Jesse

This past weekend, the BET Awards took place.  Normally I don't care about anything that BET does because it's unoriginal in its programming.  I haven't watched it in years, way before any of their original programming started appearing.  It was all syndicated reruns and music videos.  It drove me insane.  So in order to keep my sanity, I stopped watching it.  I haven't missed it at all.  Not once.  There have been times when I would sneak a peak to see what was happening.  So there was this huge buzz going on about this speech that was made during the show.  I didn't watch the show, which put me behind in my reaction.  So I watched it.  It was a powerful speech and I honestly enjoyed it.  But what about the message?  I agree with what he was saying and I don't feel like I need to delve into what was said.  The speech is out there.  It's very easy to find out for yourself if you want to hear it.  It feels like there has been a push to try and turn the "Black Lives Matter" movement into an "All Lives Matter" movement.  All lives do matter, but that was never the point.  The point was always that there were too many occurrences of our people being killed by those sworn to protect.  Then they were acquitted, or no charges were ever filed, or investigation were compromised, etc.  It seemed like our lives didn't matter.  Some people are quick to point out the violence in our own community and ask why we aren't speaking out about that.  Truth is, violence in our own community has been a huge topic for years.  Even hip-hop contains songs about stopping the violence.  The criticism of the movement is mostly nonsensical people like Stacey Dash, who is so lost that it's sad.  She is not even worth spending any time discussing.  Supposedly inspiration was served on a platter with this speech.  What comes next will be interesting to see.  It is an election year, and none of the candidates excite me.  Even still, who's to say that any president can solve the issue of police brutality?  Along with that badge comes power.  Taking advantage of it shouldn't happen, unless it's in a positive manner, like Officer Norman from my city.  I'm excited to see what happens next and how inspiration will manifest itself.  I had no idea who Jesse Williams was before this, but now I do.  Stay woke like Erykah Badu.