justice

Post 78: #Coronavirus and a perspective

We’re sharing our experiences, thoughts, and uncensored opinions during lockdown, quarantine, and self-isolation. For some of us, it’s DAY 78.

Tonight we’re free-form writing

Them Cats

RJD, #Beirut, #Lebanon

Today, I want to add a little humor into our otherwise morbid quarantines and the ticking time bombs exploding worldwide. Hong Kong, Lebanon, Minneapolis, and most U.S. cities are but a few places where racial inequality, hunger, and poverty loom and are among the many issues that we will have to grapple with once we start “re-living.”

I live with 5 felines who consider us humans their staff. And each one of them has personality traits that crack me up! I just might need to change their names.

Cosi, our eldest Himalayan Lilac Point is a quiet soul who never needs anything except his treats. He meows and demands this right several times a day. The rest of the time, he contemplates and sleeps. Very much like Putin. He states his intentions, gets what he wants quietly, and retracts.

Casper, who is 4 years old, is an adventurer, a hiker, and a climber. Where there are heights, he needs to reach them. Very much like Jacinda Adern. Once he reaches the top, he will only look to reach higher.

Bambi, a 3-year-old Persian, is a cuddle of sweetness and kindness. He is very much like Angela Merkel: efficient, effective, and direct.

Jazz, a grey Persian kitten, is the epitome of a bully. He doesn’t poop in his litter box, he steals the treats from other cats, he pushes everyone out of the way to reach his food bowl, and then makes the other 4 play musical chairs with theirs. You know like ummmmm, yep, you got it…Idiot-in-Chief!

Miskeh, his twin sister, is the relentless one who lives by her rules. But she also wants to be loved and taken care of. She is the smart one, she picked whom she felt is the right person for her. She did not vote for me. She voted for my husband. It’s her right. She made a choice and in an otherwise democratic household, she exemplifies today’s poor world citizen.

Me believes me will need therapy after the lockdowns are lifted for many-a-reason!

G-5 Summit

Freedom for All

Tina F., Fairfax, #Virginia

I want to write something lighthearted today, I really do, but I’m unable to concentrate. My brain is in mourning over the crazy shit we are seeing in America.

I finally watched the CNN reporter and crew being arrested on live TV. As they were covering the protests in Minneapolis, the police arrested the crew for no apparent reason. It did not make an impact on me a few days ago because I was fuming at the lack of justice for George Floyd. Now with all the frenzy of the clashes of demonstrators and police, we are looking at an amplified response from citizens of the United States.

Are they protestor or demonstrators? Are they making a valid point or are they “thugs”?

How can we even begin to pass a judgment? ENOUGH ALREADY. People have had enough of the inequality and the racial injustice in this “Great” country.

A physical response from the people is what happens when people are at their wits’ end for not being heard.

America has ignored racial disparity for far too long. George Floyd’s death at the hands of the police was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

As an immigrant, I stand by minorities and I stand by the downtrodden and the underrepresented. No matter how we protest our mistreatment and inequality, we are silenced and/or imprisoned.

Living in a country where we afraid because of the color of our skin is not the country I immigrated to. When prominent sports figures took a knee in silent protest, they fired and labeled “unpatriotic.”

I am reminded that I could be living in any third-world dictatorship at this point. Where the government has to control its people with might. Where curfews are imposed. Where police drive cars into protestors. And of course, where the country’s leader is justifying this ugly behavior.

But I chose America! A proud country of immigrants. The free America. The America that speaks up against injustice. Or so I thought.

As it turns out, my America is selfish and self-serving. It speaks up only when there is something in it for the privileged few.

If you do nothing else…

RafifJ, #Malaga, #Spain

…change your profile pic. Support the Movement for Black Lives in their call for a week of action June 1-June 5. Use hashtags #DefundPolice and #DefendBlackLife.

Silence equals acceptance. Stand up for human rights. #BlackLivesMatter.

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Post 76: #Coronavirus and a global perspective.

Today’s topic: #BlackLivesMatter.

We’re sharing our experiences, thoughts, and uncensored opinions during lockdown, quarantine, and self-isolation. For some of us, it’s DAY 76.

Get out there

RafifJ, #Malaga, #Spain

#BlackLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

People, GET OUT THERE AND MAKE NOISE.

Join a protest.
Stage a rally.
Demand justice.

Kneel. Boycott. MAKE NOISE.

Because silence equals acceptance, and silence is killing people.

There must be an answer

Wayne Wallace, McLean, #Virginia

I am tempted to start with, “When things like this happen…” Except things like this don’t happen in my world. I am at a loss. Unfortunately, “things like this” do happen. A lot.

I don’t often think about White privilege, but I do recognize it and know that I often benefit from it. I have always known that White privilege means my opinion matters more in meetings. I know that I will get more respect than my non-White (not to mention female) counterparts.

What I haven’t thought about with regard to White privilege is how it affects me in my personal life. Now, I understand, White privilege means petty offenses do not carry a death penalty for me. I’ve long been of the opinion that U.S. drug laws are racist, but now it’s clear that far more often than should ever be tolerated, basic laws and law-enforcement activity are applied differently – depending on race.

As a White parent, I fear that my children may make stupid mistakes or bad decisions. But I don’t have to worry that their choices could carry a death sentence simply because of the color of their skin.

I don’t know what can be done to fix this. There are certainly legal remedies that need to be implemented. But more is needed. We, as a society, must reject the notion that Black men are to be feared. We need to stop accepting and electing politicians who play on our insecurities, biases, and fears. Instead, we must elect leaders and promote ideas that unite, tear down barriers to advancement, and eliminate the unequal application of justice.

What is not needed is more indifference to disproportionate treatment for criminal allegations, depending on the race of the suspect. What’s not needed is for the rest of us to avert our gaze while others plead, #ICANTBREATHE under the knee of police brutality. What is not needed is more White liberal guilt that ignores the real pain and suffering while being all too willing to weaponize race for personal gain.

Much the way it took men to “allow” women the right to vote and begin to heal millennia of gender inequality, it’s going to require the conscious effort of right-thinking White men and women to stop allowing separate and unequal justice, and demand equal treatment and dignity for ALL. Not just all of “us.”

Retrieved via Internet search.

Enough

Tina F., Fairfax, Virginia

I have spent a lot of time pontificating on what I have learned from the #coronavirus. I’ve reflected on the impact this whole experience has impressed upon me. It’s all been a bit overwhelming, really.

Now many are returning slowly to “normal” life. How do I start to move on? Personally, I don’t want to move on. I want to move away! Out to the country and be self-sufficient and live sustainably. But I want my voice to be heard.

I’ll emerge back into full-fledged engagement with “real” life after I am assured that the government really does hold the wellbeing of its citizens as a priority.

After the police is held accountable for murder.
After “Black Lives Matter” is a slogan imprinted on every American’s mind.
After “All Lives Matter” is a slogan we all live by.
After everyone, including officers, are arrested for committing cold-blooded murder.
After my America is so longer Amerikkka!

Enough is enough. We cannot continue to allow the racial divide to fester.

I leave you with the names of a fraction of those Black lives murdered by police. May you all Rest In Peace.

Michael Brown. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Eric Garner. Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd.

Retrieved from @MrsChrstiBerg on Twitter

My country ’tis of thee

RJD, #Beirut, #Lebanon

My country, the one I pledge allegiance to and the one I am proud to live in, is breaking my heart.

We abolished slavery.
We claimed equality.
We call ourselves a melting pot.
Lady Liberty says she welcomes everyone.

And yet, every American who is not a WASP or an Aryan, is definitely not welcome here – be they Native Indians, African-American, Asian, Arab, Latino…

We, non-WASP or Aryan Americans, make up 30% of people in these United States and still we are considered inferior to the White ones.

We are the ones working on today’s frontlines, in grocery stores, in menial jobs that no White American wants to do. And yet we are considered second-class citizens.

Are these United States a third-world country or first? Today, after the horrifying choking death of George Floyd, we have absolutely proven that we are worse than any third-world country.

We chastise these third-world countries on their leaders and policies. We condemn terrorists, sanctioning foreign governments. We still hold our heads higher than any other country, but we spew more hate and racism than any other life on Earth.

My country, you put me to shame. You ain’t no land of sweet liberty. 

Retrieved from lightboxcollaborative.com

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Post 60: #Coronavirus and a global perspective on…

…#accountability.

We’re sharing our experiences, thoughts, and uncensored opinions during lockdown, quarantine, and self-isolation. For some of us, it’s DAY 60. 

Anti-corruption or status quo?

RJD, #Beirut, #Lebanon

Unfortunately, lately I have been very down because there is no accountability in my country. Since February 21, we managed to contain the #Covid-19 outbreak in Lebanon. Hooha!

On May 4, we started phasing out the lockdowns. Today, May 13, the country went back into a total lockdown for the coming four days. Our infection rate has steadily increased after reaching 2 days with a zero-case rate!

Covid-19, worldwide, has become politicized. Lebanon is no exception. On top of which, our society lives on finding a way to break the law, not that there is much law and order in the first place.

So who is accountable?

It isn’t the people who have worked hard to achieve our amazing results up until this week. It isn’t the people who heeded the warnings and stayed home and wore masks and gloves.

Accountability begins at home, then moves into society and government. In our case, I blame society and government. Our government is to blame and should be held accountable for not following through on any of the laws we ever created, unless they are financially beneficial to the chief and his cronies.

Society is to be blamed and held accountable for knowing that it can break a law and there is no reprimand.

The only way to solve this problem is by instituting anti-corruption laws that are implemented to the T, with incentives for those who enforce them. Society and government alike.

That, my dear friends, is a long way away over yonder.

Retrieved from telesurenglish.com.
No copyright infringement intended.

Start at the top

Tina F., Fairfax, #Virginia

When I hear the words, “holding someone accountable,” I think of imposing consequences for bad behavior. It can be used to describe an individual’s responsibility to implement certain expectations.

Ideally the “leaders” in all aspects of society should be the ones to set good examples. We start at the top, causing a trickle-down effect of good behavior and accountability.

When it comes to the USA, the most obvious person who needs to be held accountable is the US President. Basically the President can exert the power to influence and set the standard for accountability so that his advisors, speakers, the Senate, Congress, and citizens are also held accountable. But when the person at the top is not providing any clear leadership and resorts to finger-pointing to shirk his responsibilities, he sends a terrible message. Our system is broken and we have no qualms hating and disrespecting others.

The accountability of the president is a loaded topic in itself. However, I would like to focus on a smaller section of the government, the criminal justice system.

Recently I have watched a lot of these docuseries about people who are wrongly accused and sent to jail for decades for a crime they did not commit. They spend years writing and reaching out to anyone who will listen. Some lucky few find lawyers or organizations willing dig into past cases, hoping to find evidence to exonerate these incarcerated individuals. Mostly these crimes took place before DNA evidence was used in court so when the evidence is brought out and re-examined, the DNA findings exonerate them. This may sound very quick and easy, but in reality it takes years to reopen a case and present all the bureaucratic paperwork that may eventually release the individual from jail.

This is where I would like to see a major rehab in the system. The accountability for wrongful actions in the judicial system needs to be more severe and publicly displayed.

It is shocking to see the corruption and lack of commitment in one of the most important Governmental departments. In some cases, the prosecution will not cooperate with the defense; in other cases, evidence is deliberately kept out of a trial. These are tactics the prosecution uses to speed up the trial. The value of the young defendant’s life is overlooked in favor of the courts and police departments reaching closure on a case. It is fact that prosecutors can advance their political agenda after several courtroom wins.

The exoneration of the wrongly accused does not automatically mean accountability for any wrongful doing by the criminal justice system.

So what do we do? We need to reassess our system of checks and balances and ensure that some control is in place in all departments of government and private companies. Starting at the top, we should count on our leaders to be held accountable for their wrongdoing, so we can set the example.

Retrieved from history.com.
No copyright infringement intended.

Kindergarten

RafifJ, #Malaga, #Spain

Accountability is an interesting concept, and it’s a hot topic now that there is so little of it around the world.

We learn about accountability early in life, about the time that we’re taught to share toys and play nicely in the sandbox. We learn to apologize sincerely when we bite our friends, and to “own” our behavior, or face consequences. We’re taught to make choices, and we mostly choose to do the right thing.

Where do we start to lose these values? How does accountability fade over time? Is it dead?

As people age, so many of them lose sight of what they learned as little kids. The death of accountability is a slow process, but by the time some folks are adults they’ve given in to greed, selfishness, entitlement, and even a sense of being above the law. You know the people I’m talking about – they transcend political party, religious affiliation, race, or any other distinguishing trait.

Wait. I don’t want start on a rant, so rather than go off on the UTTER LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY AROUND THE WORLD, I’m simply going to share something I read a long, long time ago. This piece has stayed with me from the very first time I read it, and I try – try – try to practice its wisdom. Join me, won’t you? Maybe if enough of us take responsibility, own our mistakes, and be accountable for all we say and do, we can encourage our so-called leaders to do the same. Maybe it takes going back to basics.

“These are the things I learned (in Kindergarten):

  1. Share everything.
  2. Play fair.
  3. Don’t hit people.
  4. Put things back where you found them.
  5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
  6. Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
  7. Say you’re SORRY when you HURT somebody.
  8. Wash your hands before you eat.
  9. Flush.
  10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
  11. Live a balanced life – learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
  12. Take a nap every afternoon.
  13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
  14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
  15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
  16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.”

― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

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Post 56: #Coronavirus and a global perspective.

Today we’re free-form writing!

We’re sharing our experiences, thoughts, and uncensored opinions during lockdown, quarantine, and self-isolation. For some of us, it’s DAY 56. 

RANT ALERT

Rest in Peace

RafifJ, #Malaga, #Spain

To Ahmaud Maubry, I hope you rest in peace. You are not the first, and sadly, you will not be the last. But you are the one who made me break down.

Ahmaud Maubry. Retrieved from the New York Post.

To the other countless #African-American men and boys who were killed out of hatred last year, and the year before that, and for generations upon generations before that, I hope you rest in peace. Let’s hope that one day, the efforts of many millions of people who protest injustice and defend human rights will bear fruit and #justice will be served.

For the million+ #Syrians who were killed by Assad’s barrel bombs and chemicals, Iran’s starvation sieges, and Russia’s Air Force, I hope you rest in peace. Please know there are millions of other Syrians who are still fighting the good fight to ensure #freedom, #dignity, #equality, and #democracy for future generations.

To the millions of #Palestinians whose occupiers wiped them off the face of the earth, I hope you rest in peace. As with Syrians, millions of Palestinians continue to seek #freedom and their rightful homeland. May #justice be served.

To all victims of #genocide, I hope you rest in peace. Maybe one day the world will replace hate with #love. Or at least acceptance.

Millions of people have spent their lifetimes defending democracy and human rights, seeking justice, and searching for freedom. To no avail.

Rest in peace.

For now, I have no other words.

De plane…de plane

RJD, #Beirut, #Lebanon

In the opening scene of an old TV series, Fantasy Island, Tattoo rings the tower bell and yells “de plane, de plane” as an airplane begins its descent on the island.

Now that we are living on an island called #Lebanon (Syrian border is supposedly closed, southern border is not an option, that leaves us with the sea to the west, so we are essentially an island!), where the airport has been closed for over two months, seeing a plane makes me feel Tattoo’s excitement!

Planes arrive every other day – with repatriated Lebanese citizens from all over the world. With them, also, comes #COVID-19 cases. And with them, too, comes a lot of political favors. Nothing like the joy of Tattoo.

A week ago, a friend of mine and I saw a boat coming to dock full of containers and we got so excited! Did our imported food supplies finally arrive? Quaker Oats? Bob’s Red Mill?

Two days ago, a plane was descending on the old runway course and flew over our heads. It was a military plane. No questions asked, keep in mind that we don’t really have military planes or a real Air Force!

Yesterday, the notorious #London plane arrived. On it were passengers from London (who had to have had a PCR test done 3 days prior to boarding) and a contingent of students returning home from the US and Canada (who didn’t have PCR tests done). The plane was packed. The passengers went haywire not only because of the number of people on board, but also because they were made to pay exorbitant fares due to social distancing. There was no social distancing.

But pardon me for asking: how is that fair in the fight of COVID-19 in Lebanon (that has more or less contained the spread under very extenuating economic and political circumstances)?

And lastly but repetitively, who is responsible for this mess? Foreign ministry? Health ministry? The airline? As is the case in Lebanon, most likely it will be buried in the blaming game that everyone plays (government blaming banks and banks blaming politicians and politicians blaming one another…here we go ’round the Mulberry Bush).

Our Fantasy Island is sad but true.

Video taken anonymously on the London-Beirut flight yesterday

Ranting

Charlie, Metro #Washington, DC

I seem to be doing nothing but ranting these days. I can’t bear the lack of common sense or the unwillingness of people to do their jobs right. Especially at a time when there are lots of folks who do have more than two synapses in their brains together and are looking for work. Why do we have to endure the unbearable heaviness of people’s laziness?

First, I would like to see a new definition of the politically incorrect word “moron” in Oxford’s esteemed dictionary. It should read: MORON—someone God gave a hefty IQ to who refuses to use it, especially when it comes to acting with a modicum of common sense.

There are a lot of morons in charge of stuff during this pandemic, and their incompetence is furled in full display in the state where I live in Metro Washington, DC.

  1. Wearing of masks: A few goings on that seemed to have been missed by the morons in charge.
  2. In our esteemed state you must wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet from another person. Fair enough. Then explain to me why not a half a block from my home, construction workers are working a mere 3 inches apart and no one’s wearing a mask. And then, at the end of the workday, those folks run amongst the general population like potentially infected free-range chickens.
  3. Let’s move on to the state’s road construction crews. Same scenario as above. Can’t tell you how many of these state road workers, still in full construction regalia, are ambling through Costco after working all day with no mask on and snuggling up close and personal with their cohorts.
  4. Homemade, reusable masks: My state demanded ten cents to use a plastic bag for your groceries. They wanted everyone to use their soiled, never-washed reusable bags from home. I asked a local supermarket chain manager about the health risks involved with this. I believe my question went like this, “What are you guys gonna do when some pandemic rolls through our area and everyone’s trotting in their virus infected bags from home?” He, of course, accused me of rolling off my nut with that comment. Well, now my state’s banned these reusable bags from all stores. BUT HAVE THEY BANNED SOILED HOMEMADE RESUABLE MASKS? NO. So all those homemade masks and scarves people are sporting that they never likely wash are probably spreading more of the virus that preventing it.
  5. CARES/PUA: My state is flush with affluence., and we pay taxes out of every orifice in our bodies. As it happens, my little sole proprietor/LLC requires I meet with people face-to-face. No teleworking possible. So, I apply for the $600 CARES stipend I’m eligible for. My state has yet to able to figure out how to implement such payments to its eligible citizenry. Apparently, it has the worst record in the nation for getting these mandated payments to people. There are my tax dollars at work.

My first boss in television said to me on my first day, “If you make a mistake, don’t make me have to fire you. Gather up your things, leave the building, and I’ll have HR send you your final check.”

Guess what, I never screwed up. I think my old boss’s policy should be put into action in my state. The Secretary of Labor should gather up her things, leave the building, wait for her check (which she’d likely get before I ever get mine), and give her job someone who isn’t a moron.

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If you’d like to contribute a post, please get in touch! Send me an email, contact me on Twitter, or leave a comment here.