TAKE A STAND, PLEASE!

TAKE A STAND, MAN. - PLEASE, MAN, TAKE A STAND.

All of you are probably familiar with the name, Colin Kaepernick, and most of us know that he is/was a football player in the National Football League.  I want to take a few minutes to address the treatment of and responses to his taking a stand against the unjust killing and torturing of Black people in this country at the hands of police officers in various cities.

Although one would normally start this conversation with “I couldn’t believe this was happening in this point in time”. But for me, the most bothersome issue was not that the injustices were happening (and being filmed), but that no one was being held accountable. And, the fact that no one was being held accountable, seemed to be “ok” to the citizens and the government of this country. Thank you, Mr. Kaepernick, for picking up the ball and carrying it. There may be others that I am not aware of but he is certainly one of the most notable leaders.

And he is a leader simply because he decided to take a stand (kneeling). Thank God for such a wonderful display of Strength (through Humility). I could spend a lot of time going over the insensitive reactions to Mr. Kaepernick, but I would rather make another point today.

I still am struggling with trying to deal with the “almost” non-issue this has become in our society. Most people seem to just ignore the injustice and its lack of accountability. It’s just business as usual, even with my Brothers and Sisters. I can, and did, say at the onset, “why don’t somebody do something”. “Doesn’t anybody care about Black People in this country?” “Don’t Black People care about Black People, in this country?” Have we somehow taken the Rodney King statement, “can we all just get along”, and cloaked ourselves in it as a covering for whatever unpleasant thing we don’t want to face?

Why is Mr. Kaepernick taking this stand, almost all alone? Do the rest of the Black players in the NFL see what’s happening, both to the victims on the street and to Mr. Kaepernick? Do they value human life and welfare less than a dollar? If they are having a problems joining such a quiet, peaceful protest as this, God help us if something more strenuous is needed. I then wondered why there seems to be no support from or concern by Black players in the other major sports. But then, it finally hit me …  What about ME? Why am I not expressing much concern? Why have I been so silent? Why am I not talking to the fellow citizens, my sons, my nephews, friends and others about the injustices? Is there something that we, as ordinary citizens, can do?

Yes, there is something that we can do and we should do. We don’t need to just ask the NFL players to take a gamble with their paychecks, we need to sacrifice the enjoyment and pleasurable life styles that we have sunken into from year to year. The 2017-18 football season will kick-off in a few days. Unfortunately, we are hearing the usual banter from the fans about our hopes and expectations for my team(s). We act as though everything is all right and happy days are here again. Why don’t we put aside all this talk about and attentiveness to the ball game? What would it do to the game if we take just one year, just one 12-month period, free from professional football? We don’t need to attend any games. We don’t need to watch any televised games. We don’t even need to talk about the games each week, as if they have some importance in our world or national affairs.

Let’s treat football (and any other sport, if you choose) like what it is, or at least what it should be, just a game. Can we all get along for at least one season without participating in this sport, called professional football? I know it’s not much, but at least it’s a start. And right now, it is all I could think of. If someone has a better idea or suggestion, please share. But I believe that something should be done, by all of us.

AM I RIGHT or Am I ?

I posted a message a few years ago, titled "Has The World Gone Mad" (or was it, "What's The Matter With The World"). Anyway, today's message could be called "Part II".
"To be Black and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage..." These words, I believe, have been attributed to James Baldwin. I tended to agree with the statement to some degree and, since I am a Black man, I have always agreed in general with this. But lately, I realized that I am living expression of this rage, though I am sure it is not OPENLY seen by others. It's been building boiling inside me since that night in 1991 when LAPD Police Chief, Daryl Gates, categorized the malicious beating of Rodney Glen King as an aberration. I don't know why that bothered me so, but it felt like somehow I was the man at the end of those night stick blows and stomps and kicks.

Virtually everyone in these United States is well aware of the unjust treatment and crimes against the Black Man, over the years. So although, the Rodney King beating was not a new happening, it was perhaps the upgrading of these atrocities in this country. (Upgrading for the perpetrators, but Down-grading and Degrading for us). Now here we are, in the 21st century and it is worse than we would have imagined a few decades ago. These days, a black man - a black woman - a black boy - a black girl - A Black Person -- can be ruthlessly beaten, chocked, whipped, or murdered ON VIDEO, and no one is held accountable. That's right, no one!

If that's not bad enough, all of the good citizens of this "Christian" nation continue to go about with business-as-usual. Technically, it's not all of the good citizens, but the outcry is minimal for sure. It is no wonder though when you consider way that Colin Kapernick was treated/is being treated simply for quietly protesting for a couple of minutes during the start of a football game. Yes, the same NFL that was held in-check due to the reporting of dog abuse. But, human abuse, that's ok,

Where is the outrage from the good citizens. Nobody is doing anything and nobody is saying anything. Somebody ought to do something; somebody ought to say something. Why haven't I done something? Why have I waited all this time to say something. Frankly, I cannot tell you why we all seem to be so quiet on this matter. It pains me, every time I think about it. Am I Right or Am I Wrong?

Abortion & Health Care

Some of this stuff is pretty good. Enjoy!

By Ellen Goodman

My favorite moment so far in the health care debate was when Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl argued against mandating maternity benefits as part of a basic insurance coverage. “I don’t need maternity care,” he blurted out. At which point, Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow quipped, “I think your mom probably did.”
For that matter, so did his wife and daughter. But never mind. We had one brief glimpse into the mind of a politician who doesn’t quite see women’s health concerns as equal to his own.
Michelle Obama referred to this connection between health care and equality when she told a group of women that overhauling the system was “the next step” in women’s advancement for opportunity. Women are not only less likely to have insurance at work, but more likely to face discrimination from insurance companies. They also, she added, can be denied coverage just for the pre-existing condition of having had a C-section.

It is becoming obvious that just having a female reproductive system is a pre-existing condition in the health care debate. The up-and-coming sticking point is abortion. The Senate Finance Committee beat back some restrictions, but the question for Congress is still whether the “reform” that is supposed to increase coverage will instead reduce it. Will women who now have coverage for abortion in their private plans end up losing it?
In the days before Roe v. Wade, we had a hodgepodge of different state laws governing abortion. The argument in favor of abortion rights was not just about equality between men and women, but equality along economic lines. It was unjust, many argued, to have a system in which a wealthier woman could find and afford a safe abortion while a poorer woman had to put herself at risk.
After Roe, abortion opponents regrouped and went looking for a restriction that would appeal to the ambivalent middle. They latched onto the idea that taxpayer money shouldn’t be used to pay for abortions. This not only stigmatized abortion, separating it from “legitimate” health care, it reintroduced a two-tier health system for poor women on Medicaid.

Today, those tiers have expanded. Women on Medicaid can get abortion coverage only when states pick up the bill. Women in the military have no coverage, not even if they were raped. Doctors on the military payroll aren’t allowed to provide abortions even for soldiers who can pay their own way. Nor is there coverage for federal employees.
So what now? We were told that health care reform would be “abortion neutral,” that it wouldn’t change the shaky status quo, or rile the troops in the abortion wars. One compromise in the House proposed by California Rep. Lois Capps would keep it that way. Abortion would be neither mandated nor banned. There’d be no federal funds in subsidized plans for lower-income people; the money would be segregated.
But it turns out that finding neutrality in the abortion wars is elusive. We now have pro-life Republicans and Democrats—most notably Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan—demanding that any health plan offering abortion be banned from the newly created health care exchange.
And guess what that will mean? More than 80 percent of private insurance plans cover abortions. But any insurance plan that wants to be eligible for the huge wave of new clients would have to drop the abortion coverage it offers.

So let’s regroup. The first target was poor women on Medicaid, then came women in the military, now women needing subsidized plans. Next? “The millions of women who presently have private insurance would lose it if they [abortion opponents] are successful in putting in an all-out ban,” says Nancy Keenan of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
This isn’t supposed to happen. The pro-choice president said, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” Not if folks like Stupak get their way.
No woman expects to have an abortion. But one in every three women has one by the age of 45. That’s a whole lot of women to stigmatize ... or ignore.
The irony is that this attempt to enforce a federal moral rule over everyone’s health comes from precisely the people who are most angry at the idea of a government takeover of health care.
This leads me to my second most favorite moment in the health care debate: when Republican Jim Bunning of Kentucky loudly railed, “I do not support a government takeover of the health care system,” and then fell asleep.
I’m sure he’s covered for narcolepsy.
Ellen Goodman’s e-mail address is ellengoodman1(at)me.com.

© 2009, Washington Post Writers Group