It's long...I had a lot to say
So my last piece was written before shutdown, before staying at home was for the good of all, before schools closed and went virtual, before our lives were upended, and before many lost theirs. It was written before we began again this walk to justice, this walk to civil rights for all. It was written before people began to ask me if we experienced what was being talked about in public by all - and what's more what is being listened to by most. It was written in the before time changed world.
Today, we are beginning to open up again. We are careful, many wear our masks faithfully to protect others. Some just don't care and have no problems telling others this. They have outed themselves in their selfishness and lack of care about their elders and neighbors.
I washed 7 masks yesterday doing my laundry! SEVEN! That alone tells me how much I've traveled about in the past week. My usual number was TWO for the week. I'm even getting used to matching the masks to my shirts, most of the time...Saints mask? Saints shirt. Today was the first time since March 18th I went to the grocery store twice in one week - that cooked chicken was worth going for, you know?
Teaching online has been more time consuming than I thought it was going to be. Planning for high school kids is very different than planning for college students. Synchronous teaching is also very different from asynchronous posting and checking. I am pretty good with Google Meets now, as well as Zoom, and Facebook Meetings - as are most of you, likely. It's a whole new big screen FaceTime! Remember when instant messaging was a thing, and you could talk to people in another state in real time without paying a toll charge? Damn, people, we have come pretty far already - I'm sure there is much more to come. Even with all of these meetings with students and friends and family, there is something missing from the equation.
The personal touch, of course, cannot be replaced as so many of us found. When word began to come through of safer ways to touch, I was all over that! My Mediterranean heritage does NOT like not being able to do the hug thing, you know? and elbow/foot touches just don't do it. So there's the covid hug that came out of Italy - you hug and both turn your faces...then do the opposite side hug...quickly of course...and masked, too.
Prepping and cooking was another big shift. Who knew if it was safe to get delivery or pick up take out? So on with the $200 + grocery bills and buying all kinds of stuff to cook "from scratch". I didn't do the bread baking...are you kidding me? Teaching 140 high school kids in 2 different subjects, 1 online community college class, 2 online UOP classes at a time, and 3 tutor kids? Add to that EBay sales and shipping...We did discover fajitas, nachos...eventually going to pizza delivery, then other places at least once a week to take the pressure off. When in school, I ate at the restaurant the kids ran for lunch so that also had to be included in the purchase and prep cycle, as did breakfast and coffee!
Some good habits were formed with the purchase, prep and cooking cycle and we surely saved some money. Lots of veggies, roasting, stir frying. I even made potato salad and we weren't going to a picnic! Didn't purchase one box of protein bars - did the real food thing.
As we looked to our 40th wedding anniversary, back in mid-May, we wondered how much would be open. Dinner? Not at a restaurant but maybe take out. No weekend away, no big picnic or party. Memorial Day was quickly approaching, yet we knew there was to be no celebration for that either. It would be about reflection, and perhaps a burger or a dog at home.
Then on Sunday night of that weekend, a horror appeared on social media. A man in Minneapolis is shown in a video with an officer's knee on his neck, other officers on other parts of his body, with a standing officer keeping people who are watching away. Fortunately for all of us, those people were filming this horror. George Floyd was murdered by a man who had no qualms about what George was saying. "I can't breathe." Even now as I type that, my eyes are tearing up, my blood pressure is diving. I want to crawl into my bed to curl up. Then he calls for his Mama. That's when I lost it, watching this. He knew he was not going to survive. The officer must have known this as well. His knee must have felt the life leaving George Floyd's body. Two of the other officers had less than a week on patrol.
This horrific tragedy was seen by millions across the country, on social media, on the 24 hour news stations, photos in our papers. Children, elders, teens, adults all saw this. The protests began the next day...turning violent in some places, remaining peaceful in many places. The protests continue. They have not stopped. People have said, "This is different". Yes, it certainly is. It feels different to me as well.
Why? All of us are reporters today. There is no hiding in a back alley, or beating someone half to death then putting their body in a tree without someone noting this. We all watch the crime shows. We know they always catch the bad guys, right? The question becomes, "Who are the bad guys?"
Are the bad guys those that kept that murderer and others on the force after 18 incidents of unnecessary or unneeded force? Are the bad guys the ones that continued to allow chokeholds even though banned by nearly all police departments? Are the bad guys those who didn't question their peers use of force? Are the bad guys those who remain silent?
All of the above and more. Not all who put on the uniform are "bad guys". We know that for sure. Most of us have had a good cop experience at least once in our lives. Many of us have had a bad cop experience at least once in our lives. We have also seen the militarization of the police, especially when we saw what happened in Ferguson with urban assault vehicles that truly looked just like tanks.
When teaching in the criminal justice field, de-escalation was key. It is taught to be used in what is typically the most dangerous of encounters - domestic violence events. Yet, it should be used for ALL necessary encounters, of course. Having such a good relationship with so many officers through teaching in this area as well as daily interaction in school has taught me much over the years. There is certainly a fine line that many officers must balance on. Decisions are made quickly, under stress. Second guesses are always 20/20.
Training is urgently needed, as is weeding out those who should never wear the uniform. Years ago, chases were commonplace in Bridgeport, until innocent people began to get into the midst of these chases and die. So a strategy was put into place to lessen the amounts of chases, and lower the casualty rates for crashes. Amazingly it worked. There are solutions to these specific concerns. Listening and working together is required to deconstruct what is in place and construct anew.
But is this issue the overarching "bottom line"? It is a symptom, a sign that we have serious racism that has come to a head. We can blame it on Trump, but he's only been around for a few years, even with his nasty self, he can't bear all the blame. This indeed goes to 1619 and decisions made then...it could have been addressed with a full and complete Reconstruction - a deconstruct and reconstruct in 1865 across the entire country, not just in recalcitrant Southern areas. Racism has reared up in all states, after all. Systemic, individual - it is EVERYWHERE.
As I finish classes and get less busy, I have been thinking about little else than this. I prefer to think of solutions. Yet, in order to get solutions, one must know the history. Too many are arguing - "Oh, I never did anything racist" or "Some of my best friends are..." (and no they aren't if you say that) or "Why should I change what I do". At this point in our lives, we all need to change. We all need to be part of the solution, for our kids, for our country. And we all have lots of energy after hanging at home for 3 months. Hell, even my 85 year old "sort of" racist Dad just said he will come to the next protest.
Today, we are beginning to open up again. We are careful, many wear our masks faithfully to protect others. Some just don't care and have no problems telling others this. They have outed themselves in their selfishness and lack of care about their elders and neighbors.
I washed 7 masks yesterday doing my laundry! SEVEN! That alone tells me how much I've traveled about in the past week. My usual number was TWO for the week. I'm even getting used to matching the masks to my shirts, most of the time...Saints mask? Saints shirt. Today was the first time since March 18th I went to the grocery store twice in one week - that cooked chicken was worth going for, you know?
Teaching online has been more time consuming than I thought it was going to be. Planning for high school kids is very different than planning for college students. Synchronous teaching is also very different from asynchronous posting and checking. I am pretty good with Google Meets now, as well as Zoom, and Facebook Meetings - as are most of you, likely. It's a whole new big screen FaceTime! Remember when instant messaging was a thing, and you could talk to people in another state in real time without paying a toll charge? Damn, people, we have come pretty far already - I'm sure there is much more to come. Even with all of these meetings with students and friends and family, there is something missing from the equation.
The personal touch, of course, cannot be replaced as so many of us found. When word began to come through of safer ways to touch, I was all over that! My Mediterranean heritage does NOT like not being able to do the hug thing, you know? and elbow/foot touches just don't do it. So there's the covid hug that came out of Italy - you hug and both turn your faces...then do the opposite side hug...quickly of course...and masked, too.
Prepping and cooking was another big shift. Who knew if it was safe to get delivery or pick up take out? So on with the $200 + grocery bills and buying all kinds of stuff to cook "from scratch". I didn't do the bread baking...are you kidding me? Teaching 140 high school kids in 2 different subjects, 1 online community college class, 2 online UOP classes at a time, and 3 tutor kids? Add to that EBay sales and shipping...We did discover fajitas, nachos...eventually going to pizza delivery, then other places at least once a week to take the pressure off. When in school, I ate at the restaurant the kids ran for lunch so that also had to be included in the purchase and prep cycle, as did breakfast and coffee!
Some good habits were formed with the purchase, prep and cooking cycle and we surely saved some money. Lots of veggies, roasting, stir frying. I even made potato salad and we weren't going to a picnic! Didn't purchase one box of protein bars - did the real food thing.
As we looked to our 40th wedding anniversary, back in mid-May, we wondered how much would be open. Dinner? Not at a restaurant but maybe take out. No weekend away, no big picnic or party. Memorial Day was quickly approaching, yet we knew there was to be no celebration for that either. It would be about reflection, and perhaps a burger or a dog at home.
Then on Sunday night of that weekend, a horror appeared on social media. A man in Minneapolis is shown in a video with an officer's knee on his neck, other officers on other parts of his body, with a standing officer keeping people who are watching away. Fortunately for all of us, those people were filming this horror. George Floyd was murdered by a man who had no qualms about what George was saying. "I can't breathe." Even now as I type that, my eyes are tearing up, my blood pressure is diving. I want to crawl into my bed to curl up. Then he calls for his Mama. That's when I lost it, watching this. He knew he was not going to survive. The officer must have known this as well. His knee must have felt the life leaving George Floyd's body. Two of the other officers had less than a week on patrol.
This horrific tragedy was seen by millions across the country, on social media, on the 24 hour news stations, photos in our papers. Children, elders, teens, adults all saw this. The protests began the next day...turning violent in some places, remaining peaceful in many places. The protests continue. They have not stopped. People have said, "This is different". Yes, it certainly is. It feels different to me as well.
Why? All of us are reporters today. There is no hiding in a back alley, or beating someone half to death then putting their body in a tree without someone noting this. We all watch the crime shows. We know they always catch the bad guys, right? The question becomes, "Who are the bad guys?"
Are the bad guys those that kept that murderer and others on the force after 18 incidents of unnecessary or unneeded force? Are the bad guys the ones that continued to allow chokeholds even though banned by nearly all police departments? Are the bad guys those who didn't question their peers use of force? Are the bad guys those who remain silent?
All of the above and more. Not all who put on the uniform are "bad guys". We know that for sure. Most of us have had a good cop experience at least once in our lives. Many of us have had a bad cop experience at least once in our lives. We have also seen the militarization of the police, especially when we saw what happened in Ferguson with urban assault vehicles that truly looked just like tanks.
When teaching in the criminal justice field, de-escalation was key. It is taught to be used in what is typically the most dangerous of encounters - domestic violence events. Yet, it should be used for ALL necessary encounters, of course. Having such a good relationship with so many officers through teaching in this area as well as daily interaction in school has taught me much over the years. There is certainly a fine line that many officers must balance on. Decisions are made quickly, under stress. Second guesses are always 20/20.
Training is urgently needed, as is weeding out those who should never wear the uniform. Years ago, chases were commonplace in Bridgeport, until innocent people began to get into the midst of these chases and die. So a strategy was put into place to lessen the amounts of chases, and lower the casualty rates for crashes. Amazingly it worked. There are solutions to these specific concerns. Listening and working together is required to deconstruct what is in place and construct anew.
But is this issue the overarching "bottom line"? It is a symptom, a sign that we have serious racism that has come to a head. We can blame it on Trump, but he's only been around for a few years, even with his nasty self, he can't bear all the blame. This indeed goes to 1619 and decisions made then...it could have been addressed with a full and complete Reconstruction - a deconstruct and reconstruct in 1865 across the entire country, not just in recalcitrant Southern areas. Racism has reared up in all states, after all. Systemic, individual - it is EVERYWHERE.
As I finish classes and get less busy, I have been thinking about little else than this. I prefer to think of solutions. Yet, in order to get solutions, one must know the history. Too many are arguing - "Oh, I never did anything racist" or "Some of my best friends are..." (and no they aren't if you say that) or "Why should I change what I do". At this point in our lives, we all need to change. We all need to be part of the solution, for our kids, for our country. And we all have lots of energy after hanging at home for 3 months. Hell, even my 85 year old "sort of" racist Dad just said he will come to the next protest.
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