No indictment come across the screen of the television as the scanners start buzzing with word of riots and rage in Ferguson, Missouri. What happens over the next couple hours are horrifying, two sides of people at war. One wanting their voice to be heard and not knowing what to do with their frustrations and growing hopeless with the lack of vision as they turn to violence; the other side, a side completely away from it all has problems comprehending why violence would be the answer and scratching their heads. The tweets increase as the trends of the country are consumed to be this event. Over the course of the night whatever, voice is heard or silenced, one thing is for sure, we will remember this night.
This night has been coming, for three months as the people of the country anxiously await the verdict. However, the underlying story is one untold, of the feelings of the oppressed as they grow tired of being subjected and prejudiced against. As they are thrown into harsh lives, have their rights neglected, and have the very people who are suppose to protect them harm them. This is their life and it has been happening for decades. This night is not about one death. It’s about every life, every act of violence from authority, and every voice that was silenced.
I cannot pretend to know what this is like, but it is a reminder that we are broken people. I have never seen it and spend most of my days ignorant to fact that it is there. I live in my own world thinking about the materialistic problems I face, such as how to pay off student loans, how to get the best priced on wedding invites, and how to move up in my career. I am never confronted with the thoughts or feelings of these people and the injustice they face every day. That is until tonight. I sit here tonight with most of the country trying to wrap my head around how violence could ever be an answer, while attempting to see life from their point of view and asking myself one simple question: what am I doing?
I embarrassingly don’t know enough about the trial to make any strong decision on the choice of the grand jury. I won’t pretend to either. I do know that violence will not solve this problem, but understand how hopelessness and frustration bred with anger can cause people to seek violence. You see because tonight as they riot we are continuing confronted with their problems, we are drawn into their world, and we can’t live in ignorance. Will things change because of the violence? Probably not, but at least for tonight, they are the center attraction and they will display how frustrated they are.
As for the rest of the world, what is our responsibility? As we sit behind our screens and watch the media, as we watch the rioting and the looting, as we see the injustice of both the verdict and the people, what is our responsibility? We can say how terrible they are for their violence but what are our words doing to make a difference? How is us slandering them impacting the situation? The President urges protestors to be constructive and not destructive and we sit in our chairs shaming them for their actions over our computers. We are merely fueling the fire.
I’ve grown up wanting to change the world and tonight I’m confronted with the fact that our world needs changed. We need our voices to be heard. We need to have an impact. We need to show love. It is not enough to be bystanders in this life, the world needs us to take action, Ferguson needs us to take action.
Whether that’s building up programs and awareness for our authorities or being proactive in the lives of youth to help them steer away from trouble, they need us too. Whether it’s being educated to know who to vote for and actually voting, they need us too. Whether it’s building better and stronger communities and being intentional with people around us, they need us too. Whether it’s merely learning to hold our tongue for a moment so we don’t make situations worse, they need us too. Ferguson is one place, one city, and yet the problems are across the nation. We need to take action today to build a better tomorrow and not sit by and watch what we love be destroyed: that could be our towns, our youth, our government, or our dreams. As we move towards making better communities today we start to build communities that won’t suffer from the same problems as Ferguson. Is this a tall task? Absolutely, but I believe it can happen. I’m a dreamer though and I will always envision a better tomorrow.
There are many things we can learn from tonight, but one that I believe is very powerful is we need to respond; not just the people of Ferguson, but you. It might not impact Ferguson Missouri tomorrow, but it will change your community and the life of those around you, and maybe someday that will change the next Ferguson. My hope is it will not only help us avoid the murder that occurred in Ferguson but also help avoid the violence.
Let your voice be heard. Do not just make noise. Make a difference.
gsehlers 