An Icon on the Hill & Beyond

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedPolitics

Georgia Representative John Lewis was labeled as the humble giant on the Hill. However, his colleagues referred to him as the Conciseness of Congress. He’ll be remembered for his continuous fight for Voter’s Right, his lifetime fight for all people. 

At the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” address, Civil Rights leaders asked John Lewis to tone his speech down afraid that it would be too much and would cause controversy. Lewis was the last living speaker at the march on Washington.

On October 8, 2013, Lewis was arrested outside on Capitol Hill for civil disobedience while he was standing up with protestors for Immigration reform. Nothing new for Lewis… he had been arrested 40+ times for peacefully protesting when the stakes were just as high. On October June 12, 2016, the nation was shocked by another shooting. This time it was the Pulse Night Club, a gay night club that was personally targeted in Orlando, Florida. On June 22, Rep. Lewis held a floor sit-in on the floor of The US House of Representatives just ten days after the Shooting. The sit-in protest, which was to fight specifically for gun control, lasted for more than 12 hours with roughly 40 Democratic House Representatives by his side. 

Lewis was not just an icon on the Hill, but beyond. In fact, he was mainly known for his work and legacy off the Hill. He was born the son of sharecroppers on February 21, 1940, outside of Troy, Alabama. He was inspired by the activism surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the late Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which he heard on radio broadcasts. He made a decision at a very young age to become a part of the Civil Rights Movement. While a student at Fisk University, John Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at interstate bus terminals in the Deep South.

From 1963 to 1966, Lewis was named Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which he helped form. John Lewis led over 600 peaceful, orderly protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. The marchers were attacked on that bridge by Alabama state troopers in a brutal confrontation that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” He suffered a skull fracture and was one of 58 people treated for injuries at the local hospital. Despite more than 40 arrests, physical attacks and serious injuries, Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the nonviolence philosophy.

In 1981, he was elected to the Atlanta City Council. And in November 1986, he was elected to Congress and served as U.S. Representative of Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District since then. Earlier this year, Lewis attended the 55th-anniversary of the march in Selma, which was a surprise appearance considering his illness. One of his last public appearances was in DC on Black Lives Matter Plaza (16th Street) with Mayor Muriel Bowser. He not only was there to see the name change of 16th Street, but also to witness in person the large display of Black Lives Matter painted in yellow. Such an iconic moment for one of the original fathers of the Black Lives Matter movement to witness. 

In December 2019, Lewis presided over the House vote to restore voter’s rights. The House voted and passed this bill. The Senate never even brought the bill to the floor for a vote. That bill still remains on Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell‘s desk still today. Lewis made his transition from this earth on Friday, July 17, 2020, after his battle with pancreatic cancer. Whenever I now hear the sound of the thunder it will remind me of his thunderous voice of advocacy. His legacy will live on.

Similar Read: You Are NOT Your Ancestors!

Pointing Fingers

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedGen Z

There is a monster within our midst. This monster was born and bred in the Land of the Free, fed from the bosom of bigotry, and taught how to survive by means of trigger happy fingers. Now that the monster is running amok, we are quick to point fingers at each other. Did you know that when you’re pointing the blame at someone or something else, there are three fingers pointed back at yourself? 

This monster has been taking the form of mass shootings, which have unfortunately become endemic in the United States. From theaters to parks to schools to nightclubs to Walmarts to downtown night scenes, gun violence has become increasingly more pervasive and its reach keeps extending. It continues to take over any and all remaining safe spaces, if people even feel safe here anymore. 

On the first Sunday of August, many lives were threatened and many lives were claimed. 

Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old White man, traveled 600 miles from his hometown of Allen, TX to El Paso, to this Walmart. It is inarguable that he was a man on a mission to “get as many [Mexicans] as he [could]”. Given that El Paso is comprised of roughly 80% Mexican and Latinx, it is accurate to deem this as a hate crime. Crusius allegedly posted a “manifesto” on a dark website, 8chan, which includes strong anti-immigrant sentiments. 

Authorities reported that Crusius unabashedly confessed to this crime, saying “I’m the shooter”. Crusius is being charged with capital murder, but it is still uncertain whether he will be charged for this mass shooting as a hate crime. According to The NY Times, authorities are still looking for a definitive link between the manifesto on 8chan and Crusius. If they are to find it, then they may prosecute him for the shooting being either an act of domestic terrorism or being a hate crime. Personally, I don’t understand how it can’t be both. 

There are people who claim that this rhetoric sounds like President Trump’s election and re-election campaign, which both contain antagonistic views of immigrants, legal and illegal. This is finger-pointing. We are looking for someone to blame for this and Trump fits the mold, close enough. 

In Dayton, OH, Connor Betts finally got to enact his desire of becoming a mass shooter. Betts had expressed his desire to be a mass shooter since he was in high school. According to his old classmates, all he talked about was guns, extreme violence, and his “hit list.” This list was divided into two sections: a kill list for guys and a rape list for girls. With someone as vocal as he was about his intents, it begs to question why there was no further action taken against him. Betts had been a ticking time bomb since he was a high school student so I want to know how we could have given him the chance to explode. 

Something’s got to give. 

On Monday, August 5th, President Trump addressed these tragic events. While his sincerity could be called into question, if we focused on what he said, there is still a bone to pick with it. He blames violent video games and the internet for corrupting the minds of youths like Crusius and Betts. He also blames these violent acts on mental illness. Trump wants to start putting Red Flag Laws into effect through a bipartisan effort so that we can prevent arming “mentally ill monsters” in the future. Mental illness, video games, and the internet can be factors in decisions and intents such as these, but they are not the blame for them. 

Trump is pointing fingers at other reasons for these tragedies, but his remaining three fingers point at how he seems undecided about whether he’ll protect the people or the second amendment rights, how he feels there’s an influx of immigrants that are ruining our “great” country and making America lose its identity, and how his words and actions can be construed as misogynistic and racist. During his presidency, racist and sexist agendas have become more forthright. If our president can do and say these things, why can’t we the people do the same? 

One thing that stuck with me from Trump’s address is how mass shootings have steadily increased since Columbine twenty years ago. This increasing frequency needs to be stopped so innocent lives won’t be taken. This needs to stop now, but what would the solution look like? 

I like the idea of running background checks on individuals who are looking to purchase a firearm. It is certainly tedious work, similar to getting clearances for a new job, but this extra work can ensure that individuals like Crusius and Betts do not get their trigger happy fingers on them. This can be invasive, and it surely wouldn’t be infallible, but it would be a move in the right direction.  

The second amendment grants us the right to bear arms, and by placing the gun market under stricter supervision, it can be seen as an infringement of this right. I don’t see how we can more strictly regulate the sale and resale of firearms in America whilst remaining completely faithful to our second amendment right. However, as the saying goes, you can’t make everyone happy. 

I also like the idea of raising the age from 18 to 21; however, it is ridiculous to enforce because we are allowed to enlist in the army at the age of 18. We’ll be handling guns at 18, home and overseas, but will not be able to purchase them upon our return if we enforce a policy like this. 

Change is a ripple effect and it doesn’t happen immediately. Decisions have to be made in order for change of some sort to occur. We won’t know if it’s a bad decision or a good one if we don’t put forth the effort. President Trump is pushing for us to put our political differences aside because we need to stand together to make change. We need to relinquish ourselves of this monster we’ve created in the hopes of being and feeling safe within our own country. 

Similar Read: Gun Control: Could It Be That Easy?

Dancing With the Devil… A Brooklyn Perspective on Gun Violence

by with 3 Comments CultureFeatured

[This is the third installment of a three-part series on American gun violence. Read part one here and part two here.]

“You ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?”

This is the iconic question that The Joker, played by the legendary Jack Nicholson, posed to his victims in Tim Burton’s 1989 film, Batman. You see, what The Joker is asking Bruce is if he’s ever wrestled with fate. Moreover, did that tangle with fate deliver grief and sorrow to his life experience.

I sure have danced with that devil in the pale moonlight.

Late in the summer of 2011, I ventured out with my roommate to Queens (NY) on a school night in an attempt to lift his spirits as he was dealing with a breakup. I offered to be the designated driver for the night so he could take his mind off the emotions of the breakup and have a good time.

Coming out of the club that morning, as fate would have it, my roommate began to say that there were Angels all around us and that he could see them. I affirmed his vision to appease him and wondered to myself how much he had to drink. Seconds later each of us had the barrels of loaded guns pressed against our torsos. Our initial response was to push the guns away, to which our assailants threatened that they would shoot us. They stole our jewelry and then ran off into the night.

We quickly moved to the car and drove off towards flashing police lights in the distance. Thinking that we were trying to chase them, one of the robbers opened fire on our car eight times at close range. Similar to the photo above, I’ll never forget ducking down and looking back to see flames coming out of the muzzle of the gun. As I turned my gaze forward, the back windshield of the car in front of us shattered. Luckily the car was empty and we sped off towards the police lights. Thankfully, he was a terrible shooter and not one bullet struck our vehicle. The Angels that my roommate saw that evening and the availing prayers of my Mother had truly prevented us from being yet another fatality in America’s gun violence epidemic.

Hearing the gunfire, the NYPD acted quickly and ultimately apprehended the young men with our jewelry in their possession. We were a little shaken but the Officers asked that we return to the precinct to identify the shooters later that day.

The Officers had investigated the crime scene and determined that whoever was in the passenger seat would have been struck between the head and chest area – I was in the passenger seat.

With that in mind, the Officers then crammed six young black men into a small room and asked that I select the men who robbed us. Looking through a one-way mirror where they could not see me, I looked at these young men in the eyes and was overcome with strong feelings of empathy and sadness.

What could have transpired in the lives of these young men to bring them to this room? Was it low wages and poverty that brought them to this room? Was it the poor public education system that brought them to this room? Was it the American government backed distribution of crack cocaine to black neighborhoods that brought them to this room? Was it mass incarceration and the fatherless homes that those policies left in its wake that brought them to this room?

Having an understanding of the pitfalls in the area in which I grew up in Brooklyn, I had a surreal feeling knowing that there was a pane of glass separating me from an alternate life that I could have lived. In fact, I would later find out that one of the young men who robbed us lived in the neighborhood I grew up in. Here I was, a young black man working for American Express, living on my own, but wondering what I could do to prevent other young men from being in this room. In a way, I felt and feel a sense of survivors guilt. I walked away from that room muttering to myself, “there but for the grace of God go I.”

I know those young men went to jail and I think about them from time to time. I wish blessings on their lives and I hope that they can overcome the mistakes of their youth and the unrelenting punishment of the American prison system.

It has taken me a few months to complete this series on American gun violence and share my own personal experience with guns. Sadly, as time passed, I knew that before I completed this series that there would be another mass shooting. As I write this piece, I received yet another Notification of Death that ten people have been gunned down in a Texas High School.

Why do we need gun reform in America? Quite simply, too many Americans are having to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight… it needs to stop.

This article was originally published on 22 May 2017.

Tree of Life

by with No Comment FeaturedGun DebateRace RelationsSocial Issues

Robert Bowers is a sick and unstable man. Yes, he does check all those boxes, but he also checks the box of being a terrorist. His actions on Saturday, October 27th, took the lives of 11 people. These 11 people had stories, challenges, dreams, accomplishments, and loved ones that each and everyone built a world around, and this one man decided to tear it down.

Why did he do it?  Because they had programs that were designed to help refugees and the less unfortunate.

Take a moment to let this digest. A moment to realize that yes, though our nation has mass shootings all too frequently, one of the reasons why it keeps happening is because we as a nation fail to stand together.

We allow men and women in power to divide us, and then to show our disgust and solidarity with the victims, we provide a moment of silence and hang our flags low. This is what we do when an individual who has been fueled by ignorance, rage, and fear, decides to become a monster and rip lives apart because of their beliefs.

Guns aren’t our only problems in these situations. It’s how we cultivate these types of monsters and then do absolutely nothing to correct our collective mistake. 

Don’t send your thoughts and prayers. The victims don’t need them anymore, and their broken friends and families are tired of hearing them. 

Solutions?

The Debate Behind 3D Printed Guns

by with No Comment Gen ZGun Debate

The second amendment has become a staple in partisan debates, enhancing the deep divide between political party ideals. Despite the laissez-faire intent of the law, America’s obsession with guns is becoming more prominent as mass shootings and gun violence are also becoming more prominent. Following the increase of gun violence in America, citizens are more critical of not only the second amendment but also the availability and readiness of weapons for a wide range of Americans. Data from the Pew Research Center shows the public attitude towards gun rights has reflected this increased awareness over the past few years, stating the support for gun rights has decreased from 52% in 2014 to 47% in 2017. 

Although the government is being pressed for gun reform, private businesses (that citizens have no stake in) are getting involved in the distribution of firearms. One nonprofit group, Defense Distributed, had been approved to “publish plans, files and 3-D drawings in any form and exempts them from the export restrictions.” The group was told to take down the plans, the government citing an International Traffic in Arms Regulations violation, but they filed a lawsuit in 2013 fighting for their capitalistic rights. Despite initial resistance, the lawsuit recently came to a sudden settlement allowing the group to distribute AR-15’s, handguns, and other firearms without restriction. Not only are the guns freely distributed, but they are also unregulated and untraceable. 

This ruling in favor of an unregulated free-market is a concerning leap backward for the safety of America. The ability for groups to freely print unregulated firearms is a terrifying reality in a country where millions of citizens are calling on their government to pass stricter gun laws. Although it is presumptuous to assume the worst following this ruling, it is ignorant to not consider the impact of the mass distribution of unregulated weapons on America and other countries. Even if government officials trust the free-market system in this case, it’s unknown how this will expand to and affect other countries where weapon sales are restricted due to violent government regimes and political revolutions.

The main concern in this situation is the inability of the US government to track and regulate firearms as well as their inability to protect its citizens. While tracking and regulating can create massive problems for the criminal justice system, not all safety precautions should be thrown out the window yet. Although the guns can be printed in plastic, therefore able to pass through metal detectors undetected, they are inoperable without two pieces of metal, including a firing pin. So the guns themselves aren’t as inconspicuous as they seem, but they do make it easier to get around metal detectors and restrictions. Not only can the guns easily make it around metal detectors, they can easily shimmy their way around age restrictions and background checks. Another thought to consider is the technological advances that may occur as a result of these prints and plans being available. With the usage of bump stocks always under debate, it is easy to see the potential technological features that can be quickly added to guns through such plans that will serve as a “booster” for ammunition.

In a last-ditch effort to stop Defense Distributed, a few states including Pennsylvania have initiated lawsuits against the organization that would block or ban 3D guns in one way or another. Many states are also urging the government to withdraw from the settlement. On the surface, 3D printed guns present a scary, unknown future for Americans. But the fact of this situation is that the future is almost definitely, entirely, unknown. People can predict and argue about what this ruling means and what will happen in the future, but we just don’t know. 

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References:

William, David. Americans can legally download 3-D printed guns starting next month. CNN. July 20, 2018.

Pew Research Center. 2017. Public Views About Guns. Washington, D.C.

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. 2016. GUN VIOLENCE BY THE NUMBERS. Manhattan, New York.

Where Are the Stun Guns?

by with 2 Comments Uncategorized

Not tasers. Not rubber bullets. Not tranquilizer darts. Not mace. Not anything we have seen before.

Where is the weapon that can effectively incapacitate its target without lethality? What brilliant mind is developing this revolutionary defense mechanism that could save millions of lives (and earn millions of dollars)?

Let me be specific: this is a weapon that can paralyze, immobilize, or knock unconscious its target without killing them. To my knowledge, it doesn’t exist yet.

If such a weapon existed, here are some of the enormous societal problems it could alleviate:

  1. Home Security. Many families are reluctant to have a gun in their home because of the danger it poses to children or even negligent adults. A stun gun would be a safe home defense tool that would at most knock out an intruder. The worst misuse would be an accidental, unintentional shooting of the self or another; but since no deaths would occur, the damage would be only temporary and not permanently traumatizing to a family or community.
  2. School Safety. Every teacher could have a stun gun without fear of causing unintended mortal damage to someone at the school. The weapon could be like a fire extinguisher: “Break glass in case of emergency.” The penalty for abuse of the stun gun would be severe, possibly a federal crime. But once again, the worst case scenario is that someone is rendered immovable for a time; not killed or permanently injured. Unfortunately, even an armed security guard might be too incapacitated (or cowardly) to stop an attack, so stun guns would offer a last line of defense for teachers or even for students in the worst case scenarios.
  3. Police Shootings. For every nefariously motivated murder by a bad apple in the police force, there are dozens of good officers who shoot innocent victims out of fear or immediate safety concerns. A stun gun would allow police to shoot first and ask questions later if they felt their safety was at high risk. If this weapon truly was non-lethal, then the worst that could happen is that a police officer immobilizes an innocent person until all fear of imminent danger is gone. Much like improper arrests warrant lawsuits against officers who abuse their power, likewise a citizen could sue for damages if unjustifiably stunned. However messy the legal and financial entanglements, no human lives would be forever lost in such a case.
  4. Robbery and Assault. Stores and Businesses that are subject to being looted could carry this much safer defense option (vs. a shotgun) that could deter or at least give pause to potential criminals. Also, individuals who are walking alone in dangerous places could feel a stronger sense of security knowing that they have the means to protect themselves against assault or robbery.
  5. Most people have an innate, fundamental aversion to killing another human being. This has been proven in studies about war and the large number of soldiers who purposely fire up or down instead of straight ahead to avoid causing the death of even a hated enemy. A stun gun allows a person to take action against another human being in extreme circumstances without hesitancy on account of this aversion to killing, knowing that a K.O. is the worst possible outcome.

If developed, this stun gun would obviously not solve all of the problems mentioned above. But I would be curious to see how anyone from either side of the current debates about gun control and the 2nd Amendment would take issue with such an invention.

My intention with this article is not to take sides or discuss the merits of opposing ideologies. I am simply pushing this idea out into the ether in hopes that a more qualified mind than mine can bring it to fruition.

Sometimes, the solutions to our gravest and largest dilemmas in civil society today are not exclusively A or  B; but they are the yet-to-be-invented C.

I don’t know what this weapon will ultimately look like or entail, but I leave the matter up to the ingenuity of our world’s best and brightest. We have microchips, nuclear power, and space exploration… bring on the stun guns. 

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A Notification of Death

by with 2 Comments CultureFeatured

[This is part one of a three-part series on American gun violence.]

The screen on my phone illuminates with a notification. My eyes peer over to read the information and then I return to whatever activity I was performing. As I write this piece, I received notifications from The New York Times and ESPN. While this may seem to be mundane behavior in the 21st century; it’s not. It’s not mundane because often the words in the notifications inform me of death and my reaction to that information over time alarms me. Whether it’s a headline of another LeBron James stat line or a notification that seventeen have been gunned down in yet another mass shooting, I typically peer away and go about my business – I’m desensitized and that’s a major problem.

April 1999 was the spring before I was to enter high school and I remember, quite vividly, learning about the Columbine High School shooting from the evening news that night. I wasn’t allowed to have a cell phone then but I knew from the murmurings of the adults in the street on my way home that something bad had happened. I was in the eighth grade and I quietly wondered if I would have to fear for my safety in high school. However, at the time, it seemed like such a one-off incident and growing up in Brooklyn – Colorado could have been on Pluto for all I knew. So the initial fear subsided and I recall the outrage from adults which lead to discussions around the shooters music of choice, bullying, the shooters parental upbringing, but never a referendum on guns. 15 dead in an American High School.

It was my first day of work as a full-time working professional, ever, on April 16, 2007. I was living at home at the time and was so excited to share with my family all of the details of my first day of work at American Express. I wasn’t given a laptop that day so I wasn’t as connected to what was happening in the world for most of the day. However, I do remember people around the office murmuring about a school shooting at Virginia Tech. Focused on making a good first impression, the school shooting didn’t register until I retired to my room later that evening where I learned of the scale of what had taken place. Gun control again lead the national debate for a time but then faded into the background. 33 dead in an American University.

I was living in Sydney, Australia at the time of the Sandy Hook shootings in December 2012. I remember having to play the role of American Ambassador in providing answers to my perplexed Aussie friends who simply could not understand why mass shootings continue to occur in the States. It was in hearing myself answer their questions aloud that I realized how nonsensical it is to not have sensible gun control laws in place. Even as I explained the full context of the brilliance of the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment I was still unable to make sense of this American problem. On my first night back in America, I saw my friends giving a television interview on CNN; their daughter had been in one of the Sandy Hook classrooms. Miraculously, she was physically unharmed but many of her fellow students did not suffer the same fate. For many reasons, that shooting was the most traumatic for me personally. I believe in the sanctity of the joys of the childhood experience and I couldn’t sleep for many nights as I came to the belief that the frequency of gun deaths in one of the most wealthy and powerful nations in history had to be intentional. 28 dead in an American Elementary School.

Fast forward to the Parkland shooting last month and shockingly there were no murmurings in the street this time. Many people, myself included, received the notification on their phone and went about their day after learning that seventeen teenagers were gunned down in their high school. In the days that followed the remaining students, whose lives will never be the same, rose to the national spotlight with a defiant message to the nation: #NeverAgain. The politicians and the corporations that own them all responded with an all too familiar bluster around what actions they would take to change what has become status quo. 17 dead in an American High School… again. 

As much as we don’t want to admit it, this is who America is: A rabidly violent nation whose love affair with guns will cease at nothing or no one; not even elementary school children. It is, in fact, the “Wild Wild West” that the rest of the world portrays us to be because we allow this to happen time and time again. Sadly, while I praise the fervor of the Parkland students, and the Sandy Hook students before them, and the Virginia Tech students before them, and the Columbine students before them; I believe that they too will ultimately add their voices to a large chorus of people that want sensible gun control but will never see it. I hope I am wrong but #NeverAgain may just be yet another hashtag thrown in a mountainous heap of social justice hashtags that never sees any legitimate federal action. More dead in an American… doesn’t really matter now, we’re desensitized anyway.

Part Two: MLK 50 Forward: Bankrupt Justice