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(This is a repost of a Facebook ‘Note’)<\/p>\n\n\n\n(This is a repost of a Facebook ‘Note’)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hey everyone. Though I firmly believe that to be the case with regards to the current state of my country, I\u2019m actually no more angry at this juncture than at any other that comes to mind. I mean, come on… I\u2019m a Black man in America. I\u2019m also a gay man in America. I\u2019ve had reasons to be angry about how my government has treated both of those groups since the day I was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a gay man, I remember being angry while watching people talk about how it was \u201cGod\u2019s will\u201d to let homosexuals die from AIDS. I also remember my anger (and tears) while watching Harvey Milk\u2019s killer be acquitted for his murder after using the \u2018Twinkie Defense\u2019. And the list goes on: the denial of same sex spousal benefits across the country, LGBTQ adoption restrictions, Prop 8, the brutal killing of Matthew Shepard, DOMA, etc… Any of these things could have pushed me toward militancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if someone who knows me doesn\u2019t understand how well I\u2019m able to effectively function in this world while being angry enough to spit nails since the moment Eric Garner was choked to death on video for the whole country to see, with no repercussions for anyone involved, then you obviously don\u2019t know me as well as you thought. Or watching Trayvon Martin\u2019s killer go free. Or watching Jordan Davis\u2019 murderer explain how he felt threatened enough to fire 10 bullets into a carfull of teenagers playing music. Or reading about Tamir Rice\u2019s killer applying for other policing jobs after his murder. Or watching Philando Castile getting murdered AFTER fully complying with his murderers instructions. Shall I go on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of that pain aside, I fully understand that living in anger is a dubious luxury that I can\u2019t afford. So I get out of bed and go out into the world everyday, functioning as best as I can in this world with enough optimism to keep hope alive; trusting that these shortcomings in my country will continue to change for the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Realistically, these changes don\u2019t happen because of cute animal videos, or funny memes about the clientele at Walmart. That\u2019s not how change has ever worked. It would be the highest dereliction of duty on my part if I didn\u2019t find some way to shine a light on the suffering and deaths of those who came before me (or those who are currently suffering and dying) due to bigotry and racism. I can\u2019t NOT acknowledge these things. After all, I could just as easily be the recipient of a gay-bashing, police shooting, or something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact that my country has become more openly racist and bigoted is a known quantity at this point. (If you don\u2019t agree, unfriend me now.) On top of that bigotry and racism, we now have the horror of watching a potus who daily uses the power of his position to strike at his enemies: be they a person, political party, organization or state. During this Coronavirus pandemic, this means that even more people die needlessly just for political purposes. So one should expect that this will also be on my radar to acknowledge and highlight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More to the point with my current postings, if my or my partner’s parents die because those who are supposed to \u2018lead us\u2019 thought this virus was a political hoax and didn\u2019t sufficiently prepare to protect the citizenry, you better believe I wouldn\u2019t give a rat\u2019s ass about ANY other cute meme, pet or recipe. If Greg were to die and I had no rights as his partner because of \u2018Religious Freedom\u2019 laws that some desperately want to enact, my own postings would stop and you\u2019d see me organizing in the streets pushing for a revolution, and likely not a peaceful one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I mute much of what I post because there\u2019s no need to preach to an informed choir. But I\u2019ve also gotten enough private messages to know that I speak for many who may not be able to speak out. I\u2019m happy to do so, and will continue to do so as long as my country is as horribly messed up as it currently shows itself to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AND… I will do ALL of these things while keeping a sense of optimism, hope and humor. After all, what\u2019s the point of getting out of bed if there isn\u2019t something better to look forward to on the horizon. This is what I\u2019ve done through all of the above. For myself. For Greg and I. For my parents, family and friends. And also for the many players who I help with my work as an official, both on and off the tennis court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, I\u2019m angry. And I\u2019m fairly certain I will continue to be so on many fronts for quite some time. But that will never define me. My hope that things will get better in this country is what defines me. (This is a repost of a Facebook ‘Note’) Hey everyone.I\u2019ve received enough replies on certain posts (and private messages as well) that I think it\u2019s time I publicly addressed the issue of \u2018my anger\u2019. I have many friends who have expressed concern that I appear to be sitting at my computer all day long, watching … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-533","6":"format-standard","7":"has-post-thumbnail","8":"category-general-stuff"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":537,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions\/537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevware.com\/geek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I\u2019ve received enough replies on certain posts (and private messages as well) that I think it\u2019s time I publicly addressed the issue of \u2018my anger\u2019. I have many friends who have expressed concern that I appear to be sitting at my computer all day long, watching news and seething in huge reservoirs of anger and resentment toward #donaldthedumbassracist<\/a> and all the other charlatans currently turning our country into third-rate banana republic that\u2019s only for the most rich and\/or the most racist among us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Always remember that!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"