What Matters

As Black History comes to a close in 2015, I decided to write my first blog.  I thought about various social and political issues.  Because there are so many issues to discuss, I chose to talk about what matters.  I watched the movie “Selma” with my family this February.  Watching and reading about the march on Selma as a child, on public broadcast documentaries and biographies was different than viewing a docudrama on actual historical events.  Today we remember the 50th Anniversary of the tragic death of Malcolm X.  The ideologies from both icons, Malcolm X and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. differed in practices; but similar in the deluge of the struggle for equality for Black Americans.  It was sad to look back on history and fast forwarding to the same issues that face Black Americans today. 

Even though President Barack Hussein Obama ushered in a new era of change, his messages of unity, hope, and equality for all; did not erase the hatred and separatists views of racists.  The recent hate filled comments from former Mayor Rudy Giuliani exemplifies the continuation of ignorance and shame as it relates to the constant disrespect of our two-term Commander and Chief.  The past three years, has reintroduced a world too familiar to those who marched in Selma.  Separate and unequal justice remains a constant struggle.  The presence of young black men walking home after purchasing skittles and ice tea; or sitting with friends, listening to music in a SUV;  rises as suspicious or criminal behavior leading to the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis.  Voters once denied the right to vote are experiencing similar barriers in various States around the country.  The gateway to education opened to students once denied; now facing budgetary cuts slowly closing the corridor to higher education and economic freedom.  Although the unemployment rate is at 5.7 percent, the unemployment rate for Black Americans is 10.3 percent; remaining the highest among any other race.  What matters today remains the same as yesterday.  Justice matters.  Equality matters.  Fairness matters.  Education matters.  Voting matters.  Lives matters.  Pursuit of Happiness for EVERYONE matters. 

Reference
Bureau of Labor and Statistics.  (2015).  Household data survey.  Washington, DC:  United
     States Department of Labor.  Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf