Don't make me piss myself with this one: "We were all witnessing the social version of Haley’s comet." 😂 . I too loved the Avengers portal! All we needed was a brother to hit the Spider Man reverse lunge and it would have been too too much. Thanks for your brilliant cultural insight.
Yes, yes, YESSSSSS to all of THIS!!!! Unless I’m the one of the wrong side, I’ve resolved to not moving out of the way because it is expected. The number of times I’ve let someone bump into me simply because they expected me to be the one to move.. and the bewilderment on their faces when they realize I didn’t and am not moving out of the way.. *chef’s kiss* just like this brawl!
Without appearing argumentative, that wasn’t a fair fight, rather everyone who assumed it acceptable to gang up one a lone (and likely unfairly compensated) security guard, fairly got captured on camera getting their ass whipped. That is, had that not been filmed, the security guard would have been unfairly portrayed as the instigator and aggressor- and because he is minority male the world would have believed that bullshit. And the best part about each of them got their ass slaughtered is that they got old fashioned beat downs with fists, not guns, or knives and because it was filmed, none of their dumb drunk asses can refute in the name of Dr. King, whom the universe knows was nonviolent, they got their asses beat down!
That is an important distinction! Yes. Because the cowardice is thick in how they thought it okay to gang up on a man trying to do his job. I imagine they’ve done that kind of thing countless times. Not that day, though 🤣🤣🤣🤣
They have, because they jumped into hood mode too quickly for that to have been a one off, we had too much to drink incident. They are very comfortable with their gangland hood antics, so comfortable they forget (a) minorities read, (b) their definition of our place isn’t included in any variation of a dictionary any longer; and (c) all skin tones appear on camera. They own a boat, we all know they had to know cameras had been installed on that dock - and in addition to being charged for placing their hands on that man (we all learn as preschoolers to keep our hands to ourselves), he should be additional charged for operating a vehicle drunk. Lets be real about it, if his drunk ass had run that boat onto the deck and killed the same security guard while he was standing there waiting on the ship to dock, the incident likely wouldn’t have made the news. In short, the instigator feels he is above all the rules afforded society, he has never been properly disciplined and that ass whipping he received, was long delayed with a lot of interest tacked on. In fact, he is lucky because had that security guards wife, woman, side piece, etc. gotten to him, he would be ‘no more.’
Kate Boyd brought me here and I’m so glad she did. You’ve delightfully unpacked a situation that I had only heard about on the radio in the car and via memes on the interwebs. It’s squarely a right-hand kingdom / left-hand kingdom moment to me. We’re called to show and share grace and forgiveness towards those who transgress against us; but there *shall* be consequences levied upon those transgressors once the dust settles. Fantastic sub, Sharifah!
And! Do you have a book of coming out anytime soon? I wanna promote it when the time is right! (And if not, I wanna get you in touch w my agent at the Bindery. Email me at Lizcharlottegrant@gmail.com).
Thanks for sharing this. I read a news article about it and something in the way they described what happened just didn’t sit right with me. After reading this I realize it was because they tried to portray it too neutrally - not making clear who was or wasn’t arrested, and not mentioning the almost certainly racially motivated nature of the violence against the security guard. For many years I’ve leaned towards pacifism (I attend a Quaker church), but have never been able to fully claim it because of situations like this one. If we could start over at the beginning of history and all be pacifists then I could claim it fully, but given the injustices in the world as it is, sometimes violence is necessary. Thanks again for sharing!
I hear you. I tread a very thin line when it comes to violence, particularly because it is hastily employed as the answer to conflict when there are better answers most of the time. Violence takes less imagination, less commitment, less work, and less community. We are reaping bloody harvests on the regular because of all the normalized violence we have sown in this country.
I’ve started to unpack how white Christian pacifist theologians had convinced me to always look down on violence . . . especially if it is targeted at white people 👀👀👀 screw that!!! Ugh just another way whiteness worked to make me feel morally superior and not support people standing up for their basic human rights.
Oh wow! I couldn't stop reading his books once I started! I recently wrote about his influence on my faith on my Substack. In regards to your post, his insistence on how oppressed groups get to decide for themselves how they resist finally pushed me off the "pacifism fence" I was sitting on for quite a while. Such a simple yet profound truth that those in power continuously try to suppress by appealing to religious/moral/spiritual notions of absolute non-violence.
Yes!!! Cone was influential in helping me more towards anarchism, exactly for the reasons you articulated. I do *not* get to decide how oppressed and marginalized folks should respond. And yeah, I had to read him on my own he certainly wasn’t allowed at my Bible College 😬
I adore watching you untether yourself from the stuff that no longer serves you! And you know the same folk who say "violence is not the answer" in *this* circumstance call police to do their violence by proxy, or rebrand their violence--as we've seen with the severely revisionist versions of the January 6th insurrection.
(Now, I don't begrudge Christian pacifism when it's *consistent* and rooted in Jesus' teachings, but I absolutely do when it comes to people who want to defend the status quo and empire.)
And seeing how some of the “greats” in white Christian pacifism abused women constantly . . . it’s all a mess. I was totally drawn to it bc it seemed so much more ethically consistent, but I think it has some insidious impacts for white people like myself (convincing us to stay silent/separate from anything with a whiff of violence). Anyways I love you and I loved this post!!!
LISTEN. The more I learn about the "greats," the more grateful I am for my grandmother and people like her, whose gentle consistency mothered me in the faith.
I'm thankful to have seen many memes and references to this incident, but I hadn't yet taken time to investigate. Thank you for explaining!
Lamenting for so many reasons. That one more white man would think violence against a Black security guard (or any Black man who would *dare* to make a request of him) was right. That this man's friends would not for even a moment stop to think that their friend was the aggressor and wrong and should be restrained. And that so many would be put in the position to come to the guard's defense, and no small risk to their own safety. I'm glad that it turned out the way it did - with the original aggressors in handcuffs. And I hope that the security guard and his protectors have no lasting physical injuries. I already know that the aggressive racism they witnessed / experienced leaves scars that will take much longer to heal.
As always, thanks for the gift of your writing! It blesses me every time.
Don't make me piss myself with this one: "We were all witnessing the social version of Haley’s comet." 😂 . I too loved the Avengers portal! All we needed was a brother to hit the Spider Man reverse lunge and it would have been too too much. Thanks for your brilliant cultural insight.
OH MY GOODNESS NOW I AM PICTURING THE REVERSE LUNGE
Lol, that would have been epic! Thank you for making me giggle about this again--and for your kind words.
Yes, yes, YESSSSSS to all of THIS!!!! Unless I’m the one of the wrong side, I’ve resolved to not moving out of the way because it is expected. The number of times I’ve let someone bump into me simply because they expected me to be the one to move.. and the bewilderment on their faces when they realize I didn’t and am not moving out of the way.. *chef’s kiss* just like this brawl!
YOU UNDERSTAND
This scenario is too common for us. Too familiar. Let bewilderment be the norm. Let it be a lesson. We will take up space.
Without appearing argumentative, that wasn’t a fair fight, rather everyone who assumed it acceptable to gang up one a lone (and likely unfairly compensated) security guard, fairly got captured on camera getting their ass whipped. That is, had that not been filmed, the security guard would have been unfairly portrayed as the instigator and aggressor- and because he is minority male the world would have believed that bullshit. And the best part about each of them got their ass slaughtered is that they got old fashioned beat downs with fists, not guns, or knives and because it was filmed, none of their dumb drunk asses can refute in the name of Dr. King, whom the universe knows was nonviolent, they got their asses beat down!
That is an important distinction! Yes. Because the cowardice is thick in how they thought it okay to gang up on a man trying to do his job. I imagine they’ve done that kind of thing countless times. Not that day, though 🤣🤣🤣🤣
They have, because they jumped into hood mode too quickly for that to have been a one off, we had too much to drink incident. They are very comfortable with their gangland hood antics, so comfortable they forget (a) minorities read, (b) their definition of our place isn’t included in any variation of a dictionary any longer; and (c) all skin tones appear on camera. They own a boat, we all know they had to know cameras had been installed on that dock - and in addition to being charged for placing their hands on that man (we all learn as preschoolers to keep our hands to ourselves), he should be additional charged for operating a vehicle drunk. Lets be real about it, if his drunk ass had run that boat onto the deck and killed the same security guard while he was standing there waiting on the ship to dock, the incident likely wouldn’t have made the news. In short, the instigator feels he is above all the rules afforded society, he has never been properly disciplined and that ass whipping he received, was long delayed with a lot of interest tacked on. In fact, he is lucky because had that security guards wife, woman, side piece, etc. gotten to him, he would be ‘no more.’
I know far too well the standing with elbows outward while knees are soft and ready for “whatever”. Thank you for this entry 🫶🏽
I’m sorry you know--sorry we know. We shouldn’t have to.
Kate Boyd brought me here and I’m so glad she did. You’ve delightfully unpacked a situation that I had only heard about on the radio in the car and via memes on the interwebs. It’s squarely a right-hand kingdom / left-hand kingdom moment to me. We’re called to show and share grace and forgiveness towards those who transgress against us; but there *shall* be consequences levied upon those transgressors once the dust settles. Fantastic sub, Sharifah!
Many thanks to Kate and welcome to you, Adam! Thanks for the read! (My name doesn’t have an h at the end)
::facepalm:: I’m so sorry to have spelled your name incorrectly, Sharifa!
You're good! Thanks again for the encouragement!
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (and you are such a good writer, my word)
Absolutely agree!! This was a fabulous piece. Loved everything about it. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Thank you! And welcome!
And! Do you have a book of coming out anytime soon? I wanna promote it when the time is right! (And if not, I wanna get you in touch w my agent at the Bindery. Email me at Lizcharlottegrant@gmail.com).
I'll email you.
Wow! That's really kind!
Aw, Marla, thanks. That means a lot coming from you.
Thanks for sharing this. I read a news article about it and something in the way they described what happened just didn’t sit right with me. After reading this I realize it was because they tried to portray it too neutrally - not making clear who was or wasn’t arrested, and not mentioning the almost certainly racially motivated nature of the violence against the security guard. For many years I’ve leaned towards pacifism (I attend a Quaker church), but have never been able to fully claim it because of situations like this one. If we could start over at the beginning of history and all be pacifists then I could claim it fully, but given the injustices in the world as it is, sometimes violence is necessary. Thanks again for sharing!
I hear you. I tread a very thin line when it comes to violence, particularly because it is hastily employed as the answer to conflict when there are better answers most of the time. Violence takes less imagination, less commitment, less work, and less community. We are reaping bloody harvests on the regular because of all the normalized violence we have sown in this country.
100%
You hit every single point. Every. Single. One.
If there’s a GoFundMe for legal aid to those arrested, I will happily contribute.
So far, from what I have heard, no one has been detained -- but I am right there with you!
I’ve started to unpack how white Christian pacifist theologians had convinced me to always look down on violence . . . especially if it is targeted at white people 👀👀👀 screw that!!! Ugh just another way whiteness worked to make me feel morally superior and not support people standing up for their basic human rights.
I felt this way too until I read Dr. Cone! His work started changing everything for me.
His work was banned from my seminary. When I finally read his work, it nourished me in places long neglected.
Oh wow! I couldn't stop reading his books once I started! I recently wrote about his influence on my faith on my Substack. In regards to your post, his insistence on how oppressed groups get to decide for themselves how they resist finally pushed me off the "pacifism fence" I was sitting on for quite a while. Such a simple yet profound truth that those in power continuously try to suppress by appealing to religious/moral/spiritual notions of absolute non-violence.
Yes!!! Cone was influential in helping me more towards anarchism, exactly for the reasons you articulated. I do *not* get to decide how oppressed and marginalized folks should respond. And yeah, I had to read him on my own he certainly wasn’t allowed at my Bible College 😬
I adore watching you untether yourself from the stuff that no longer serves you! And you know the same folk who say "violence is not the answer" in *this* circumstance call police to do their violence by proxy, or rebrand their violence--as we've seen with the severely revisionist versions of the January 6th insurrection.
(Now, I don't begrudge Christian pacifism when it's *consistent* and rooted in Jesus' teachings, but I absolutely do when it comes to people who want to defend the status quo and empire.)
And seeing how some of the “greats” in white Christian pacifism abused women constantly . . . it’s all a mess. I was totally drawn to it bc it seemed so much more ethically consistent, but I think it has some insidious impacts for white people like myself (convincing us to stay silent/separate from anything with a whiff of violence). Anyways I love you and I loved this post!!!
LISTEN. The more I learn about the "greats," the more grateful I am for my grandmother and people like her, whose gentle consistency mothered me in the faith.
Love you back and keep scrapping.
I'm thankful to have seen many memes and references to this incident, but I hadn't yet taken time to investigate. Thank you for explaining!
Lamenting for so many reasons. That one more white man would think violence against a Black security guard (or any Black man who would *dare* to make a request of him) was right. That this man's friends would not for even a moment stop to think that their friend was the aggressor and wrong and should be restrained. And that so many would be put in the position to come to the guard's defense, and no small risk to their own safety. I'm glad that it turned out the way it did - with the original aggressors in handcuffs. And I hope that the security guard and his protectors have no lasting physical injuries. I already know that the aggressive racism they witnessed / experienced leaves scars that will take much longer to heal.
As always, thanks for the gift of your writing! It blesses me every time.
As always, thanks for the gift of your empathetic and reflective responses, Don.
REEFS!!!
John!!! (You not supposed to use Reefs in public, fam. You on probation!)
Yes, this is a spiritual piece 🙌🏾 and an example of sacred community and true solidarity. 🪑 🏊🏿♂️
Your use of emojis is second to none, Herminia! And you're right; it's community and solidarity and that is beautiful.
SIS.
Yes 😩😩