning of something great or the acquiescence to defeat. How will you use your "if"?  

The Policing of Freedom

The notion that we are free in America is arguable. I am not asserting that America has reverted to Marxism or any other oppressive style of government; however, it is clear that freedom in America is an ideal predicated on individual perception. That is, each of us sees the precept of freedom differently and, therefore, shapes our actions and/or reactions accordingly. This is neither a right nor wrong scenario as much as it is a salient fact about which intelligent creatures must coexist.

Man is a complex animal who has the ability to reason and the intellect to discern the meaning and purpose of his/her environment. This discernment allows man to not only understand but in many instances manipulate his environment to allow him/her to exist peacefully and safely in even the most questionable places. And though man has demonstrated the ability to adapt and assimilate to a plethora of environments and challenges, his ability to adapt and assimilate to the idea of civility and coexistence perpetually escapes him/her. In fact, the audacity of someone to be different is not only ridiculed in society, it is used as a weapon against another to debase, dehumanize, and destroy a person; thus making it easy for the assailant to objectify the person, seeing them only as the thing they abhor and not simply the diverse human being they are.

I am purposefully being broad with my opening because my statements are intended to apply to such a wide swath of society and the ilk of the hordes of perverse who judge, that applying it to one situation is inane and myopic. My intent in this blog, however, is to address the killing of Michael Brown from a perspective that does not dismiss racism, classism, or the indignation of perceived power yet explores a more visceral, intrinsic symptom that we fail to acknowledge and explore during our moments of incredulity.

A truth that is inherently missed, diminished, or ignored in many instances of perceived injustice, where an authority uses force to assail an individual, is the perception of each party. This perception is not only a precipitating factor in the concluding events but, arguably, the blinding catalyst to all that happens next.  Regardless what the officer saw when approaching Michael Brown, he did not objectively assess the situation and act on the fact that the circumstance was no more than two people in the street. Presumptively, he fashioned that the two people in the street were somehow disruptive or threatening to the environment and he sought to remove them forcefully, using inflammatory language and tone he knew would insight action – subsequently shaping Michael Brown’s perception of the situation. Thus he began the pendulum swinging towards confrontation. And though only the officer knows what was going through his mind just prior to escalation, it is not preposterous to think the officer concluded that his disposition was going to provoke a negative reaction from the teens. Moreover, he acted knowing that he held multiple advantages over those he was directing, possessing access to a host of weapons and manpower literally and figuratively at his fingertips.  

Why would a person charged to protect the freedoms of those he serves antagonize and assault them to such a point that the confronted felt it necessary to defend themselves? I can only find two reasons: provocation and confrontation.

We’ve seen this far too many times. The inanely self-appointed and those officially charged with the duties to protect are often the aggressors, providing the incendiaries and invectives needed to catalyze confrontation. Just as in the case with George Zimmerman, in Michael Brown’s case you have a man interpreting the freedoms of another, confronting and indicting an innocent person because of an irrational perception, one fueled by fear, prejudice, media bias, and ignorance.  So blinded by their indignation and emboldened by their perceived power, the faux-protectors press the situation until peace is untenable and freedom is compromised, falsely placing the innocent on trial, trying the innocent before a contrived, malevolent judge and jury that only exists in the mind of the brazen instigator, with fatal faux-justice exacted by a purveyor of distorted truths and despicable motivations. The sentence: execution!

Can it be that if my actions are such that I am doing nothing wrong when confronted by another who possesses unfounded perceptions and suspicions, the only reasonable consequence is my death? Ostensibly, precedent has been set in America that supports the precept that a person, without cause, can instigate and agitate a situation to such the point that another is threatened and faced with a decision of fight or flight. And should the accosted person decide to fight in an effort to protect his or her own freedom, the instigator or agitator then has the right to kill that person because he or she had the audacity to vigorously defend his or her right to coexist peacefully and lawfully in a mutual environment. This sounds stupid when I write it and foolish when I read it, but somehow it has become an unwritten addendum to our Constitution. Indeed Justice is blind, for if she cannot see the fallacy and idiocy of allowing the defense of one’s own freedoms to be a legal argument for their execution, then her truths are based on a warped perception of equality, giving the discretion to all people the right to define, tolerate, and revoke another’s freedom when and where it is convenient to them.


S. McGill
One of the most powerful things in the world can be obtained and used liberally by anyone who chooses to use it.  "If" can be the beginning of something great or the acquiescence to defeat. How will you use your "if"?  

A Simple Gesture?

Hello!

Indulge me this entry. I am feeling philosophical and thus taking a circuitous route to make my point (insert joke here). I find the following analogy apropos, illustrating the point better than a cathartic rant indicting an act.

I am opining about the simple person-to-person greeting. You know the tried and true good morning (or just morning for those who loathe the rising of the sun), hi, what's up, wave, nod, smile etc. It is an innocuous act that often is unremarkable. For some it is so instinctive they perform the deed with little regard for the recipient. Others, however, falter in the moment, offering an awkward gesture in return, avoiding eye contact in hopes that the moment quickly passes. And though some are more graceful than others, it is the intent not the gesture that holds the value.

My contention, however, is with the people who do not reciprocate. The snubbers. These are the people who willfully look you in the face and refuse to respond to your greeting; the self-righteous, overtly indignant persons who forgo decency, opting instead to embody arrogance and pomposity. Perhaps they deem the act trivial, perceiving it as an acknowledgement of friendship or personal acceptance. And though inane to assign such value to a simple, cordial gesture, what they don’t understand is the dichotomous nature of the moment and the inequitable swing of the pendulum when the gesture is ignored.

Consider this: As social beings human rationale is often porous, proving to be tenuous and flimsy even in the best situations. We are susceptible to our own perceptions and biases, allowing conjectured, frivolous information to act as valid, salient points when making decisions. What’s more is this information is used to fill in the blanks as we assess each other in both personal and professional interactions.  And as is the case with the greeting, where a person exposes themselves to judgment or acceptance, negative experiences arguably leave the more indelible marks on a person’s psyche. And though one may argue that this is exactly the purpose of not returning the gesture -- tallying one for the home team -- I contend the consequences of the snub could prove more costly than one may believe.

Our lives are an invisible web. Everything we do is inextricably linked. Some of us navigate our worlds oblivious to the role, needs, and feelings of others; failing to understand how the strength of our web is predicated on the wisdom of our choices. Truth is you never know the impact someone may have on your future. Reaping what you sow, burning your bridge, or whatever pithy counsel you choose to file this under is up to you. One thing is for sure, you may not understand why your web cannot carry your weight, but history tells us the fault most often lies in the architect not the material.

The calamity of a single loosened screw has no limits to its potential.  

S. McGill

One of the most powerful things in the world can be obtained and used liberally by anyone who chooses to use it.  "If" can be the beginning of something great or the acquiescence to defeat. How will you use your "if"?

Why I Don't Like Like

Recently, having been tasked by my wife to look at a video my daughter posted on a social networking cite, I watched as my daughter solicited acceptance from her online friends. My initial reaction when addressing this with her was wrong; however, having started down the road of ire and admonition, I realized it was too late to turn back. So I pressed on, trying my best to explain to my daughter why this post was such a problem, realizing as I did my message was getting lost in translation.

My daughter is a tween. She craves all of the accoutrements the contemporary teenager has, cataloging all of the stuff she perceives will make her cool. And though I want her to have some of those cool things, I am quickly coming to realize the prerequisite for many of these items is maturity. The insular nature of a generation long matured has been compromised. Our kids today literally have the world at their fingertips. The internet has made the planet exponentially smaller, inviting the maligned to our doorsteps and in our homes.

The reality is our kids unwittingly expose themselves to danger everyday on the Web. Inherently, if we aren’t vigilant and fail to manage the activities of our children, they will rely on their own interpretations and devices to navigate the world around them, including the internet. The danger here is that our kids are analogous to mackerel in a sea of swarming dolphins. Most swim with the pack, mimicking the behavior of the one in front of them, believing their behavior, if consistent with the group, is safe. But just as the fish swimming tight in a ball do not see the predator rising from the depths, our kids move in their circles, never seeing the vulpine assailant preparing to pounce.

As parents we need to know what our kids value. A contemporary benchmark sought by our children today is the social networking Like button. This barometer has become a vehicle of distortion for many children and even some adults. Akin to my daughter, I am positive there are many children using the web to gain acceptance and to a certain extent popularity. The metrics to determine their success is the total number of likes, with the goal being to post something on the Web that gets widely accepted as cool. Those enticed to accept this challenge, however, often do not comprehend the potential dangers spawned by their actions. Ostensibly the actor is compelled to try harder, following each failed attempt with more ostentatious iterations, usually culminating in embarrassing and sometimes disastrous outcomes.   

Clearly society in general has been sucked into the spectacle called the internet. Adults have proven just as impressionable and gullible as children, constantly upping the stakes, engaging in more ridiculous behavior every day to gain fame and notoriety. Imagine, then, how our children are interpreting this inane behavior. They too want to be recognized, and they understand that to reach this goal they have to impress. Selfies and monologues are not arcane, they are products of kids seeking acceptance, wanting the world to like who they are and what they are. The problem with this is that they do not understand that evil can like something too, though for different more sinister reasons.

Our job as parents is very different than that of a generation ago. Our children are exposed on every side. We must take preemptive actions to ensure that our children are proud of who they are, wanting respect more than needing acceptance. Reaffirm in your children every day that they are beautiful, important and strong. Teach them to find self-worth and value in their accomplishments. Build them up by admonishing them when they are wrong and celebrating them when they are successful. Most importantly, teach them the most important like they get is from themselves, not a button.