The first thing I always try to do when I hear about these countless acts of racial injustices that we’ve (the Black Community) experienced for forever is pray. I don’t read any details about it before I pray.
Because it was easier to pray for everybody involved that way.
I would pray for the victim, pray for their family, pray for the officers/offenders, pray for our nation.
But, with the George Floyd situation, it was different. Because this time, I struggled to pray for the officer. I was tired.
I knew this meant that I was no longer seeing these police officers as humans. It’s hard to see someone as human when they can treat another human being with such blatant disgust, disrespect, and disregard for their life only because of their skin color. And for a while, I allowed myself to be angry, to be hurt, to be tired, and to tell God that I didn’t want to pray for this officer. Not this time.
With this though, I knew that I had lost my power. I was allowing the actions of someone else to control me and my actions. (Just typing that makes me cringe.) I was not able to show up the way that I wanted to show up. I was not able to make decisions with a clear mind. I was not able to act in a productive way.
An un-managed mind also looks like the burning of cars, the looting of businesses, the destruction of our cities, the hurting of innocent people. None of this gets us justice for the acts that have been committed. Yes, we’re angry and tired, but let’s use it in a way that gets us somewhere.
So to my fellow Black people, we have to make sure that we are managing our minds around this so that we can strategically and effectively create change. Doing anything out of anger and hate only creates more anger and hate.
I love you all.
Black Lives Matter.
If you need help managing your mind, please reach out. I want to help.
Gabrielle, The Thought Trainer
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