About Me

My photo
Kymberlie Ingalls is native to the Bay Area in California. She is a pioneer in blogging, having self-published online since 1997. Her style is loose, experimental, and a journey in stream of consciousness. Works include personal essay, prose, short fictional stories, and a memoir in progress. Thank you for taking a moment of your time to visit. Beware of the occasional falling opinions. For editing services: http://www.rainfallpress.com/

Monday, August 29, 2016

The Sit-Down Heard 'Round the World



I have spent the better part of the weekend apologizing to every friend of color that I have.  Most days of this past year, I have been embarrassed pretty much for the entire human race – I haven’t discriminated.  Even in watching the Trump support movement unfold, I have not discriminated.  After this weekend, I’m calling out the general white population for their lack of empathy, their blatant ignorance and rampant disregard for their fellow Americans.

It was the sit-down heard around the world.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s the greatest sit-down since Rosa Parks. 

Colin Kaepernick made a quiet choice to stand up – or take a seat – and express his feelings on a matter that has been plaguing our nation.  He said:

"There's people being murdered unjustly and not being held accountable.  This stand wasn’t for me. This is because I’m seeing things happen to people that don’t have a voice. People that don’t have a platform to talk and have their voices heard and affect change. I’m in a position where I can do that, and I’m gonna do that for people who can’t.” 

He didn’t make statements beforehand, there were no announcements.  He thought, and he acted peacefully, and he put himself at risk with his career because his felt that strongly about wrongdoings in our society, among his fellow humans.  If we are fortunate, every one of us has a moment in our lifetime that doing the right thing becomes more important than money or other consequences.

And now people have lost their collective minds over it.  He has been called every name in the book, many of them of a racist nature – thereby proving his point.  His actions were immediately declared a disrespect to military – further proving his point.  He has even been vilified as a “radical Islamic supporter.”  (that one wins the award for Most Ridiculous).  It is apples and oranges to say that he is committing offense to our military; the freedoms our soldiers fight and put their lives at risk for include the right to protest.  Even more ironic are the labels of "stupid," "idiot," "dumber than...." (take your pick), because most probably don't realize that he was a 4.0 student.  I could only laugh sadly at those dismissive "armchair quarterback" comments of "like that privileged asshole's ever been oppressed."  You really think that a mixed race adopted kid from the Midwest never experienced discrimination? 

Why is it every time that someone takes a stand for something, it has to be against something that is a far stretch away? 

Then everyone wants to throw in his salary, his upbringing, his color or lack thereof, and of course everyone thinks he should have done it their way.  Money doesn’t solve everything, so throwing his at it isn’t going to solve problems.  Using his celebrity to give voice to those who feel they have none – now that’s doing something.  And it worked.  While this was a personal decision, the media and social platforms did they do best; they bit.  And people are talking. 

This isn’t the first athlete to make a statement during a pivotal moment.  Think Tommie Smith and John Carolos during the 1968 Olympic ceremony.  How about the beloved Muhammad Ali? 

But according to NFL fans, Kaepernick needs to shut the hell up and do his job.  Well, he did.  He played the game he was paid to play, and has continued to do so.  The team management wasn’t scrambling to defend him until everyone went batshit crazy. 

The comments that I have been reading on all of the outlets, of people I know and don’t, have been so vile that it sickens me to be of the same species.  I’m not surprised because it’s a way of thinking that I grew up with, that I know too well.  I’m just disappointed that it seems, between Trump’s encouragement and the breakdown of political correctness – something I’m not always in favor of myself – it is most certainly not improving in any way.  We cannot have disagreements about politics without people resorting to name-calling and vicious personal attacks.  The internet only feeds the fire because for the non-celebrities, there are no consequences.  For Kaepernick, there were consequences, and he still chose to face them head on. 

It’s a statement that I have been making for years, in my own small way, regarding the National Anthem.  That line about “land of the free” has always been a stitch in my britches because only recently have we made more advanced strides in civil liberties, but still too many have those freedoms denied in various ways by fellow citizens, by the legal and economic systems, by ways some of us cannot even imagine.  Yet there is still just so much anger.  Every time I ever wanted to sit out the song, I didn't have the nuts because it was always in a very "patriotic" crowd.  And our ideas of patriotism have become quite twisted since that cold September day.

I have never liked anything about football.  It may be a brutal sport, but it’s also kind of a sissy one.  So much drama all the time for a bunch of guys grabbing on each other in shiny uniforms and always crying foul or amendments or whatever.  What I do love is an inspirational sports story, and I am a fan of sports heroes.

Right now, I am Colin Kaepernick’s biggest fan.

Your outrage says more about you than you think it does. I highly recommend that everyone - including myself - take a good hard look in their mirrors to see if we are putting in even one bit of the effort and courage that he has displayed, but more importantly – take a harder look at why we aren’t. 

Best comment I've seen so far:




No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Tags

kymberlie ingalls (7) neuroticy (7) conservative (6) liberal (6) stormy writer (5) BLM (4) democrat (4) politics (4) rainfall press (4) republican (4) Donald trump (3) neurotic (3) protest (3) racism (3) trump (3) 2016 (2) America (2) Charlottesville (2) Hillary Clinton (2) debate (2) election (2) i'm with her (2) make America great again (2) police brutality (2) retail (2) 45 (1) 49ers (1) 4th (1) Berkeley (1) Cinemark (1) Cole White (1) Nazi (1) OJ (1) Rodrick Shonte Dantzler shooting grand rapids michigan natural born killers adam lambert john hinckley jared lee loughlin giffords columbine virginia tech judge judy (1) Top Dog (1) all lives matter (1) bart civic center fatal shooting sf san francisco police officers cops oscar grant mehserle (1) baseball (1) bathroom bill arizona suzanne sharer transgender cross dresser civil rights women war lgbt pedophile pervert (1) bay area (1) beaten (1) black Friday (1) black lives matter (1) boston marathon bomb terrorist mentally ill columbine Virginia tech sandy hook giffords laughner Brenda spencer holmes aurora shooting neuroticy kymberlie ingalls massacre shooting lanza (1) boycott (1) bryan (1) car accident collision insurance scam auto body fraud trauma loss anger neuroticy stormy writer bandita super woman alicia keys rage stress protest charity mike's auto body AAA (1) casey caylee anthony jury verdict trial headline news nancy grace neuroticy kymberlie ingalls justice homicide murder (1) cbs kpix san francisco most valuable blogger blog award 2011 sf bay area local writer win award kymberlie ingalls neuroticy storm award (1) change (1) charles blair hill san francisco sf bart shooting police cops oscar grant kymberlie ingalls neuroticy protest activist mob kenneth harding roger kymberlie ingalls neuroticy storm left coast voices (1) charles blair hill san francisco sf bart shooting police cops oscar grant kymberlie ingalls neuroticy protest activist mob kenneth harding tanaya gilbert seattle (1) civil rights (1) colin kaepernick (1) coma (1) comedy (1) correspondence dinner (1) customer service (1) cyber Monday (1) directv tivo local channels missing network programming satellite cable outrage bully neuroticy ingalls blog contract service american idol finale winner (1) dodgers (1) donald trump orly taitz barack obama president birth certificate birthers republican whoopi o'donnell thurston (1) economy (1) emily good rochester new york arrested video taping police profiling controversy crime activism activist nyc oscar grant bart shooting fruitvale oakland ca crime johannes mehserle bay area california (1) employment (1) faa airline flying cell phone modern technology gadget blog opinion neuroticy kymberlie ingalls survival (1) family (1) feminism (1) football (1) francisco (1) freedom of speech (1) gay rights civil marriage gltg neuroticy kymberlie ingalls stormy writer prop 8 bible god religion prejudice democrat republican conservative liberal social homophobic homophobia homosexual lesbian (1) giants (1) god cancer bible christian tim tebow football nfl brian copeland facebook religion kymberlie ingalls neuroticy friends illness angels miracles (1) gun control nra piers morgan alex jones cnn repblican democrat liberal conservative president obama military war assault weapons sandy hook aurora columbine kymberlie ingalls stormy writer neuroticy (1) heather heyer (1) holiday (1) hospitality (1) ingalls (1) jersey (1) john (1) july independence holiday fireworks flag US America united states neurotic kymberlie ingalls freedom civil rights lgbt crime education speech (1) kenneth harding sfpd san francisco police shooting muni fare murder gun seattle black minority racial racism discrimination crime rage authority investigation protest (1) kkk (1) knee jerk (1) kymberlie (1) lawsuit (1) lgbtq (1) loneliness (1) management (1) marijuana legalize 420 cannibas weed mary jane happy cows california obama republican democrat liberal conservative medical tea baggers politics election neuroticy kymberlie ingalls prescription drugs (1) mark halperin dick obama president msnbc keith olbermann glenn beck tracy morgan scandal apology apologize (1) me too (1) media (1) michele bachmann bill o'reilly cnn fox news dog walk white house obama president politics republican conservative democrat liberal lavish excess 9/11 rocky toby keith neuroticy stormy writer (1) michele bachmann neuroticy kymberlie ingalls marisa samuels republican democrat liberal conservative tea bagger party birthers politics gay rights art hoppe san francisco chronicle god hot for jesus (1) michelle wolf (1) millennials (1) mindy mccready suicide dead death country music angels guys do it celebrity young whitney houston fans sympathy addiction children kids abuse kymberlie ingalls blogger neuroticy stormy writer (1) movie theater (1) nascar danica patrick girls female athletes sexy go daddy daytona racing janet guthrie shirley muldowney jeff gordon feminism empowerment neuroticy kymberlie ingalls opinion blog stormy writer (1) nascar racing car stock sprint legend dwarf midget dirt track crash soares antioch speedway neuroticy kymberlie ingalls video princess 44 (1) nfl (1) nra (1) observer (1) occupy wall street ows protest nyc new york arrests police brutality marine civil war politics big business corporation banks neuroticy ingalls news topless (1) old people (1) opinion (1) outrage (1) patriotism (1) pledge of allegiance under god citizens patriotism 4th of july independence day america history holiday (1) protests (1) reporter (1) restaurant dining out pf changs chain walmart norm cheers demographics marketing menu change mcdonalds taco bell neuroticy blog stormy writer opinion familiar branding (1) reviews (1) rush limbaugh sandra fluke neuroticy kymberlie ingalls stormy writer blog opinion apology slut prostitute women rights boycott sponsors (1) san (1) san francisco (1) september 11 9-11 9/11 world trade center attack middle east muslim obama president bush tenth 10th anniversary springsteen you're missing politics republican democrat military war troops (1) sexual assault (1) shannon tweed gene simmons family jewels kiss playmate joy behar show reality tv cnn walks off set (1) slippery slope (1) snowflake (1) soap operas abc amc oltl prospect park erica kane daytime horton brady newman cancelled toln quartermaine gh general hospital all my children one life to live guiding light hubbard young restless (1) social media (1) steigerwald (1) stormywriter (1) stow (1) teams (1) thanksgiving (1) trayvon martin george zimmerman violence florida sherrif crime arrest neuroticy kymberlie ingalls stormy writer opinion racism color skittles hoodie geraldo rivera (1) turkey (1) twitter (1) united airlines (1) vice news (1) video (1) walmart (1) white house (1) writer (1) writer of the storm (1) yelp (1)