George Floyd

[Twoapenny]

I just wanted to say how horrifying it has been to read news reports of another murder by people who are paid to uphold law and order.  There seems to be no end to the damage and pain we inflict on one another.  I can only hope that with the current situations in the US and the UK the many people who don't vote will be galvanised to do so, and can only hope further that they vote for a party that believes in equality and fairness, on both sides of the pond.
I really hope that we can see an end to all of this in my lifetime xx

[Hopalong]

It's absolutely heartbreaking.
I refused to watch the video once I saw one photo.
My hope after seeing these protests have spread even beyond the U.S., that the reckoning with systemic racism may finally begin.

America needs a profound, soul-searching process of truth and reconciliation about our history and present inequality. It will take years but must begin now or we are completely lost.

If the wrong side wins in November, I'll feel hopeless again. Right now I feel as though an infection has come to the surface and perhaps, perhaps, change will come.

Meanwhile I just can't take in any more horror and grief. I remember watching Baltimore inner city neighborhoods from a rooftop -- all the smoke rising from riots.
I thought I'd never see such a thing again and how wrong I was.

I can't stop the parade of horrible news but I can do my wee local bits. And donate.

Hops

[Twoapenny]

Thank you, Tupp. We have been pretty much glued to the news lately.
I have one that is still going to protests, and one that usually would that is sitting them out. Given that Covid is still a real issue in our community,this complicates things. Our Covid infection rate is going up, the daily number is the highest its been.

I am struggling to maintain my historical perspective when every day brings a new atrocity. It's hard.

So grateful for the solidarity that other countries have shown, including UK. This is so deeply shameful.

CB

I'm glad it's happening in other countries too, CB.  I think Covid has exposed all of the problems of inequality, whichever form they take, and the handling of it, with the exception of a small number of countries, has ranged from not great to truly horrifying.  I think a lot of people are sick of the current way of doing things, for a lot of different reasons, and I really hope that those of us that want change can pull together and find a way to move forward, without fracturing into ever smaller groups.  I'm restricting my news intake but I was reading posts on Twitter and there was a picture of his little girl; I hadn't realised he had children and her little face broke me.  It's a silly comparison but I have worked in schools with bad headteachers and I feel like our countries are like that now - the lead example is so poor that those who wish to behave badly are free to do so.  I'm hoping a shift for all of you this November will mean a shift for us as well, although we've got another four years to wait (and the current leader of the opposition doesn't float my boat but four years is a long time, I'm hoping something will change in that regard).

[Twoapenny]

It's absolutely heartbreaking.
I refused to watch the video once I saw one photo.
My hope after seeing these protests have spread even beyond the U.S., that the reckoning with systemic racism may finally begin.

America needs a profound, soul-searching process of truth and reconciliation about our history and present inequality. It will take years but must begin now or we are completely lost.

If the wrong side wins in November, I'll feel hopeless again. Right now I feel as though an infection has come to the surface and perhaps, perhaps, change will come.

Meanwhile I just can't take in any more horror and grief. I remember watching Baltimore inner city neighborhoods from a rooftop -- all the smoke rising from riots.
I thought I'd never see such a thing again and how wrong I was.

I can't stop the parade of horrible news but I can do my wee local bits. And donate.

Hops

I think it's similar here, Hopsie, slavery and colonialism is still a deeply embedded part of our culture and the main reason people cited for leaving the EU was to stop immigration.  We all need to take a long, hard look within and it isn't pleasant.  I don't feel comfortable knowing that part of the reason I've enjoyed a healthcare system, university level education and out of work benefit payments is because so much of the wealth in this country came out of the slave trade and the exploitation of so many other countries around the world but that's the bare bones of it.  There was a documentary, years ago, where a team worked out how much wealth was accumulated by British slave owners and how much you'd need today to pay that money back to the ancestors of those slaves and I can't remember the figures but it was trillions of pounds.  It really did form the bedrock of so much that we see today, both in terms of material wealth and attitudes towards other people, whether they're 'other' because of their skin colour, their religion, country of origin, gender, disability - it all melts in together.  I really hope things change for the better.

[Hopalong]

Me too, Tupp, me too.

But still, for now, I'm backing off news and politics as much as I can. (I read headlines and a couple articles a day only now--used to spend hours on it. Adn I feel better that I've toned down the torrent. When the spirit gets exhausted, it needs rest and protection. I even need to protect myself from M's constant history/culture "lessons."

I'm needing Voluntary Simplicity of the mind for now. There'll be time.

hugs
Hops

[Hopalong]

I stupidly forgot you'd already started a thread by this title, Tupp, sorry. I started another one in a fit of feelings and then remembered (so I deleted it).

I'm not able to verbalize about it much yet, myself.

This conversation moved me today. It would have done the exact same thing to me had it come from a different political perspective. It's the humanity that touched me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayizzcv-NCE

Hops