There are always a few responses to the deplorable murders of youth. You can find someone willing to detest sub-par education of inner-city children. And you can even find a handful of people to stand on one corner for at least an hour.
Is standing in line at a local Chick-fil-A really worth the time?
Does Gabby Douglas’ hairdo really matter after winning gold in the Olympics? It is sickening to see that, after the Civil Rights Movement, we can gather around such unimportant issues. A girl gets shot. Who occupies the corners and for how long?
The fried chicken chain vs. the LGBT community is much bigger than hoards of black folks standing in line with their churches opposing gay marriage. I’m willing to bet that not even half of the people eating said fried chicken even understand why the LGBT community is so incensed (Just to remind everyone, the company’s CEO earlier this summer expressed his opposition to gay marriage, a stance he insisted his company allows follows).
The problem I have is that you follow the flock without understanding the policies and politics the fast-food chain stands for and sends money to support. This is because you have yet to understand your own unified global economic influence as African-American consumers.
One bus strike once upon a time impacted policy because it had financial ramifications. I have said it and I will continue to say it: As a whole, blacks are clueless when it comes to determining the power and position of their own communities. That’s not to say it has always been so or continue into the far-away future.
But a 16-year-old black girl won gold in London at the Olympics, and her hair is the issue?
We are so caught up in minute absurdities, we miss the big picture. We forget to celebrate and hold our daughters with hopes that a dream is being planted. We neglected to watch with our boys and tell them that they can earn the real “bling” on the biggest stage in the world. We miss current teaching moments because we forget about past ones.
The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City featured two black Olympians, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who, in protest, raised their fists in the air in silent (black power) salute on the podiums, and had their medals stripped away. There is this fractured black experience that keeps rubbing together causing natural disasters. Whatever happened to the pure celebration of racial progress in a land that still holds many people hostage?
In no way do I compare the Civil Rights Movement to the troubles of the LGBT community, but there are black faces in that community.
It is a civil liberties issue. It is a human rights equality issue. It is an issue that every man or woman should be afforded the innate right to choose how they would live. It is not a religious issue. It’s not for the so-called “saved” to judge the “damned” and “lost.” It’s not for the preacher to Bible-bash. It is a mind-your-own-damn-business issue.
Two men kissing, holding hands, wanting to get married or adopt children has never affected my life. It’s none of my business.
