humanity Archives - Inspire By O'Nika

Let’s take a minute to bring attention to something that is happening all over the country. African Americans have lost their lives due to police brutality. It does nothing for the officers who honor life and truly believe in the notion to protect and serve. When you see officers on both sides of the coin, how do you discern between the ones who uphold the law and those who do not?

Being in a role of authority, there comes great responsibility. Responsibility to uphold duties for the community in its entirety. More frequently these days this is not the case, the opposite is happening. Basic human rights are being taken away at the hands of people who took an oath to protect and serve. Preserve life, not take it away.

Too many times, certain people take their authoritative position to the extreme. When people see you, they should not fear for their lives. They should have the opposite feeling of comfort and/or safety. When people see you, they should not run away from you. Instead, walk towards you with a general feeling of trust. What happens to the world when the people who are meant to be in place to help others are the real perpetrators!

It is a form of abuse of power. Taking advantage of individuals because you are in a position to temporarily control a situation. Using phrases such as, “I felt that my life was in jeopardy”, as an excuse. An excuse to beat, choke, kneel, shoot, choke and kill another human being. And, why? Because you can. Because you hide behind a piece of metal that you wear on your chest. You escape prosecution because you are upheld by some who wear the same piece of metal.

Protect the Community

Protect people, preserve life. That piece of metal does not give you rights to take another’s life. Those people have families, just like you. Some also have children, just like you. They have people who love them and are looking forward to them coming home safely. What kind of protection are you providing when people have to take out their cell phone to record a routine traffic stop? Disrupting people’s lives with your contempt is not acceptable. What happened to trying to restore order by using the least amount of force? Thank you to the officers who help people, who are serving all people. To the ones who are not, shame on you!

Serve All People

As a uniformed person, working under the law. Honor that! Serve the people. Serve us with dignity, respect, kindness. I know there are encounters that you experience where you are not met with kindness. You are trained to handle these situations. This is what you signed up for and are trained to handle such situations in the least harmful way.

I implore you to approach your daily interactions, while on the job with humility. Please, do not wake up and put on that uniform with contempt and hatred for people and your profession. If you find it so hard to go into it with some semblance of humanity, stop and think. Think before you take someone else’s life. Stop and ask yourself if this is the profession for you. We all deserve to live. We all deserve to go home at the end of the day.

Rest in Peace

Let’s take a moment to remember some of the people who lost their lives due to brutality.

Tyre Nichols

George Floyd

Tamir Rice

Eric Garner

Walter Scott

Breonna Taylor

Sandra Bland

Philando Castile

What can we do?

When do you draw the line between helping people and showing them how to help themselves?

We all need help from time to time. There is nothing wrong with that. But; sometimes people try to take advantage of your good nature by trying to get you to do this and that for them. Instead of attempting to do something for themselves.

I am not talking about elderly people, small children or people who cannot physically or mentally do for themselves. I’m talking about grown adults.

When we help each other, it feels good. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. The problem comes in when the person on the receiving end tries to abuse the situation. It is at these moments when we have to pause and think. Sometimes it is best to show someone or tell someone the steps they need to take to achieve what they want. It might not feel like a good thing at the time, and you might feel like it is easier to just do it for them. Not in every situation. You have to create a balance. Only you know when you have reached that point.

When it comes to able bodied individuals, they have to learn to do some things for themselves at some point in life. Being an enabler and allowing people to drain you for this or that is not helping you or the other person. Life is about trial and error. The only way we grow and learn in life is to experience things. These things may not always be comfortable, but we get through it and keep it moving.

So, when do you stop and say enough is enough? Do you run yourself ragged until you have nothing left or do you recognize that this is too much and draw the line? Everyone is different and some people have a higher tolerance for others who may be more dependent. Some people may feel that if they stop doing something for someone else, it might cause hurtful feelings.

What do you say on this subject?