Protect and serve
Love must be the basis of service. It must be the rule and justice can only happen when that love is extended to all.
The protect and serve motto must hold true, no matter who we are and despite the suspicions and fears of the state.
Protect and serve all ethnicities, phenotypes and body types, incomes, manners of speech and dress, levels of achievement and attainment.
Protect and serve all attitudes, mental capacities and physical abilities.
Protect and serve whether we are running away or toward, wearing familiar or unfamiliar garb, armed with weapons or foul words, sick with disease or well.
Protect and serve the so-called model citizen and the so-called repeat offender, the filthy and the clean, the suspect, the victim and survivor, and the witness.
I know some of CMPD officers strive for this and others do not. I know that all Americans are conditioned to fear and hate Black and Brown folks, even Black and Brown folks. I know it takes a lot to overcome this conditioning perpetuated by our families, institutions, and perceptions of our day to day interactions as a spiritual singular having a human experience as separate beings.
I also know that it is not too much to strive for this and to expect it from those we select to protect and serve our cities, our states and our nations. I know that this happening already and that, without a vision and clear steps, we cannot have solve the problem.
Protect and serve the "big Black guy" running toward you, the gender fluid Black woman and her lover, and the irate Asian man who is threatening to hurt himself. Protect and serve those who have hurt others.
If the vision says love and the numbers are dictated by fear, our policies and practices must be realigned. Today.
The protect and serve motto must hold true, no matter who we are and despite the suspicions and fears of the state.
Protect and serve all ethnicities, phenotypes and body types, incomes, manners of speech and dress, levels of achievement and attainment.
Protect and serve all attitudes, mental capacities and physical abilities.
Protect and serve whether we are running away or toward, wearing familiar or unfamiliar garb, armed with weapons or foul words, sick with disease or well.
Protect and serve the so-called model citizen and the so-called repeat offender, the filthy and the clean, the suspect, the victim and survivor, and the witness.
I know some of CMPD officers strive for this and others do not. I know that all Americans are conditioned to fear and hate Black and Brown folks, even Black and Brown folks. I know it takes a lot to overcome this conditioning perpetuated by our families, institutions, and perceptions of our day to day interactions as a spiritual singular having a human experience as separate beings.
I also know that it is not too much to strive for this and to expect it from those we select to protect and serve our cities, our states and our nations. I know that this happening already and that, without a vision and clear steps, we cannot have solve the problem.
Protect and serve the "big Black guy" running toward you, the gender fluid Black woman and her lover, and the irate Asian man who is threatening to hurt himself. Protect and serve those who have hurt others.
If the vision says love and the numbers are dictated by fear, our policies and practices must be realigned. Today.
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