Of Anthems and "Taking a Knee"

I've struggled to find the words to express how I feel about the #TakeAKnee protest, but I came across this and it summarized perfectly my own take on it. The author's name is Mike Wiley, and I will include a link to the original post when I am able to track it down.

"No one has asked my opinion on the #TakeAKnee protest in the NFL, but since it seems to be setting Facebook on fire, I guess I’ll weigh in. We are constantly being told we must come together and get along. I agree with that, so that means we must try to understand people we don’t agree with. So I made an attempt to do just that. Here’s what I found:

Why is Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem? This protest has been going on for a year. It was in support of the Black Lives Matter protest. Here is Kaepernick’s reasoning on his protest:

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color…[T]o me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder…[T]his is not something that I am going to run by anybody ... I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. ... If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right."

So Kaepernick sees a perceived injustice in society and he’s using his Constitutional right to peacefully protest that injustice. Is he the first athlete to do so? No. Muhammad Ali protested being drafted into the military and took his protest all the way to the United States Supreme Court. All 50 states denied Ali a boxing license from 1967 until 1970 and his passport was revoked. Ali’s age at this time was between 25-29, prime earning years. He lost millions to stand up for what he believed was right.

Here’s what Ali’s said about the draft: "Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?"

Ali was despised by people at the time for not being patriotic. Yet somehow in his later years, he was held in high esteem, not only in this country, but around the world.

Some of you from the older generation might remember the 1968 Olympics and the Black Power protest of Tommie Smith and John Carlos. During the National Anthem they raised a black-gloved fist and put their heads down. Their statement on their protest was "for those individuals that were lynched, or killed, and that no one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the Middle Passage."

Smith went on to say, “We were concerned about the lack of black assistant coaches. About how Muhammad Ali got stripped of his title. About the lack of access to good housing and our kids not being able to attend the top colleges.” Smith and Carlos were suspended from the Olympics and told to leave the village immediately. They, and their families, received death threats when they returned to the U.S.

(An interesting side note: The IOC President who suspended Carlos and Smith, had no problem with the Nazi salute given by athletes in 1936 when he was also the IOC President).

If we move from politics, of course Martin Luther King, Jr.’s protests come to mind. King believed in non-violent protest, but his non-violent protests often led to violence from the other side. King’s protests were met w/ fire hoses, police dogs, and beatings.

King was considered a rabble rouser, unpatriotic, communist, and of course, all sorts of slang terms used for African Americans. He was spied upon by his own government. Yet somehow today we revere the work that he did. He has his own holiday to celebrate his efforts.

There’s one final person I’d like to mention and that’s Rosa Parks. When Rosa Parks was asked to give up her seat to a white man by the bus driver, she refused. But she didn’t violate some longstanding custom, she broke the law and was arrested.

Of course, all she had to do was give up her seat on the bus like the three other African Americans did when the driver directed them to do so. But she decided “The time had just come when I had been pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed, I suppose. I had decided that I would have to know, once and for all, what rights I had as a human being, and a citizen.”

Parks wasn’t idolized at that time; she was seen as a law-breaker because she refused to follow what was considered “normal” at that time. And of course, in the South at that time, she didn’t “know her place.”

So I bring up these other four famous protests or protesters to prove a point: They were the Colin Kaepernick of their times. Their protests were denigrated, and deemed disrespectful, un-American, and unpatriotic. They were called all sorts of names and they just didn’t appreciate what they were given. Yet somehow, all these years later, we’ve deemed these protesters worthy of our admiration.
Protest isn’t supposed to feel good. It’s not a warm-fuzzy moment. It’s meant to make you feel uncomfortable and angry. It’s to bring to your attention, something someone perceives as an injustice. You may not agree with their perception, but you have a responsibility as an American to at least hear them out and do a little research before you call them some name that belittles their belief.

Do I think people should stand for the National Anthem? Yes. Do I think people have a right to protest the National Anthem with a peaceful protest? Also yes.

We have a serious racial problem in this country and it did not end with the election of a black President in 2008. We can either stand and shout at each other, or we can try and hear each other out. Calling Colin Kaepernick a “spoiled whiny baby” and then promising to boycott the NFL isn’t the American thing to do.

And stop playing the “he’s-being-disrespectful-to-the-military” card. This has nothing to do with the military, and when you say that, you only hope to shut down any debate. Our Armed Forces didn’t fight so we could sing a song to the flag; they fought for every principle and ideal the flag stands for ... one of which is the right to protest."

Edited to Add:
Personally, I choose to stand for the playing of the national anthem. But I do so under the protection of the Constitution, which also protects those who choose differently. I support their rights, as well.

"Brother, Let Me Be Your Shelter."

What a mixed bag of emotions yesterday turned out to be. I spent most of the day enjoying Universal Studios Hollywood and our sneak preview of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I was able to catch up with my own lovely Dora, Janeth Paris. And I laughed and joked and enjoyed the company of my husband and fifteen of our amazing friends.

And then came the news that Eric Klimt had fallen and was killed during a climb at Zion National Park. And the world was suddenly a little darker, a little sadder, and a little less for having lost him.

But in the light of the new day, I understand that losing Eric is a consequence of knowing and caring about him. And what would be the alternative, to go through life closed off to the greatness that other people bring?

Nope. I will continue to be joyful that other people walk into my life (literally, with Eric, as he walked over from a neighboring campsite). I will remain grateful for the immeasurable ways they enrich this world. And when our time together has passed, I will rely on the strength of friends as I remember, as I grieve, and as I continue in this world without you.

Life is a very good thing, indeed. Surround yourself with those who feel the same way and enjoy this journey.

Ramblers in the wilderness
Yeah we can't find what we need
We get a little restless from the searching
Get a little worn down in between

Like a bull chasing a matador
is man left to his own schemes
But everybody needs someone beside ‘em
Shining like a lighthouse from the sea

Brother let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call when you're low
Brother let me be your fortress
when the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home

Face down in the desert now
There's a cage locked around my heart
I found a way to drop the keys where my failures were
now my hands can't reach that far

I ain't made for a rivalry
I could never take the world alone
I know that in my weakness I am strong
but it's your love that brings me home

Brother let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call when you're low
Brother let me be your fortress
when the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home

And when you call
And need me near
Say it when you go
Brother I’m right here

And on those days
When the sky begins to fall
You’re the blood of my blood
We can get through it all

Brother let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call when you're low
Brother let me be your fortress
when the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home

"15 Things To Do" - A blog entry from Katherine Fritz

I'm proud of my own writing, mostly. But I also know that the world is full of talented, honest, gifted others sharing amazing words of their own. And when I read something that touches my heart, I want to stand on the rooftops and shout about it to the whole world.

But really, what's the point of that? No one can hear me up on the roof, and even if they could, they probably aren't ready to write down a URL and they won't remember it because so many of them are weirdly long and...

Oh. I digress.

Here's the good stuff. Click the link and enjoy:

Fifteen Things for When the World is Shitty and Terrifying

And here's just a snippet:

4. Think of a song you love, preferably by a non-super-famous musician. Even if you already own it, download it again. Think about how that 99 cents is actually telling that musician that their work has value.

 And here's another:

Take a deep breath of gratitude for the people out there who actually do make the world a better place. Challenge yourself to be that person, in whatever small way you can manage right now.

The whole thing is pretty fantastic, so click over and read it. And surprise yourself by actually doing one of the things on the list.

Hey, it's a start, right?

Merrit Malloy

Every creative person is inspired by others and I'm certainly no exception. And here, I'm happy to highlight a writer, a poet, a true creative force of nature, Merrit Malloy.

For me, of course, she is truly timeless. I first read her words when I picked up a poetry book that my mother had left out on the coffee table. I devoured the book and immediately claimed it as my own. (I don't know that my mother knows to this day where "that little book of mine" disappeared to.)

Her words were simple and complicated, direct and elusive, beautiful and painful. To a young boy struggling with every aspect of his own life, the words felt like they were written just for me. I understood that these were the words of a woman navigating her way through life and love, but they might just as well have been written to explain my own journey of fear, loss, and hiding.

90049
The loneliest place
I've ever been
Was not when
I was alone.
It was in a room
In West Los Angeles
Where I was in love
With someone
Who wasn't in love
With me.

Local Anesthetic
Sometimes I think
That I'm not really present at my life,
As though it goes on
without my permission.
Sometimes
although I don't want to die
I want to stop living.
I want to climb into the other side
Of my face
And observe my experiences
Without having them.
Sometimes
and only once in a while,
I want to stop living,
But I really don't want
to die.

She was the first person to tell me, in a way that I could understand, that words are more powerful than the strongest weapon. And I was hooked, even then. My precocious young self already understood the magic of the right words shared at the right time.

Now, thanks to the power of the internet and the access of social media, I have had the opportunity to engage in a private conversation with her and to express my lifelong gratitude to her. She ignited the passion in me that led me to this point in my life, to where I feel like I can honestly describe myself as a writer.

Thank you again, Merrit Malloy. Your words, and your spirit, continue to touch my life and my heart.

For those interested in reading more from Merrit Malloy, here's your link. Enjoy.