Showing posts with label Justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justice. Show all posts
Friday, July 12, 2013
Saturday, June 29, 2013
To Those Who Just Don’t Get it!
This week was an historic time in the fight for gay people’s
civil rights. The gay community has been celebrating the victory as we should
be. But we also know we still have a lot of work to do before we truly have
equality amongst those who disagree. I
will say this. I haven’t heard a good argument against gay marriage being legal
yet. So if you have one other than it’s not natural, it’s against the Bible,
procreation, imposing our “immoral” beliefs, scantity of marriage blah blah
blah give it to me. There’s a comments section, speak up!
This week I have seen very few negative posts on my
timelines about it. Most people are just not weighing in or they have been posting
supportive things. I have seen a couple posts here and there and some really
offended me. The main one I saw was this little diddy:
It’s deceptively packaged in wording that makes it sound
like “this is harmless, I do not wish you harm, and don’t tell me I’m wrong for
my opinion because then you’re a bad person.”
But to someone who is gay, who wants the same type life you have. We
want to be able to marry the person we love, have and raise our kids, be able
to do the same things with our families that everyone else gets to do and what
business is it really of yours to say we can’t or should n’t? To say or post this crap is literally telling
gay people “I have my life but you are not worthy of getting these same things
because MY bible told me so”. Do you hear how that sounds? They used the same exact arguments years ago
to fight interracial couples getting married and really integration in general.
And they even had Bible verses that they claimed backed that up. Sound
familiar? The Bible doesn’t tell you to
discriminate against people or treat some as though they are less than yourself.
It just doesn’t do that. The people who triumph in the Bible stories are not
the group of folks acting as a crowd but the underdog who really needs help but
is being trampled or blocked out of the crowd by healthy people. God is a loving, forgiving, and accepting God.
We are all sinners in his eyes and no sin is worse than another. If that’s the
case and we’re suddenly a theocracy then we shall outlaw beer, cigarettes,
divorce, tattoos, cussing, large portions at restaurants and probably even some
of these churches because some of these church leaders are being worshipped
like God himself.
Jesus walked amongst the sinners to show us God’s love. He
didn’t elevate himself above us and discriminate or exclude those whose
lifestyles were not according to the Bible.
He actually protected sinners. So now we have turned around God’s word
and snobbed it up in true human fashion. We snub those who don’t conform to
what OUR interpretation of the Bible is and group up into cliques and judge
like our own mess don’t stink.
It’s sad that we use this book, this holy book as a tool of
hatred and discrimination. We as Christians must learn to appreciate and even
celebrate the differences between people. We must remember that faith is
personal and our sins are really only between us and God. You are free to have
your beliefs but one has to understand the difference between what they believe
and what others should be free to do.
If gay people get married, nothing at all happens to your
faith, to your marriage, to your life by allowing others to share in the same
happiness, and it’s selfish to voice such a strong opinion when you don’t even
have a dog in the fight. As a
heterosexual you can get married, have kids, and not have to worry about the
expense, time, and hassle of 1 parent having to legally adopt the kid that
their partner had so that both people have legal parenting rights. Or you’re
allowed to make decisions on your partner’s behalf in the event they are too
sick or hurt to do so – or even as simple as being allowed in to see them in
the hospital without having to have pre planned (and spent $) to have those legal
documents drawn up to allow that ahead of time as well. Whereas bubba and betty
sue can get drunk and get those rights automatically after a drunken night at a
elvis themed wedding chapel in vegas. Yup soo sanctimonious. Aint it great to be straight!?
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The "Hoodie Experiment' - Try It Out And See How It Works For You...
The 'Hoodie Experiment' by Deric Muhammand
(Note: This Was Written Prior To The Murder of Trayvon Martin)
If Jesus came back to save the world how would he be received if he chose to show up in a "hoodie?" If the "cover of darkness" that he decided to come under were a Black fleece hooded sweatshirt and he arbitrarily walked in and sat on the back row of the church, synagogue or the mosque, how would we respond? These are questions that swim around in my head every winter when I pull my hoodies out and decide that I don’t want my bald head to freeze over. There is something about a young, Black male in a hoodie that makes everyone want to double check to make sure their doors are locked when in reality some of us are just trying to keep our ears warm.
As a member of the Nation of Islam, I was trained to wear a suit practically every day. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad dressed his followers in business attire, because he wanted to prepare us to meet with the business people of the entire world. He also taught us that "opposites attract"; that we should not go among our people offering what we have been taught looking exactly as they do. These are profound lessons that every Black man in America can benefit from.
When I am "dressed up" in a custom suit, I am usually treated with some form of distinction. White people can’t help but at some point ask "excuse me, sir, you look so sharp and well-spoken, what do you do?" That’s their way of saying with political correctness, "you don’t look like the rest of the nigg**s." If I am recognized for my activist role in the community, I am sometimes treated with some form of honor. However, when I am "dressed down" in my jeans, sneakers and my "hoodie," I get the opportunity to see how young Black males are treated for real. People double-lock their doors, clutch their pocketbooks, decide to wait for "the next elevator" and can be generally rude. It’s a more profound experience when you change from your three-piece suit to your hoodie on the same day. It’s as if the world becomes a different place. And while I recognize the power of presentation and how wearing a suit and tie can afford you some visible advantages, I also recognize that not every brother has a suit or tie and I am more concerned about the way my people are treated "dressed down" than the way I am treated "dressed up."
I know what some of you are thinking. Some of you are thinking this treatment is justified, because "these youngsters just need to pull up their pants." I agree, in part. Walking around with your boxer stains on display is not the way to earn respect. But, the truth is we feel this way because the Black male image has been hijacked, repackaged and villainized by the mass media. When we see a Black male wearing a hoodie, we automatically think of "O-Dog" from the movie "Menace to Society" shooting the owner of a convenience store because he said something about his mother.
We don’t look at the man in the hoodie and think "Wow, I wonder if that’s Brother Deric under there." The reality is, it just might be. And a more important reality is that the biggest thieves, murderers and robbers in the country wear suits, not hoodies. You should be even more afraid when you see them coming.
As a young student of revolution, I studied the life of
There are various ways for leadership to do this. Pastors and ministers should go to great lengths to find out how common people are treated when they enter the doors of their churches. A church, mosque or synagogue who treats the least member the same way the pastor or minister is treated is one that God would be pleased with. Leaders should call anonymously to their own organizations and get a feel for how common, everyday people are treated. News reporters should just go and anonymously stand in a line to recieve "food stamp" assistance and see how mothers who may have hit a tough time in life are treated. What a story that would make! We live in a society that doesn’t give a damn how common people are treated, because people in leadership are too busy worried about how they, themselves, are treated. It is the culture of a society that was built on slave labor; only I am not simply speaking of the way Whites treat Black people, I am speaking of the way we treat one another. If you have lost your compassion for the way everyday people are treated, then your leadership will be short-lived. God is turning the page as we speak.
Jesus set the standard for nearness to him by saying that the mistreatment of "the least of these, my brethren" represented the mistreatment and neglect of Jesus himself, (Matthew 25:40). Go and read it for yourself. Leadership is only as good as the treatment afforded to the least of those that they are supposed to be serving. If every Black male in a hoodie were unintelligent then Jay-Z wouldn’t be a multi-millionaire. If every man in a suit were to be trusted then Bernie Madoff wouldn’t have become a multi-billionaire scheming hard-working families out of millions of dollars. More crimes are commited in Brooks Brothers suits than in Roc-a-wear hoodies. I’m simply saying, be careful not to base your opinions of others on the images you see on TV. Jesus might just decide to make his return wearing a hoodie just to see how we treat "the least of these our brethren." I encourage all professionals, preachers, parents, politicians, leaders and others to take the "Hoodie Experiment." Just put on a hoodie one day and get a glimpse of how our young people are treated. If you choose not to do that, just find a way to put yourself directly in the shoes of the people you are supposed to serve. When you see how they are treated it may give you some insight into why they act the way they act. Most of you think you know their experience, but you really don’t. Truth is, no individual can rise above the condition of his or her people. So even, if you wear a suit most days like me, or President Obama (ahem!), at some point, society will remind you of this. Our president is a well-dressed world leader, but
Learn to look beneath the hoodie and beyond the cuff links. For, if we are unwilling to look beyond the surface we will never be able to find the substance. And we need the substance in order to survive.
(Deric Muhammad is a Houston-based Activist/Organizer in the Ministry of Justice. Visit his website at the late-great Libyan leader Col. Maummar Ghadafi. An unforgettable story is told about his early days as the leader of the country when he was about 28 or 29 years of age. He used to slip away from his security, dress up in disguise and disappear into the streets among the homeless, destitute, poor and hopeless people of Libya. He, the president and leader of a nation, used to live on the streets for weeks at time. He was trying to better connect himself to their experience so that he could make effective decisions for them. This afforded him the opportunity to see firsthand what their needs were. It better equipped him to be able to serve them which, despite what is written about him negatively, he did. Ghadafi was willing to put himself in the shoes of the least, the last and the lost in order to see what his people were suffering at the moment. I found this to be a very powerful tool.considering the way he is treated by a certain demographic in America, he may as well wear a hoodie every day.www.dericmuhammad.com.)
Click here for the original article posted on The Final Call:
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/article_8680.shtml#.T2pswwXVlF4.facebook
(Note: This Was Written Prior To The Murder of Trayvon Martin)
If Jesus came back to save the world how would he be received if he chose to show up in a "hoodie?" If the "cover of darkness" that he decided to come under were a Black fleece hooded sweatshirt and he arbitrarily walked in and sat on the back row of the church, synagogue or the mosque, how would we respond? These are questions that swim around in my head every winter when I pull my hoodies out and decide that I don’t want my bald head to freeze over. There is something about a young, Black male in a hoodie that makes everyone want to double check to make sure their doors are locked when in reality some of us are just trying to keep our ears warm.
As a member of the Nation of Islam, I was trained to wear a suit practically every day. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad dressed his followers in business attire, because he wanted to prepare us to meet with the business people of the entire world. He also taught us that "opposites attract"; that we should not go among our people offering what we have been taught looking exactly as they do. These are profound lessons that every Black man in America can benefit from.
When I am "dressed up" in a custom suit, I am usually treated with some form of distinction. White people can’t help but at some point ask "excuse me, sir, you look so sharp and well-spoken, what do you do?" That’s their way of saying with political correctness, "you don’t look like the rest of the nigg**s." If I am recognized for my activist role in the community, I am sometimes treated with some form of honor. However, when I am "dressed down" in my jeans, sneakers and my "hoodie," I get the opportunity to see how young Black males are treated for real. People double-lock their doors, clutch their pocketbooks, decide to wait for "the next elevator" and can be generally rude. It’s a more profound experience when you change from your three-piece suit to your hoodie on the same day. It’s as if the world becomes a different place. And while I recognize the power of presentation and how wearing a suit and tie can afford you some visible advantages, I also recognize that not every brother has a suit or tie and I am more concerned about the way my people are treated "dressed down" than the way I am treated "dressed up."
I know what some of you are thinking. Some of you are thinking this treatment is justified, because "these youngsters just need to pull up their pants." I agree, in part. Walking around with your boxer stains on display is not the way to earn respect. But, the truth is we feel this way because the Black male image has been hijacked, repackaged and villainized by the mass media. When we see a Black male wearing a hoodie, we automatically think of "O-Dog" from the movie "Menace to Society" shooting the owner of a convenience store because he said something about his mother.
We don’t look at the man in the hoodie and think "Wow, I wonder if that’s Brother Deric under there." The reality is, it just might be. And a more important reality is that the biggest thieves, murderers and robbers in the country wear suits, not hoodies. You should be even more afraid when you see them coming.
As a young student of revolution, I studied the life of
There are various ways for leadership to do this. Pastors and ministers should go to great lengths to find out how common people are treated when they enter the doors of their churches. A church, mosque or synagogue who treats the least member the same way the pastor or minister is treated is one that God would be pleased with. Leaders should call anonymously to their own organizations and get a feel for how common, everyday people are treated. News reporters should just go and anonymously stand in a line to recieve "food stamp" assistance and see how mothers who may have hit a tough time in life are treated. What a story that would make! We live in a society that doesn’t give a damn how common people are treated, because people in leadership are too busy worried about how they, themselves, are treated. It is the culture of a society that was built on slave labor; only I am not simply speaking of the way Whites treat Black people, I am speaking of the way we treat one another. If you have lost your compassion for the way everyday people are treated, then your leadership will be short-lived. God is turning the page as we speak.
Jesus set the standard for nearness to him by saying that the mistreatment of "the least of these, my brethren" represented the mistreatment and neglect of Jesus himself, (Matthew 25:40). Go and read it for yourself. Leadership is only as good as the treatment afforded to the least of those that they are supposed to be serving. If every Black male in a hoodie were unintelligent then Jay-Z wouldn’t be a multi-millionaire. If every man in a suit were to be trusted then Bernie Madoff wouldn’t have become a multi-billionaire scheming hard-working families out of millions of dollars. More crimes are commited in Brooks Brothers suits than in Roc-a-wear hoodies. I’m simply saying, be careful not to base your opinions of others on the images you see on TV. Jesus might just decide to make his return wearing a hoodie just to see how we treat "the least of these our brethren." I encourage all professionals, preachers, parents, politicians, leaders and others to take the "Hoodie Experiment." Just put on a hoodie one day and get a glimpse of how our young people are treated. If you choose not to do that, just find a way to put yourself directly in the shoes of the people you are supposed to serve. When you see how they are treated it may give you some insight into why they act the way they act. Most of you think you know their experience, but you really don’t. Truth is, no individual can rise above the condition of his or her people. So even, if you wear a suit most days like me, or President Obama (ahem!), at some point, society will remind you of this. Our president is a well-dressed world leader, but
Learn to look beneath the hoodie and beyond the cuff links. For, if we are unwilling to look beyond the surface we will never be able to find the substance. And we need the substance in order to survive.
(Deric Muhammad is a Houston-based Activist/Organizer in the Ministry of Justice. Visit his website at the late-great Libyan leader Col. Maummar Ghadafi. An unforgettable story is told about his early days as the leader of the country when he was about 28 or 29 years of age. He used to slip away from his security, dress up in disguise and disappear into the streets among the homeless, destitute, poor and hopeless people of Libya. He, the president and leader of a nation, used to live on the streets for weeks at time. He was trying to better connect himself to their experience so that he could make effective decisions for them. This afforded him the opportunity to see firsthand what their needs were. It better equipped him to be able to serve them which, despite what is written about him negatively, he did. Ghadafi was willing to put himself in the shoes of the least, the last and the lost in order to see what his people were suffering at the moment. I found this to be a very powerful tool.considering the way he is treated by a certain demographic in America, he may as well wear a hoodie every day.www.dericmuhammad.com.)
Click here for the original article posted on The Final Call:
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/article_8680.shtml#.T2pswwXVlF4.facebook
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)