Dear reader. I do not know how best to salute you but welcome to the month of June. My plan for June was definitely not this write up but here we are.

3 months ago, hubby and I were having our usual banter about COVID-19 and its impact on all areas of life. I kept saying COVID-19 was here to test and reveal ALL the systems, thought process, philosophy and whatever else we hold dear as individuals, family units, communities, the nation at large and globally. Here we are, June 1, 2020. The health pandemic is not over. The plague of racism is about to throw the nation into a civil war.

I have not been able to get myself to watch the whole video of the police officer who thought it was okay choke a fellow human being with his knee for more than 5 minutes. What was George Floyd’s offense? He spent a fake $20.00 bill. If you have been following my blog, you know I run a restaurant. In my 3 years plus of operations, folks are more likely to pay with cash than credit card. I am sure I have had my fair share of fake dollar bills creep in. Should that warrant me calling the police? Anyway, that is another topic for another day.

A fellow human, made, created and fashioned in the image and likeness of YHWH was treated less than an animal because of a fake $20.00 bill. If you have ever been to a dairy farm, or come from the beautiful continent of Africa where we rear our animal protein before they are slaughtered, we do not allow them to suffer on their way to our kitchen pots. It’s a sharp knife, a quick swipe and gone. The officer, whose name is not worthy of having a space in my blog, thought it okay to choke with his knee for over 5 minutes. George begged for mercy. He begged for his late mother. That scenario alone says a lot about the American Justice system. It is metaphoric. Again, I will leave this topic for another day.

I love America. I weep for the United States of America. I grieve for the United States of America. I pray for the United States of America. This nation has done me well. When I measure it all on a scale, I have been done well by the nation. I could not have received the level of care I got anywhere else at the height of my breast cancer diagnosis. However, when I remember that the level of care I received was a function of the insurance I had (thanks to hubby), I am not surprised that African Americans are twice more likely to die from cancer once you begin to factor the socio-economic factors that increase the disease risk.

I love America. All my dreams are coming alive one by one. I do not need my hubby to cosign business loans as long as my credit scores are good. However, when I look around the community I live, I see dreams deffered. I see homelessness. I see an educational system that has left Brockton Children behind. I see an educational system that is only preparing our children for jobs that will be obsolete by 2060.

I love America, I can worship God freely, I can carry my Bible in my bag, read it in the park, or download it as an app. However, when I think of the atrocious things that have been justified using this same scriptures in this nation, when I think of how some evangelical leaders were selective in their prayers for Barack Hussein Obama, but are quick to call Donald John Trump a messiah, I wonder if we worship the same Jesus Christ.

A white knee on a black neck sums it all up. When God told us to have dominion over the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea and every creeping thing, He did not include man. No, He did not. The very foundation of this nation can no longer hold. America 1.0 must give way to America 2.0 in the words of Mark Cuban. We cannot continue this way. We need to TALK. We need the courage to dig deep, question the legitimacy of certain systems of subjugation we hold dear. From the church to Capitol Hill, from the White House to every house on Main street, we need to start judging ourselves. Whether we like it or not, the cornerstone that built this nation is a white knee on a black neck.

It is time to replace that corner stone. The time is now……..

O.E.M.A