Jo Anne and Traci are doing the work that ensures after the healing there will be change.
Healing and change begin here
After a week that struck many with a lack of confidence in the fabric of American society, I attended a function that gives me hope for healing and change.
This morning I watched This Week and simply had to shake my head in disgust. Martha Raddatz asked a simple question to two Law Enforcement officers, one black, one white. She asked each officer what advice they give their sons about interacting with police. Their answer was similar, ‘Do what the police tells you to do.’ Raddatz then asked the white officer, paraphrasing, if the treatment of his son would be the same as the black officer’s son. The white officer responded in a confident manner that there would be no difference in treatment.
One cannot fix a problem if one is willfully blind to the problem. I wrote several blogs this week on the subject and was shocked that even with the most recent videos, many people attempt to find a justification for police shooting these black men. Yes, the police is a reflection of our society. Society will have to change for the systemic problems in police departments to improve. We must also change laws. But ultimately we must change hearts. We discussed this on my Politics Done Right on Coffee Party Radio on Saturday.
I MCed the Houston Peace & Justice Center’s (HPJC) Peace Potluck. Two women, Traci and Joanne, brought some of their kids from Peace Camp Houston to perform at the potluck. I was impressed with the intentional manner in which they promoted not simply diversity but the immersion and understanding of different cultures to these children. Making humanity, tolerance, and acceptance a fabric of one’s being is the methodology to real change.
Later in the program, a singer David, performed many well-known songs. He had something prescient to say. You see he was on the mall in Washington when Martin Luther king spoke. David said he has been singing we shall overcome for over four decades and wondered why hasn’t people lost hope. The answer is the children. If we get enough people working with children as Joann and Traci has, appropriate change will occur.
Enjoy the singing of these wonderful kids and their teachers.
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