Juneteenth Is Now A Federal Holiday. This IS Progress.

Juneteenth is now a federal holiday… here are my thoughts on the matter.

I would first like to applaud the law makers who have finally recognized this historic day as a national holiday, as it deserves to be.

As we go on to celebrate this new holiday let’s remember the sacrifices that where made by the African-Americans who didn’t not have their freedoms but helped build this country. Let’s celebrate those who, we’re told they where free but didn’t not receive their freedom until two years later. Let’s allow freedom to ring across this great nation. While knowing we can still do better.

Let’s make this a day to show kindness to one another. To tell people that their lives matter and that we are all the very heartbeat of this country. Let’s be reminded that we still have many things that we need to grow at. Let’s do something for the community that has done so much to build the country that we all love.

Let’s stand together united, knowing that our country has a horrible past, but vow that we will be better, and be better together as one nation. But not just for the day. No there has to be a real commitment to move forward. To put an end to the past, and put forth the effort for the future.

However, let this not be a day of sorrow but a day of remembrance. A day to celebrate the African-American community, their culture and all the beauty they bring to our country as well as countries around the world. Let us stand together and sing the hymns the slaves once sang, but let us also note how far we have come, while we acknowledge how far we still have to go.

This is just one step. Let this Juneteenth be a commitment to continue to stand and fight with our African-American brothers and sisters for the rights that they as human beings deserve. Let this be the day that we stop dehumanizing a whole race for no reason at all.

Let this Juneteenth be the day that we stop injustices, and work together to make this country better.

Let us stand together untied!

Happy Juneteenth, stat safe and keep fighting!

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I Still Believe There is Hope …

Yes today was a sad day for America. We watched as violence took over our Capitol. Most of watched wondering what was going to happen and when things where going to get back to normal if they where going to get back to normal. Now as I sit and listen to senators and congress people speaking I still hold hope.

We know that America is better than this. And we know that we have to come together and fight the good fight. We have to stop allowing the few bad apples in the bunch control the situation. Something I personally believe our Congress seen today.

This is a deeply personal post for me, so I am going to say, democracy was indeed threatened today. However, I would also like to point out that was not a threat that was carried out. And it is my belief that today We The People where heard. The few bad apples were not!

Today I’m proud of how our senators came back todo the hard work after being terrorized. Today I’m proud of the people who mobilized went out and voted in Georgia’s run off elections. I was deeply humbled to see Warnock in his victory! Today I’m proud to see that America will move forward dispute attempts to overthrow us moving forward. Today I’m proud to be an American more so than I have been.

Tomorrow will be a new day. I hold out hope that this new day will bring us together because the one thing I heard over and over again that I believe to be true, “There is more that unites us then divides us.” Does that mean that there are not fundamental issues that need to be sorted out just go away. Absolutely not! What it means is that we have a duty to sit down and work the hard stuff out together.

I hope you join me in my hope tonight. As well as congratulating the two new senators from Georgia Warnock and Ossoff. As well as a big thank you to Ms. Stacy Abrams for helping to bring voting issues to the for front of issues.

Let’s keep working together, to make a better America!

Breonna Taylor – How You Can Help Bring Her Justice

Breonna Taylor – What Now?

Breonna Taylor was a twenty six year old black woman. She was fatally shot by officers of the Louisville Metro Department on March 13th while in her home. Beyond the settlement and police reform, the actual officers who shot her were not indicted for her death, sparking outrage and protests across the country this week.

Elle magazine went ahead and compiled a list of actions that you as a citizen can take to bring justice to the killing of Breonna Taylor. We share this out of respect for the family of Breonna Taylor, the writers of the Elle post, and our own disturb and distress that we feel as women, men and citizens. We want to empower our readers with actionable tools to help. And we share this in order to bring consistent information on this case to our community. A very special thank you to the team at Elle for writing such a thorough, and poignant, constructive, informative piece. We hope to share more of your work in more pleasant circumstances.

Here are some things that you can do to help. Because Black Lives Matter.

Contribute Monetarily

You Can donate to the GoFundMe for Taylor’s family.

Help Support The Protestors

There is a Louisville Community Bail Fund here which supports protestors on the ground.

Put Your Thoughts Down By Writing

Send an email to the Kentucky Attorney General, Mayor, and Governor using the links provided here.

Send a letter to the Kentucky Attorney General and Louisville Mayor. You can find their mailing addresses here.

Visit The Taylor Family Website

On justiceforbreonna.org, you can send a note to Taylor’s family and find a list of actions to take, including a list of officials to contact and another petition to sign.

Follow The Bill And Show Support To Ban No Knock Warrants

The Marshall Project reports U.S. House Democrats approved a bill that would ban no-knock warrants in federal law enforcement and take away funding from local police departments that did not do the same. Sen. Rand Paul has proposed a similar bill in the Senate. Contact your local representatives and ask them to support this legislation.

Get A Better Understanding Of Police Power

Learn about the history and power of police unions. Start with this Voxexplainer.

According to the Courier-Journal, Louisville Metro Council member Bill Hollander said he has received thousands of messages to his email and that his voicemail fills up multiple times a day with people asking to fire and charge the officers involved. Governor Beshear has also reportedly received thousands of emails, voice messages, and cards.

You can read the full Elle Article Here

6 Misconceptions About The Black Lives Matter Movement

From The Editor: This post was originally published in 2016, and sadly, the violence and inequality continues today.

As a white woman born in privilege, I will be personally donating to Black Lives Matter today. And I will continue to educate myself.

Think you know about the movement ? Did you know it was founded by two queer black women? Read below to learn more about Black Lives Matter. And please show your support and solidarity by donating to their movement here: Black Lives Matter Donate

Black Lives Matter

In the wake of national chaos, shootings and despair it is hard to think about how movements seem to be helping people. The Black Lives Matter movement is no different. And it doesn’t change the tension between the Black Community, and those who put on the police uniform every day, and protect and defend us in a wide variety of ways.

The Black Lives Matter Movement was designed to bring a face to a community that often times is forgotten about, and stereotyped. Formed in the prospect of unity, and advocacy for the black freedom struggle. Its desire has never been to point fingers at the White man, or to trump others races. It has been an outcry, a rally that helps to encourage and impassioned our future generations.

As a result we often have been categorized as thinking that black lives are the only ones matters. We get asked why we can’t focus on the crime problems in our own communities. But in the midst of so many questions comes the need to think about some of the misconceptions people have about us. We deserve a fair hearing, so we can debunk who we are, and what the Black Lives Matter Movement is not.

1. We are not a hate group.

When you take part of an organization who loses people at the hands of violence, and injustice it means something. We do not carry signs that are meant to take down the White Man. Instead we use solidarity, peace, and education as a way to make our voices heard and demand justice by those in power. We have been told we are looking for trouble, and want to cause trouble.

When the reality is like any group, extremists have carried our name tag – and tainted our calling.

They are loved by us, but they are not supported by us. They do not represent us. Categorizing any group by the actions, dispositions, or statements by a few only tears apart the good of the cause.

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#BlackLivesMatter & Why #AllLivesMatter is Racist

I wanted to speak to everyone about Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, and racism. First, if you don’t know what either of these are the last one is racist.

Black Lives Matter was created because of the desperate need to have voices out there to stand up for injustice that Black people face every day – mostly police brutality. It’s a terrifying reality for thousands of people in America today, young and old.

These Americans do not feel safe in our country because if they are stopped by an officer, it becomes a matter of life or death. If they say something wrong, move a certain way, dress a certain way, or whatever else, they could be shot. They could be murdered on spot without a second thought. How would that make you feel if you knew your life was in the hands of someone who wanted to murder you? It’s a horrifying experience.

Yes, I am white. I know I am white,

I know I am privileged, but I would like to use that to help other people. This is why All Lives Matter bothers me so much. The problem with that saying is, is that it makes it seem like White people want a piece of Black people’s oppression. Sure, all lives matter in the grand scheme of things, but right now, we are focused on Black lives. Why? Well, because the judicial system works against them, they end up in court with an all-White jury that rules against them. and just the sheer fact that White people have basically fucked everyone in the world over.

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Why I’m a White Person Standing Up For Black Lives

I had always known I was color blind, but it really started to hit me when I went from being sympathetic to how black people are treated, to being pissed off.

What really made me cringe was a comment I heard regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. Something about black people “whining” and thinking “the world revolves around them when they get a whole month surrounding black history”.

Last time I checked, every day of the year revolves around white people. And what most don’t understand is that saying black lives matter, is NOT saying that white lives don’t. My take on the Black Lives Matter movement is that they simply want acknowledgement for their suffering- past and present. Saying that black people living now don’t have the right to be angry about years of slavery because it didn’t personally happen to them is completely ignorant. Especially when they are still treated with misjudgment and disrespect on a day to day basis in 2020.

We may have come a long way, but in my opinion there’s still a lot of work to do. Considering these days it seems that, if anything, we’re going backwards. Years and years of work and lives lost fighting for equality and almost nothing to show for it. Black people are still discriminated against and DO NOT have the same rights. If you truly believe that they do, then you’re part of the problem.

You’re also part of the problem if you claim to be angry about the black lives lost due to police brutality, yet you stay silent when it matters most. Your silence is a huge hindrance. If you are passionate about something, act as though you are. Cry for them. Voice for them. Care for more than just celebrity divorces and gossip.

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Black Lives Matter Delivered Their 10 Point Manifesto, This Is What They Want

Black Lives Matter (BLM), the activist group that campaigns agasint police brutality and racial injustice, have just come out with their plan to help fix the issues that plague police forces up and down the country.

Their plan – “Campaign Zero?? – focuses on 10 points where they would like the law to change. They believe that these changes will help stop racial profiling and lessen the dangers everyday citizens face when dealing with the police.

To get an idea of what they are asking for we thought we’d provide a breakdown of their plan:

1. End “broken windows” policing, which aggressively polices minor crimes in an attempt to stop larger ones.

“Broken windows?? policing is the idea that vigorously enforcing small crimes (like vandalism) will prevent larger crimes from happening. This law has allowed police to increase “stop and frisks??, which BLM claims enables racial stereotyping. They argue that Black men and women are unfairly targeted by police using this law as an excuse, and that this policy ultimately led to the death of Eric Garner (remember the guy that was choked to death after he was caught selling loose cigarettes). This is their first point in their plan, and probably the most controversial.