“I can’t breathe”
On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner died at Staten Island, New York, allegedly after a police officer put him in a chokehold. According to reports,
After Garner expressed to the police that he was tired of being harassed and that he was not selling cigarettes, officers moved to arrest Garner on suspicion of selling “loosies” (single cigarettes) from packs without tax stamps. When officer Daniel Pantaleo took Garner’s wrist behind his back, Garner swatted his arms away. Pantaleo then put his arm around Garner’s neck and pulled him backwards and down onto the ground. After Pantaleo removed his arm from Garner’s neck, he pushed Garner’s head into the ground while four officers moved to restrain Garner, who repeated “I can’t breathe” eleven times while lying facedown on the sidewalk. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner)
After the tragic and unfortunate death of Mr. Garner, the news media, and all those individuals who sought an opportunity to push their own selfish and racist agendas, began to carry out a very dangerous and reckless ploy on society, especially our youth: They pulled out the race card, once again. They knew it would cause anger and uprising, yet they took no thought of the residual effects of such a reckless and unwise tactic. It truly saddens me to see these piranhas come into Black communities when unfortunate situations occur, and make things worse. The young people of these communities are easily influenced, and these people know it and they take advantage of these zealous minds that are looking for help and answers. Where were these so-called community leaders before the crisis happened? They were nowhere to be found.
Time to breathe
As I share in my book Framed by God, I grew up in a very racist area of West Virginia, where the black community lived on one side of the tracks and the white community lived on the other side of the tracks. I was a young black man living in a broken and abusive home, and it seemed there was no hope for me in life. I found myself homeless as a child until a white family stood up against the societal norms and took responsibility for my life. They did not have to do it, but they did. Their courage and love changed the very course of my future, and I eventually became a law enforcement officer in the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Department. So I know what it is to be “Garner” and a police officer in today’s society.
And I can tell you, everything bad that happens in our communities is not because of race. We should not paint everyone with the same broad brush just because they are associated with someone who may have done something wrong. The very thing that Black people have fought against for a lifetime, we are now doing to others. We don’t want to be profiled but we profile others. We don’t want to be judged as being all bad because of the color of our skin yet we are now judging all who wear a uniform as being bad because of the wrongs of a few.
We have genocide—black-on-black—taking place in our communities and no one is marching. No one is rising up. You see, our communities do not have a race problem, they have a leadership issue. In fact, in every society—be it black or white, law enforcement or civilian— there is one leadership issue: THE LACK OF LEADERS WITH CHARACTER! The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” This content should be Godliness, faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, brotherly kindness, and trustworthiness. We need leaders with this kind of content: We need leaders who are willing and able to help us breathe.
When Dr. King stood up against injustice and societal wrongs, he did so in a Godly and orderly way. He went into the communities, organizing and teaching people a better way, helping them to understand who they are and their value as human beings. And, in doing so, he accomplished his goal. He has been praised, and will continue to be praised, for the leadership that he showed and the example he set not just for a people but for a nation and the world.
Teach the youth “to breathe”
It is commonly said today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders. There is some truth to this statement. However, one thing not stated is how the youth are to become leaders. Consider this: One can only become a leader by learning from a leader. In order for our youth to learn from leaders, today’s leaders—starting with parents—must be willing to teach them.
In the Book of Proverbs, a son is exhorted to heed his father’s instruction because the application of the knowledge learned will bring wisdom. The word education may not appear in the English form in the Bible, but Scripture does say a lot about the process of education, namely, that it begins with the parent and child. The command to parents is to nurture their children in the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). Embedded in nurture is the idea of training, education, instruction and discipline (gotquestions.org).
Yes: Parents. Parents are the first stage of the leadership-training process. As adults we all have a responsibility to prepare today’s youth for the future ahead. Far too many times, the emphasis to succeed is put upon the child while adults are exempt from the process. This is an unfair expectation placed upon the young, immature mind. The older generations are supposed to teach the younger based on the experience and wisdom they have gained as they aged. The Bible says it like this,
But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.
Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things (Titus 2:1-12 NKJV) .
For our children to become leaders, they must be taught what it means to lead. They are taught by hearing and seeing leadership qualities in action. These qualities cause youth to follow our examples as they develop confidence in our ability to lead them. This is why we adults are called to be sober-minded; to not be influenced by strong emotion — not warped, prejudiced, swerved, or carried away by passion or feeling; judicial; calm; composed; to have a moderate estimate of one’s self; to be circumspect–that is, to pay attention to all circumstances and probable consequences (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary).
When we teach today’s youth to be sober-minded, we prepare them to face the present and future challenges of their society. Being sober-minded would allow them to think clearly no matter the situation and the decision. Their decisions would be based on analyzing facts and not on unstable emotions. Being sober-minded leads to a life founded on integrity.
Integrity is a missing element in the lives of not just today’s youth, but people period. You see, when elders cease to teach, then the vision of a better tomorrow is a dim one and the outlook continues its speed down the tracks of despair. Integrity allows for a life of responsibility; that is, accepting responsibility for one’s own family and taking responsibility for one’s actions as well. When we live as adults of integrity, we set the stage for a better today and a platform to build a better tomorrow. We are able to build while being composed, not becoming high minded when growth and promotion come, but all the while having a moderate estimate of our own self, recognizing this one thing: we do not do it by ourselves.
This is where reverence and respect for the elder men and women in our lives comes into play. When elders accept their responsibility to teach and take the time to teach, then the younger generation would respect them for the time and effort they sow into their lives. This responsibility transcends the barriers of color, ethnicity, and race, as shown by the white family, in a segregated society, who took me in as young black boy. That is the content of character we need in society today.
There is now a desperate need for teachers in our society—a society where the children are crying out ever so loudly from homes that are empty and barren because no one there is sharing wisdom and knowledge. What hope does this leave for their future? What help is there for their lives? What is the answer? The answer is we have to get back to the basics. The basics as spoken in God’s word,
Choose a good reputation over great riches;
being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.
The rich and poor have this in common:
The Lord made them both.
A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.
The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.
True humility and fear of the Lord
lead to riches, honor, and long life.
Corrupt people walk a thorny, treacherous road;
whoever values life will avoid it.
Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.
Just as the rich rule the poor,
so the borrower is servant to the lender.
Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster,
and their reign of terror will come to an end.
(Proverbs 22:1-8 NLT)
It is never too late to teach and train today’s young minds. Their future depends on it, and God demands it. The youth cannot learn without a teacher. The elders who plan to step up and teach our youth must view life as Dr. King did:
Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that WE, as a PEOPLE, will get to the Promised Land!
