Day 87

Today is Saturday June 6, 2020. It seems strange in a way to be writing about a pandemic while the United States is in the middle of social unrest not seen since 1968. It was after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.that protesters and rioters stormed the streets of over 100 cities some lasting for thirty days. On May 25, 2020 an unarmed black man, George Floyd, died of asphyxiation when a white police officer knelt on his neck.  Currently the protests have gone on for nine days and nights. Some peaceful others got violent with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds.
Nevertheless, the pandemic continues and the daily infection numbers have been on the rise since cities across the world have reopened albeit with restrictions. In the last 24 hours over 125,000 new cases were reported and over 4,000 deaths.  This marks the third day in a row that new cases has exceeded 125,000 and we have not yet seen the spike from the crowds gathering to protest. In some cases thousands gathered to protest police brutality and specifically the ill treatment of the black community by white officers. This is a photo from Philadelphia PA today.

I end with excerpts from the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who dedicated his life to the cause of racial inequality and racism.

1964: I am only too well aware of the weaknesses and fail­ures which exist, the doubts about the efficacy of nonviolence ... But I am still convinced that nonviolence is both the most practically sound and morally excellent way to grapple with the age-old problem of racial injustice. 

1968: Racial injus­tice is still the black man's burden and the white man's shame ... The govern­ment must certainly share the guilt, the individual must share the guilt and even the church must share the guilt.

1963: I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true mean­ing of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

1962: Hate is always tragic. It is as injurious to the hater as it is to the hated. It distorts the personality and scars the soul ...

It is about time we begin to heal the scars of our souls. To begin the great reform that changes how we treat all people and how we view people.  We must see one another as just that, people and humans who have dreams and feelings and lives that matter.