And so it begins. 6 officers indicted. The kindling has been lit and the embers are now in the wind. I wonder how far these beacons of light will spread? I wonder how many of us are willing to be lit by Baltimore's spark? I wonder how many cops with think twice before taking the life of an unarmed black man?
What if it were the Stonewall Protests instead of the Stonewall Riots, how well do you think that would have worked out for us? How bout instead of shaking our heads at Baltimore, we remember we once had no choice but to do the same thing. Like NYC is doing in this photo. And 8 other cities around the nation. Can you feel it? Are you catching fire too? That's change coming!
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? How 'bout when we protest peacefully for almost an entire week, for six straight days? There are no news cameras, there are no helicopters, there is no riot gear. Because nobody hears us.
Folks have been demonstrating civilly for decades. But it is not until the people become uncivilized did we see a profound metamorphosis in how the repressed are treated. It's not given to the polite, the quite, and the well behaved. It must be taken! It's not until the civil unrest rises to the crescendo of an uprising. It's got to be bright enough to light the darkest minds. Or white hot enough to scare the ones with power into obedient submission. It's not pretty, and it's not clean. But it is real. Because it is truth. It will take many lives... the good and the bad. But it's still a fire. And a fire burns out, the ground cools, and ashes blow away. But the change? Well as it now grows on the most fertile soil, that change is strong. That change is lasting. That is the kind of change which will endure. Until it doesn't.
It seems to me our society is finally reaching such a tipping point. What we have here in Maryland? This is just a tiny percolation. Like a tea kettle screams as it lets off some stream. Everyone can hear it, but the source is just a tiny little hole from the pot on the smallest burner over the stove. In Baltimore, only a few stores were affected, some property disfigured or destroyed, and a couple injuries... in what in all honesty is a non-important city. That is how these things usually start, but not where they end.
But the life that was lost? That's important. That is what matters. And more and more of these killings are happening all over the country. They are escalating. There are now so many stories out there... another black life murdered by the hands of white cops, I've lost count. So these screams are going to grow louder. But they won't always be from the kettle. The stove will spark, the fires will spread, and in time it will explode along the live wires of our disgust and distrust for those who are supposed to be our protectors. Once it reaches critical mass, it can not be extinguished. Because the flames will come from the source... the furnace itself. The collective fire from the souls of the mistreated. It has to explode. Venting is not working and the pressure is now building too fast. It's going to be horrible to watch, and both terrifying and deadly to be in. But then change will be there.