The Pain Is Real: the longest 8 minutes

Dear Readers,

I had to do it.  30 days ago, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, down my pen, turned off the computer and walked away. I needed a mental break. It was necessary to put space between me and the chaos of the constant Corona virus news and the racial tension that is causing a bitter divide. It became too much for me to take in. For four months the world has been sheltered in place, and we were battling fear, anger, frustration, uncertainty, and confusion. I felt guilty because during this time of upheaval, I was successful in creating a mental and physical bubble to protect myself  from becoming sucked in by the sensation of the news media and the grappling of the political leaders.

In the midst of financial ruins, I am blessed to enjoy my same level of income and additional earnings from private tutoring.  I used my time wisely and began to concentrate on personal projects. It’s unfortunate that it took a pandemic for me to realize how much I needed a break from the running on my hammers treadmill. I am not ashamed to admit I am thankful for the break from my ” normal”, these four months have allowed me the time to understand that I need a change from ” normal”,  and that there are areas of my life that need to be explored. After four months of cleaning, reorganizing, building up my brand Conversations with J. R. Floyd, yoga, meditation, reading books on self improvement, updating my resume, and with the announcement of all the phrases of New York City restarting the economy, I Declared myself ready for change.

And then it happened….

The killing of George Floyd. I ignored the news and refused to answer the phone. I didn’t want to engage in conversations about race. I wanted to stay in my bubble of peace and progress. Then I woke up one morning to a message from my son, pleading with me to use my platform ” Conversations with J. R. Floyd’, “ to speak to the hearts of people about the brutal treatment of black men and women. I wanted to stay silent, but my son, my only child, a black man, father, husband, and raising a young black man pulled at the strings of my heart, a mother’s heart…  his plea sounding like George Floyd’s calling for his mother with his last dying breath. I got up from my bed, showered, made coffee, put myself together and sat down to go live on Facebook , Instagram, and my podcast on Anchor. I addressed the public….then I clicked off.

my son and his first born

The riots, looting, burning of business, arrests, anger, tears, and hatred was more than I was prepared to deal with. I didn’t want to be one of those people who took a normancy mindset, the complacent attitude of accepting the killing of a black man as just another thing that happens in a world that isn’t moved by seeing a man being murdered. 

my family

So, for 30 days I detached from social media, the news, and did not engage in any conversations about race or death. For four months the world has been watching the numbers of deaths increase due to the virus, yet, the only concern is getting back to “normal”.  Where have people been?  There is no more normal. This recent upheaval about the brutal treatment of black men and women, is another virus that’s going to continue to eat away at race relationships until there is CHANGE. There are some people wanting to get back to their normal, wishing that this issue of race will fade away; their thinking is that issues of race don’t include them until it hits close to home. I am thankful that at least this time the entire world is marching and standing firm on the belief that all lives matter, including Black Lives. It took 8 minutes and 56 seconds for George Floyd to die. What is it going to take for all the millions of blogger to band together with one voice to support the one race the human race. 

The pain is real. Thank you for stopping by Drathepen.

 

 

Declaring a day of Healing and Unity

Dear readers, I will continue to be the voice of reason. What are we doing to our society and children living by these lines that divide the HUMAN RACE. This system isn’t working it is breeding anger and hatred into an already broken society. These dividing line due to race,  religion, class or separation due to economics. What will it take? The  bigger question  is What as a society are we willing to sacrifice  to hold onto the belief one race is more superior then the other and that we are not all endowed  with the same ” unalienable rights.”  I notice that there is  silence when subject like these are posted. We the people should no longer be satisfied with being silent.

What Say you?

 

Normal isn’t normal anymore

Dear Readers,

 

People are speculating about the reason for the sudden increase of mass shootings, and other acts of terrorism. Some blame religious fanatics others claim random acts of evil. An interesting theory came from a colleague who suggests that we are the cause for these terrible events. He explains that it is our collective thinking and behavior. He also believes that society is void of   basic acts of humanity, in addition, to lacking the ability to connect to simple emotions that binds us to the one true race, the human race. We stand firm in the continued practice of segregation, based on race, gender, and religious beliefs. There are those among us who are committed to the rule of a superior race deeming all others inferior. The greed of corporate America putting profits over people, instituting the practice of ruling their employees by fear, thus instilling anger, bitterness and resentment into the minds of those who are just trying to make ends meet. Genuine love and living by the motto “I am my Brother’s Keeper” is a long forgotten value. This country has given into foul play each time a particular group of people screams injustice. We live in a society where Reality TV is the norm, the conversation of the day is what happened on the show Empire, while this generation runs rampaged exploring sexuality to the tenth level; not to mention that teaching morals, ethics and good values is no longer on Americas’ agenda. We are spinning out of control, and to make matters worse, our world and religious leaders are still playing the game of separation of church and state. Therefore, these incidents will continue to happen until we decide collectively to think about the good of the one true race, the human race.

 

What Say You?