I had to think long and hard

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

Melody Beattie

 I had to think long and hard if I really wanted to share this email with you. It may offend you and that is never my intent or desire.

After much thought, I realized that not saying something can be a really bad thing.

So can holding things in.

As you know, I have turned off the news and social media.

It's all just driving me crazy.

Unfortunately,unless I move into a cabin in the middle of the woods,I can never expect to not hear the noise.

This is for any and all who may read this.

Left,right, liberal,conservative,it doesn't matter.

If you are a friend of mine or someone who reads my emails regularly, you have no clue!

Injustice exists.

Deal with it. Whether it's social,economic,cultural or whatever, there will always be injustice.

There are people who hate fat people . I know.Hate exists.

So does fear.

So does the need for survival.

It's human nature. There is no such thing as pure justice or equality.

With that said,the communities where we are seeing these so called socially unjust happenings are nothing like the communities in which you and I live.

Sounds racist, bigoted and biased?

Too bad. It is what it is.

When you go to your kids sporting events at school. the last thing on your mind is getting shot. In these neighborhoods , it is just part of life.

I spent the better part of 15 years working with people from these communities.

This is not about good or bad. It's about the way it is.

I can guarantee that the people I worked with would never be invited to dinner at your house.

You're not inviting them for a round of golf.

You wouldn't sit your family next to them at a McDonalds.

You wouldn't let your daughter marry any of them.

You wouldn't even let them in your homes in most cases.

If they themselves weren't ex-convicts, their brothers, friends and neighbors were.

In their communities,black lives,white lives or for that matter any lives don't matter in the same way they do in your neighborhood.

I had rapists,thugs, murderers,drug addicts, drug dealers,pimps and whores all work for me at one time or another. The stench that they left on me surrounded me not just for the 4 months a year I worked with them. It permeated my being and became part of me. So much so that at times, I had no idea how to be when I was with my white bread friends. I said white bread,not white. That's the way those of us who live in homes with central air and all of the other entrapments of the middle class are viewed by that community.

When a police officer enters that world, he has no idea whether he is dealing with a church lady or sinner.

It doesn't matter. The community , not the individual determines how that culture will respond.That officer is in a war zone. He may be black,white latino or asian. It doesn't matter. He is entering a place that lives by different rules.

Trust me,in our communities, we want more policing than less. We don't want the spill over.

You have no clue of what that spill over looks like.

Let me ask you something.

When you throw a party for your friends, how many people show up packing weapons?

When was the last time you had a disagreement with a family member and they punched you unconscious?

Unheard of amongst my friends.

If you were pulled over by the police would you a) run b) fight with him or c) do what you are asked?

Let me guess white bread!

I don't have solutions to any of this.

Probably because there are none.

For those who live in that culture, the only way out is to get out.

That means getting as far away from it as possible.

I can't do that for them.

You can't do that for them.

They have to leave every bit of it behind.

They can't affiliate. They can't keep a toe in the water.

The current runs too deep and is too turbulent.

Again, I apologize if I have offended you.That was not my intent.

Trust me, you have no clue unless you live there and if you live there it's just the way life is.

Solutions?

I have none.

Concerns?

I have plenty. And they are all for the safety and well being of my family and friends.

No apologizing for that.