RISK SOMETHING
  • About
  • Blog

In the Holiday Spirit, Let's Give to the poor

12/22/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture

























This holiday season, I ask us to please remember those among us who live amidst crushing 
poverty. Every day, there are underprivileged people among us who are helpless, living under the heavy chains of poverty. It is a shame that in this land of plenty, so many of these poor individuals move about their day under the blanket of debilitating lack of resources. 

When the NYPD Union president basically declares war on anyone who thinks that police brutality is a real issue, we must not allow his poverty to make us turn away. His uniform, badge, and tie must not hide his poor, downtrodden ability to apply complex thinking. This suffering, impoverished man has not been taught to see that in fact, it is possible to rage against police brutality and condemn the murder of police officers. Due to what may be intellectual malnutrition, this man's brain seems incapable of seeing beyond "either/or" thinking. This manifests itself in the belief that everyone is either a supporter of all police at all times or an enemy of all the police at all times. Jesus didn't put us here to allow this kind of poverty to go unattended. Let's ask ourselves, "What can I do to offer this underprivileged man a fair chance to become a well-adjusted member of society?" 


Picture




















When the mayor of New York asks grieving, furious Americans to give up the right to protest, that mayor is clearly suffering from a heartbreaking lack of ability to bear witness to suffering and rage. As mayor of a city, Bill de Blasio's job is, among other things, to bear witness to the lived experiences of his people. This tone-deaf attempt to shut people up who are protesting their government's tendency to, of all things, shut them up with brutal and often deadly force, reveals a deep poverty in Mayor de Blasio that we should all dig deep to alleviate. Please consider giving what you can to poor Mayor de Blasio!


Picture
When White men take to the streets of New York to declare to the world that they "can breathe," thanks to the police, my heart goes out to these poor guys who have revealed their poverty of vision. They have been deprived and underserved, these underprivileged souls. Their training in blindness to privilege and oppression ensures can't see that their message ("Police ensure my safety as a White person!")  perfectly reinforces the narrative of the protesters that they are trying to undermine ("Police ensure the safety of White people!"). Please consider giving what vision you can afford to these unfortunate, downtrodden, folks. This is America, folks! We can help the poor! 


When the governor of Massachusetts admonishes protesters for being "disruptive," I close my eyes and shed a tear for this impoverished, suffering soul who could be successful member of society if we could only help him to see his potential! Tragically, this man carries the weight of an impoverished sense of history. Let us pray for this poor person who cannot imagine how disruption could possibly work towards justice. Deval, we won't give up on you. We believe in you and I hope readers will consider donating their basic understanding of history!
Picture

Many White people have a deep, unnamed fear that the successful struggle for Black liberation will result in the "tables flipping," creating a country in which White people are treated as second-class citizens by a powerful Black majority. We should all commit to digging deep and giving all we can to alleviate the grinding poverty of experience that lies underneath this fear. Most White people suffer from a lack of Black friends, with no resources to draw on when it comes to actually knowing what it's like to be Black in America beyond the idiocy of popular media. 

This poverty allows us to maintain a vision of Black America as a monolithic, single-minded entity bent on taking power back from Whites for the sole purpose of revenge. I am happy to report that J. Cole has already given White people the following charitable donation to minister to our poverty. Please, let's match his donation by educating ourselves and others as to the deep sense of love that is the bedrock of liberation struggle. Maybe we can even band together to create a National Association for the (Mental/Social/Spiritual/Creative/Empathetic) Advancement of White People which can help us organize to lift us out of the poverty so many of us live in. 

Let's listen, and be thankful for the spirit of giving to the poor during this holiday season. 
#blacklivesmatter     
1 Comment
Joan Squeri
12/28/2014 01:38:53 am

Nicely wrought inversion

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Abe Lateiner

    If real change requires people to take risks, what would it mean for a straight, White, cisgender male, tall, thin, able-bodied, English-speaking US citizen with class privilege to take risks?

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe!

    * indicates required

    Archives

    March 2020
    September 2017
    March 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    March 2016
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly