Law And Order

Why is there hate in the world?

If I have contempt for you—
When I see the fear in your eyes—
How can my mind withstand an assault,
From two irrational beings?

Can man’s law stop the anger in my heart,
Can man’s law protect me from your rage?

Only God’s law can prevent us,
From injuring each other!

But remember, “Respect for one another”
Isn’t a sentiment, it’s a commitment.
It’s a hard decision to make—
To live for we, not just for me.

“And, rather than rightly being seen as a badge of shame, the shooters’ paranoia actually unites their defenders in righteous indignation. How can this be? In part because a part of the U.S. population shares the same perceptions of threat as the shooters themselves. …And if police officers felt afraid, who are they to second-guess the boys in blue?” Excerpt from: Unreasonable Fear Is Killing Black Men in America—And There’s No Justification For It

“To undo racism, we must undo ‘race’ and the first step is to acknowledge the nonexistence of ‘race’. It doesn’t exist as a social construction or in nature. Where it gives the appearance of existing is actually a category error, people mistaking racism, culture, or ethnicity for ‘race’. The distinction matters if any of us are sincere in our effort to dismantle racism.”
Excerpt from Undoing Racism Means Undoing Race | Opinion

“There’s this James Baldwin quote that I love: “To be a negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” And it’s so true: To be “woke,” to be even slightly aware of the way systemic racism and marginalization function in 21st-century America, is to be angry. Rage is what I felt when my friend and I were profiled and followed around the store like we were just itching to steal something (an experience black women and girls know all too well). Rage is what I felt at a different bookstore when I was asked to show ID to sign my own books, even though my picture was printed in the back. If I, a well-dressed and “articulate” New York Times best-selling author, am being treated like I’m not good enough to sit in a bookstore let alone to write a novel, the brown and black kids I write for are having these dehumanizing experiences too. In fact, for many of our young people of color, it’s much worse.” Excerpt from: To Be Black And #Woke Is To Be In A Rage All The Time

Spanish Translation

¿Por qué hay odio en el mundo?

¿Si tengo desprecio por ti—
Cuando veo el miedo en tus ojos—
Cómo puedo sobrevivir a un asalto,
De dos seres irracionales?

¿Puede la ley del hombre detener la ira en mi corazón,
Puede la ley del hombre protegerme de tu rabia?

¡Sólo la ley de Dios puede detenernos,
De lastimarnos el uno al otro!

Pero recuerda, “Respetarnos unos a otros”
No es un sentimiento, es un compromiso.
Es una decisión difícil de tomar—
Vivir para nosotros, no sólo para mí.

“Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.” Por: Benito Juárez, 1867