At one time, I harbored the belief that I had a pure travel blog. On the other hand, the tag line for this Boomeresque blog is “Baby Boomer Travels for the Body and Mind”. Let’s just call this exposition, mind travel.
This week, the Zentangle Diva used a guest post by none other than—moi! The night of the ambush of police in Dallas, Texas by a murderous gunman armed with an assault rifle, I was so upset I stayed up all night longing for peace. In my despair, I did three Zentangle compositions on the theme of Peace despite the fact that I was supposed to be resting a strained tendon in my dominant (drawing-tangling) hand. You can see my guest post and the responses to it on Laura Harm’s blog.
I’m a little embarrassed that in one of my challenge tiles, I substituted the Mercedes Benz logo for the peace sign. (Doh. SMH) For the sake of my hand, I wanted to acknowledge my mistake and move on, but, my closet Type A personality would not let me rest, so here is a Zendala employing the correct symbol.
As I looked at the first responses to my challenge, I came across one by someone who I suspect might be the youngest Certified Zentangle Teacher, a high school student, Daniel Lemothe. Daniel included calligraphy of an Albert Einstein quote that I find so relevant, I have shamelessly appropriated it. I’m not sure of the occasion, but Dr. Einstein said,
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.
I have memorialized this quote in this composition; and, I believe it.
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” Albert Einstein
We cannot continue to talk past each other in the United States. Even some very conservative commentators seem to understand that there are racial disparities in the United States’ criminal justice system, starting with law enforcement on the street, and that this results in a perception by minorities of color that the police are to be feared rather than embraced and supported. The Black Lives Matter movement is not meant as a denial that all lives matter, but grew out of and seeks to address this very specific and very longstanding problem that is felt by African Americans of all classes and professions.
The African American trauma surgeon, Dr. Brian H. Williams, who battled to save the lives of the mortally wounded police officers in Dallas and who is besides himself with emotional pain that he could not save them, explained that when he is not dressed in his white coat, he himself is fearful of police. Despite this, he goes out of his way to try to teach his young daughter that police officers should be thanked and appreciated for their service and he is committing himself to finding a way for African Americans and law enforcement to understand each other.
In his address at the memorial service for the slain officers in Dallas, President Obama acknowledged the validity of the issue expressed by the Black Lives Matter movement, but he also decried violence or calls for violence by those in the movement.
The successes of the non-violent, but persistent, civil rights movement led by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1950’s and 1960’s should stand as an example that this approach carries tremendous moral authority. Indeed, I believe it was the collective dignity of the loved ones and community of the victims of the Charleston church shooting by a white supremacist that finally achieved the long overdue removal of the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina State Capitol.
The 400 year history of race relations in the United States (and in the American colonies prior to 1776) is tortured and complex. My fervent hope is that all Americans, of all political persuasions, races, religions and ethnicities will invest the time and hard work of trying to understand each other.
Peace. Out.
