When you say people should protest gun violence Chicago, and evidence is shown that people already do, but you dismiss that evidence with ease it says to me your concern was disingenuous from the start. Bringing it up was merely a tactic to dismiss any and all complaints from the community. It’s moving the goal posts.

I was already aware of protests, marches, and organizations created to stop gun violence. Anybody who’s really interested would know as well. A friend of mine and myself were texting yesterday morning and spitballing more innovative things we could do through his organization to address that specific issue. Gun safety training. Fun and informative. Job programs. Nothing would help more than being able to raise them up out of poverty stricken situations, but we do what we can.

I get it. Y’all believe police brutality is a non-issue and y’all don’t give a **** what anybody has to say about it, and that’s fine. Just say that. Don’t pretend to care about other things to downplay what’s going on now. “What about Black on Black crime?” is an inappropriate response.

As far as the original post is concern, I’m speaking on the Saints. Drew’s teammates and former teammates seem to be on the same accord. Thomas, Kamara, Jenkins, Sanders, and Jordan all had something to say. That’s almost every leader on the team. I’m sure the silent majority is powerful in the United States. That’s evident. However, the majority in the NFL is different from the majority in real life.

No comment would have sufficed.

Rez

I believe there is a problem with police abuse of power, and there has been for some time. Many of them are trained to subvert the constitution and leave people thinking they have no right to silence or against unreasonable searches.

If Black Lives Matter why can’t the black community stop killing each other at alarming rates? Why does a “snitches get stitches” culture exist? Your seen as a race trader if you work with law enforcement to get criminals out of your community. Nothing can change, no investment into business of color or in minority areas can occur if it’s filled with crime. If the community itself doesn’t realize that change starts from within, nothing from the outside will matter.

Few solutions from my perspective:
1. De-criminalize non-violent crimes (drug crimes, crimes against property are violent). This locks up too many people for just wanting to get high. Focus should be on violence and rehab for non-violent offenders.

2. Body cameras to be mandatory for all police departments and are required to be running at all times.

3. Notional training effort for police regarding abuse of power and de-escalating tactics.

4. Incentivize and heavily promote trade programs in poor communities. Make the training free to provide skills and a way out for people in these communities that feel like they have no choice but crime.

Just my thoughts... if people are going to protest for change they need to know what policy changes they want.

Poverty and violent criminality go hand in hand. There’s study after study detailing that. Most importantly, that should have no bearing on police brutality. Maybe if Black people were killing police at an alarming rate I could see the connection. And snitches get stitches is universal law in all street environments. Does the Yakuza allow snitches? Italians? Mexicans? Nobody does.

Your ideas for legislation are great though for those who see legislation as the end goal.

What do you think some solutions are (end goal)?

I have to preface the statement by reiterating that I'm not a reformist in ideology. However, most of my community are proponents of reform. When Malcolm X said "By Any Means Necessary" what that really meant was use whatever works. If non-violent protest works, do it. If voting works, do it. If looting and rioting works, do it. If all out warfare works, do it. So I must meet my people where they are.

Therefore, we need legislation that helps put more control of the land, resources, and the means of production in our hands. There was a Homestead Act in 1862 that gave Americans up to 160 acres of federal land in the West. You had the Boomer-Sooner rush of Oklahoma. We need something like that to shrink this large wealth gap.

Again, this is a capitalistic society. How can we fix our faces to say things are equal when one race controls well over 70% (likely and understatement) of the wealth? So if reform is the route, we need any and all legislation that will spread the balance of power more evenly; even if that only means that the amount of wealth, land, and resources is equivalent to our overall population. That would be a VAST improvement.

STEM is the way of the future. Within our own communities we could emphasize focusing on that. You can take those skills anywhere. It doesn't even have to be here in America. I'm pro-gun. So I'm sure we all have a lot in common there.

We need emphasis on self-empowerment and an establishment of the cultural identity we had to give up because of the power structure. It's a lot we can do on our own, and legislation is only as good as the people enforcing it, but a genuine effort goes a long way.

Interesting points. I can't say I agree with "any means necessary", but I do understand the thought behind it. Violence only leads to escalation of violence. I thought MLK was much more effective than Malcolm for that reason, he brought all people together in the face of violence and it made his argument much more clear. Throwing violence into the equation and the message no longer becomes the focus.

For example, everyone was outraged by Floyd's death and the country as a whole saw the abuse taking place. If a MLK figure were around to channel that into massive marches and sit-ins EVERYONE would be aligned. Instead, we see the media constantly talking about the riots, constantly looking for the next thing to be outraged at (Drew). It's diluting the message...

I agree that the wealth gap in this country has grown to a extreme, and it's not acceptable. Unfortunately, the elite in this country do not care about the working or middle class regardless of race. Upward mobility has slowed down since the 90's, and the reason for it? Globalism. In 1998 this country's 'elite' sold the future to China. We lost millions of middle class jobs and the most impacted were minority communities. 30 Years ago you could come out of high school, go to work and land a job to support a family and house...

I wish I knew the answer to the wealth disparity, but the problem is those that really control the wealth are no longer American's, they are Global citizens. If you impose laws on them to take some of that wealth, they'll move their assets to another country.

Who are the top lobbying groups?
Who are the people controlling the media?
What do they have in common (aside from race)?
Why do they hold meetings every year (Bilderberg meetings)?
All questions that Americans should want answers to.

I love your last few paragraphs Rez, think we have a lot in common on those fronts.

What do you think some solutions are (end goal)?