We need to "huddle up"

"To create change, we have to reexamine our own views and actions in light of a pain that is deeply felt but too often ignored. Issues of human dignity will not abide standing on the sidelines. To the Black community – we see you. You matter and your lives matter."  -Apple CEO Tim Cook

Our Nation has had blood in our streets and in the words of football Coach Herm Edwards, "We need to huddle up and talk about issues."

Recently, I was asked by a few African American friends and ex-football teammates to write my thoughts about the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. This Blog discusses the market and money issues, normally.  This is a human issue. My friends are in pain.  If it helps, I stand with them and I am happy to do it.

No one wants anyone beaten into submission and murdered. This should not happen to anyone, ever.

We all agree that police brutality needs to stop, period, and I would guess 99.9% of all cops would agree. We all know it is wrong, and genuinely want to help, but what can we do? What is the solution?

Athletics teaches that we were all in this together and the color of your skin does not matter. A true Team has no color. One common goal is winning. If you slack off and don't work, you are hurting the Team and for those reasons, the Team has a serious problem with you...no matter who you are or the color of your skin. Coach Bill Mallory at Indiana University reinforced this lesson many times.

We can agree or disagree on many things in life but we can all agree that the solution comes from our local Team and community.

It starts and ends with local. Your local police force, your local community and your local self. You can help by asking questions of others and yourself that are tough and get better. Improve every day and make yourself, your family and others accountable.

This taken from the fighting police abuse community action manual by the ACLU:

"Nonetheless, even one person, or a small group of persistent people, can make a big difference. Sometimes outmoded and abusive police practices prevail largely because no one has ever questioned them. In such cases, the simple act of spotlighting a problem can have a powerful effect that leads to reform. Just by raising questions, one person or a few people — who need not be experts — can open up some corner of the all-too-secretive and insular world of policing to public scrutiny."

You want to help? Read the manual linked here.  It is worth the read and hopefully, by following the guidelines, it will make us all better people.

My father, who taught me to see color and love the face it contains, used to say about our AAU track team that was 99% African American, "You are white, they are black, so? We are all just people trying to get better...every day."

We all need to get better together, every day. Be safe. Be healthy. And, please, if you can, look inside...look local.