Stop Being Clever, Stop Waiting

There is no "turning point"

The murder of Alex Pretti may not be a turning point.

Nor was the murder of Renee Good, the shooting of Mirimar Martinez, or the choking death of George Floyd.

They are not turning points because there is no such thing, no one moment that makes everyone see things our way, no one horror that will be a bridge too far, no one picture that can change 77 million minds. All there are, are horrors and moments, moments that call us to act.

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While we learn today about the horror of the Kent State shootings they were not treated that way at the time, at least not by everyone. For every boomer who tells you they saw their family shocked and horrified you can find another who heard people cheer it on, or heard nothing at all. Opponents of the war saw the deaths as horrific, supporters of the war saw the deaths of a few “outside agitators” as unfortunate but acceptable, or even a cause for celebration in just the same way that Republicans excuse the deaths of Pretti, Good, and Floyd as the cost of “enforcing the law”.

Kent State was not a turning point until the opponents of the war made it so. Just as the Bloody Sunday assaults on the Edmund Pettis Bridge was not a turning point, until sustained action by the Civil Rights movement ensured that it was burned into every American’s mind, and they all knew what side they had to be on.

Turning points, like justice and freedom, don’t come just because we want them to, and they do not happen on their own. They come because every single person living works to ensure that this was the conversation, and that we never, ever forget.

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Turning points also don’t come because we wait on elected officials or outsiders to do the work. Our elected “leaders” never deliver change, not until we change them. The leaders who voted for the Vietnam war did not shift because of a few polls or one event but because of nationwide protests and election losses. The same is true for those who opposed Civil Rights. 12 years on far too many are still waiting for one weird trick to banish Trumpism but there isn’t one. Just as there is no outside force that will make this all go away. In the end, we are on our own.

We the people must do everything we can.

Everywhere we can.

All of the time.

Call, every elected official, every week.

Show up to every meeting.

Force the issue into every conversation.

Vote with our dollars against the businesses who support this.

Hold our families and friends accountable for where they stand.

And shame those who make it possible, or who just stay on the side.

At this point keeping silent is compliance, seeking ‘fairness’ is compliance, and going along to get along is just another capitulation. Minneapolis is under siege, so is the whole country, and the time we spend ignoring it lets the evil grow.

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Consider the words of Matt Moberg, Chaplain of the Minnesota Timberwolves:

“If you’re a church posting

prayers for peace and unity today

while my city bleeds in the street,

miss me with that softness you only wear when it costs you nothing.

Don’t dress avoidance up as holiness.

Don’t call silence “peacemaking.”

Don’t light a candle and think it substitutes for showing up.

Tonight an ICE agent took a photo of me next to my car, looked me in the eye and told me, “We’ll be seeing you soon.”

Not metaphor.

Not hyperbole.

A threat dressed up in a badge and a paycheck.

Peace isn’t what you ask for

when the boot is already on someone’s neck.

Peace is what the powerful ask for

when they don’t want to be interrupted.

Unity isn’t neutral.

Unity that refuses to name violence

is just loyalty to the ones holding the weapons.

Stop using scripture like chloroform.

Stop calling your fear “wisdom.”

Stop pretending Jesus was crucified

because he preached good vibes and personal growth.

You don’t get to quote scripture like a lullaby

while injustice stays wide awake.

You don’t get to ask God to “heal the land”

if you won’t even look at the wound.

There is a kind of peace that only exists

because it refuses to tell the truth.

That peace is a lie.

And lies don’t grow anything worth saving.

The scriptures you love weren’t written to keep things calm. They were written to set things right.

And sometimes the most faithful thing you can do

is stop praying around the pain and start standing inside it.

If that makes you uncomfortable - good.”