#PoliceLivesMatter and #BlackLivesMatter

On March 21,2009 I was in Oakland getting my hair done. I would drive an hour from my home to a salon in Oakland twice a month. On this particular day I witnessed a tragedy that would change the way I viewed the dangers Police Officers face for the rest of my life. 4 police officers were killed in the city of Oakland on this day by a convicted felon who who was wanted on a no bail no warrant parole violation. He shot and killed all 4 Police Officers. 2 during a traffic stop and 2 on scene. This goes down in the history books as one of the worst attacks on the Police force in California.

The following days after the shooting did bring racial tensions between law enforcement and the African American community. The officers that were slain were of Asian and Caucasian descent whereas the shooter was African American. Many people from the neighborhood tried to help at the scene of the shooting but off to the side there were groups taunting and laughing at the situation, at the death of these officers. The officers were all under 45 years of age.

Police brutality and accountability for actions of that nature is a very real struggle in Minority  majority communities and equality for those communities in the arena of police affairs must be reached, but not at the expense of any lives, African American lives or Police lives. The only way to obtain a mutual understanding of the struggle both sides face is by open and honest communication. Protesters have the right to peaceful marches and rallies and the Police have the right to be safe. Violence on either side will solve nothing at all and only serve to further the struggle for both parties to find mutual and common understanding of the issues each group are faced with. The ultimate goal should be solutions.

Solutions do not look like both parties attacking one another on Social Media hashtags like #shootthecops #killthepolice or #Nypdlivesdontmatter, what message are you trying to convey? Is it a message of peace or an invitation to war with the police and invoke a police state? It does not serve the purpose of reconstructing laws that do not discriminate against minority communities, it places the Police in a defensive position to protect themselves. Likewise hashtags such as #blacklivesdontmatter are doing equally the amount of intolerable damage invoking rage and anger in the African American communities.The only real solution are leaders rising up who want and see good for both sides of the argument and find solutions birthed in a peaceful place. The protection of all human life should be the focus of real resolutions

There once was a time when Police Officers would go into schools speak about their jobs, teach children not to do drugs and made themselves available in advice and friendship to all kids.They made themselves safe. Going back to those days would be a step in the right direction. Textbooks in school teaching a transparent education of African American history as well as an accurate teaching of all minority communities history including the Muslim population would create a well balanced multi-cultural population of people that have tolerance through education. We must make changes that are long term solutions to the racial tension that we face in the United States, we must eradicate the roots of racism and believe what we say, that we are a free nation who respects all religion, races, creeds and sex. Are we really a tolerant people or are we liars?

Education reform along with racial profiling, mandatory data collections of races in certain states  as well as accountability for use of force needs an immediate overhaul. We must work together as a nation in peaceful and productive dialog to transform a broken system and promote unity with law enforcement and civilians of all races.  Resolutions must reflect the desire to preserve human life, that is and must remain the focus.

Shame on you Ralph Lauren for marketing a Genocidal Era of the Native Americans

July 1524 was the first known kidnapping in America. Italian Explorers kidnapped a Native American and brought him to France. 1709 a slave market was erected at the foot of Wall Street in New York City African Americans, Native American men,women and children were declared property of the highest bidder.1850 California Legislature responded to starving Native Americans by turning them into slaves and the law permitted White people to indenture Native Children which led to  widespread kidnapping. 1879 the first students, a group of Lakota Children arrived at The United States Training and Industrial School, the goal was to remove young Natives from their culture and refashion them for mainstream American society. In other words Natives were to be brainwashed and forced fed a culture not their own, to become the white man.

The new Ralph Lauren campaign is full of all the humiliating reminders of an era of destruction to the Tribal Nations. Why would a company want to promote such racism and hatred toward the first Nations people and on top of which attempt to profit off of their genocidal history. Perhaps Ralph Lauren does not have a complete understanding of the era in which they are depicting as the educational system has never painted a transparent picture of the history in which torture, rape, abuse, slavery, kidnapping and murder were accepted forms of behavior for those of white privilege. To bring things home for Ralph Lauren this history is the manual Hitler used as a basis for his final solution for the Jewish people.

Native American people love to see their Nations promoted in the fashion industry but in a way that respects the culture and history of who they are as human beings the very same way anyone else would request to be represented. If you want and choose to utilize Native Americans in a promotional way perhaps taking the time to speak to Natives and ask how you can do so that honors their history instead of promoting genocide.

The First Nations People ask you to remove these photos from your current campaign and replace them with photos that do not promote a history that is painful and humiliating full of racism and hatred. Would you use  photos of the Holocaust in a clothing campaign? I do not believe that you would.