The other day I listened as titans spoke,
Obama and Springsteen,
Two people I love to listen to.
They told stories of fun,
Shared experiences on race relations,
Offered hope for solving the problem,
Solutions,
Doing something,
Not just talking,
DOING SOMETHING.
What struck me was their candor,
Ownership of their flaws,
A willingness to look in,
Not to simply complain about how things are.
They are leaders, not pity seekers,
Not the types to just whine about the past,
But dudes of action,
Willing to use their words for action,
For more than attention.
Today, I swam in the morass of inaction,
Sitting in a meeting where the social barometer
Fluctuated between comic book and sensationalism.
Social media became the gospel,
Compasses became metaphors, and
Fear ruled the day.
Not a good scared either,
The kind that is afraid to take a stand,
The kind lacking courage,
The kind that does nothing.
DOES NOTHING.
Look, there are no easy answers to solving race problems.
I think people need to simplify,
All people have issues,
All people have goodness,
All people have bad qualities,
No one has dominion over all,
In fact the only things we can truly control,
Are how we choose to see the world and
How we choose to treat others.
When racism rears its ugliness,
It’s the badness in people being brought to fruition.
In the end, even a former President and the Boss,
Couldn’t really offer much to solve the problem beyond,
People learning to accept others,
No matter their culture,
No matter their bank account,
No matter their religion,
No matter their gender,
No matter,
No matter,
No matter.
CAN WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT, Y’ALL?