My Day of The Zimmerman Verdict

This Post started out as a big long thing, but I changed it to the random thoughts that came in and out, along with some great articles... I just didn't want to forget how I felt today

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I've been reading and hearing things like "I am sick", "Such a tragedy", "No Justice" after hearing the verdict of George Zimmerman and his killing of Trayvon Martin.

 I've also seen posts like "Trayvon wanted to live the 'Thug Life', so he got what he deserved", and "This case wouldn't even have been an issue if not for the race baiters"

 I've also seen people say things like "How you respond to the verdict is part of the problem", and "We pray that cooler heads prevail". In the abstract, it is a horrible tragedy that a 17 year-old boy can be stalked and killed because George Zimmerman thought he looked suspicious.

 But to some of us, it's FRIGHTENING.
 PERSONALLY FRIGHTENING.

It's not just something we'd like to change, or something we wish would change, we are personally FRIGHTENED by it.

 And so, when I see children starving to death in Africa with flies in their eyes, I think to myself "That's a tragedy, It makes me sick, there's no justice"... but it doesn't FRIGHTEN me. Yes, I think it's horrible, but I do not see MYSELF in danger because of it.

 It's very convenient for me to see starving people and feel bad about it. And YES, I think it's terrible, but I am not PERSONALLY in danger of starving to death while walking down the street.

So, when I read posts from people who care deeply- and I know they do- they just can't understand the PERSONAL DANGER that many of us feel.

The Zimmerman verdict (even though I understand the burden of proof requirement), made me question even having a child, because my child will look more like me than my wife, and I'll have to prepare him or her for these truths. 

Here's a good article- Eight talking points about the potentially fatal condition of being black Read more: http://ideas.time.com/2012/03/21/how-to-talk-to-young-black-boys-about-trayvon-martin/#ixzz2Z39T41p1
And now what reaction do I have? So, of course we should be able to dress however we want, but maybe Erkel's style should come in style, and we should all kick the ass of the next rapper I see wearing a hoodie and being thug.
 Justin Beiber and Miley can be as thugged out as they like without anyone suspecting them.

If you're blonde with big tits, people assume you're dumb
If you're sexy and your look arouses men, people think you're immoral
If you're poor or fat, people think you're lazy 

If you're black, people think you're dumb, immoral, and lazy.

Ok, so after a little bit of a cry, and two good conversations, I feel like we have to get on the other side of this. We have to get back to INSPIRATION and UNDERSTANDING.

 I just realized what time it is... I've been in the apartment all day; moping around, sad, and profoundly lonely. I have an interest in absolutely nothing today.

There's that "Profound loneliness" I sometimes forget is always lurking, waiting to remind me of itself, and I can't out run it today. I haven't left the apartment. I was about to, and realized I was wearing camouflage army shorts and a tank top, and I thought: "maybe I should change?".

I am reminded of the Central Park 5, and what it felt like to be looked at like one of them. I was their age, and suddenly we were ALL one of them. What's strange is that I assumed this would be the verdict, and I even understand that the "burden of proof" and blah, blah, blah, but somehow I feel like I have been devalued... AGAIN. and I'm light-skinned! 

However, all of that said, this is my favoprite article so far: http://www.timwise.org/2013/07/no-innocence-left-to-kill-racism-injustice-and-explaining-america-to-my-daughter/

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Also, (and I'm adding this the day after the above), This article is GREAT and really represents a lot of how I feel- especially the "Sight" section- http://themolinist.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/an-open-letter-to-whites-about-the-black-community-and-the-trayvon-martin-case/

By the way, the reason America sees Black male youth as problematic is because back in slavery days, when a black male went through puberty, they stopped wanting to be slaves, and so that's when they started fighting back.... we have not lost that idea.

And if you say "Oh, but that was SOOOO long ago!", let me remind you that we all still think Heaven and God are in the sky, even though we clearly know that neither is.

A Hypothetical Scenario That Made Me Question My Own Brain

In short- What would happen if the races in The George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case were reversed?

The Political Freakshow • Race Reversal: A Hypothetical Scenario Of What...

Frankly, just the picture was a shock to me:

I instantly assumed the dark guy would be guilty, and I surprised myself at how angry I was at him for making "The rest of us look bad', and I always get mad when I see someone who looks like me committing a crime.

But here's the thing:

If I were really not prejudiced, or race conscious, then each criminal would be the same to me, whether they looked like me or not...

BLEW MY MIND...

The Political Freakshow • Race Reversal: A Hypothetical Scenario Of What...

12-Year Old Explains Egyptian Revolution in Under 3 Minutes Fascinating!

Ok, so at first I was like "Why is THIS going Viral"? And then I watched it and was like "OH.... THAT'S why..."


12-Year Old Explains Egyptian Revolution in Under 3 Minutes - YouTube

What is a Murphathon?

You might be asking yourself: What is a Murphathon?

Well, this video will let you in on the details...


To Help Me Click: http://bit.ly/BonesMurphathon

Here's a way for you to TAKE ACTION and help me help Lauren Murphy:

http://bit.ly/BonesMurphathon

Please sponsor me to help a friend who has suffered a terrible head trauma.
Learn more about her journey here- http://caringbridge.org/visit/laurenmurphy/mystory

Join SoHo Experiential for The Murphathon -- a night of entertainment & light exercise to benefit our injured colleague, Lauren Murphy. Enjoy complimentary food, drinks & music while participating in an auction and raffle for unique prizes.
Description
WHY
In April 2013, one of our best and brightest members of the team, Lauren Murphy, was critically injured when she was struck by a car while jogging in Los Angeles. She underwent emergency medical care to save her life, but that was just the first hurdle of a long road to recovery. The Murphathon benefit event was created to help ease the financial burden for our injured co-worker and her family at this incredibly difficult time.

WHEN
July 31st, 2013
6:30PM -- 9:30PM

WHERE
The Mercedes Club
550 W. 54th St. (btw 10th & 11th Ave.)
NY, NY 10019
Easily accessible by the 1, N, Q, R, B, D, C and E Trains

HOW
To purchase tickets online, please visit: http://bit.ly/murphathon
Ticket price is $100 per person

To Sponsor Me Click: http://bit.ly/BonesMurphathon

“Does Grandpa Play with Barbies Too?”

I wrote this a while ago, and just found it on my hard drive... I thought I'd share it:

“Does Grandpa play with Barbies too?”

It was a cold, wintry day in an elementary school outside of Boston, and many of the children
were wet from the record-breaking snowfall. My group came in from New York, and we were doing a tour
of the Boston area for the week, driving around in a rented van, and staying at a VERY inexpensive motel.
I had no idea I was going to end the day choking down my tears.

We would do an assembly for kids, aged from kindergarten through high school age, and since we
did improvisation, the show was always different, fun, and exciting. I had been working with Freestyle
Repertory Theatre for a few months, and had become very close with my fellow performers. All of us we
just trying to chase the dream, and had found a little slice of it working with each other, making each other
and hundreds of kids laugh everyday. It was a silly, low-paying, acting gig- but hey- it was a full-time
acting gig!

We did “Improv games”, similar to what you might see on “Whose line is it anyway”, and one of
the games was called “Biography”; We would get a child from the audience, and give them a bell and a
horn. We’d act out scenes “from their lives”, and they would direct us with the bell and the horn. They
would “ding” if we were on the right track, and “honk” if we were not; we’d change according to their
noise.
It’s usually fun, and fantastical; the child would end up “directing” a scene between themselves
and a family member, mom, or dad, and they get a million dollar allowance. Or maybe they’d get their
talking dog and go save the president. Or maybe they’d rescue a princess, just in time to make it back to
school for the big test.

But on this day, we called up “Sally”.

Sally was an adorable little dirty-blonde haired girl, in red dress, that had a dark ring around the
hem because the snow had gotten to it. She came up in her white stockings and socks, without her shoes
because they were too wet to wear. She seemed to be quiet and shy, but I think something about the
promise of seeing a scene from her own life made her raise her hand and volunteer.

She came up and sat in the chair onstage, facing her school mates and all of the teachers. Often for
the shy ones, it takes a second for them to get over the idea of being in front of everyone, but she only
looked out there for a minute. She mostly paid attention to “Jamey”, the big boy who was explaining the
game to her:

“Ok Sally, Kelly here is going to play YOU in this scene, but I want you to pick who you want ME to play-
I can be a friend, a family member, or someone famous- anybody in the world- real or imaginary, dead or
alive…”

“Um…. My grandpa who died”

“……..”

Jamey was a little taken aback, but we realized that it was a wonderful suggestion, and he smiled
and said:

“Ok, Sally- Kelly will be you, and I’ll be your grandpa who died….. what was his name?”
Sally shrugged her shoulders and said:

“… Grandpa?...”

We all giggled, suddenly feeling protective of her, and my partner had to wipe her eyes a bit.

I was on the opposite side of the stage, watching all of this, and it was my job to sometimes help
the kids along with their decisions if they get stuck. I could feel my throat swell, and as I looked around, I
saw some of the teachers put their hands over their mouths, understanding that the moment although very
much fun, and kind of funny, had a sweetness that brought us all back to a time when adults were amazing,
interesting creatures.

As the scene began, Kelly came out with a camouflage military hat on :
“I’m Sally, and I like to yell orders to people in the army”
She began like this so she could be “honked” by Sally, therefore showing that Sally is NOT like that.
Sally looked over to me, wondering what she should do.

I said “Sally- is that like you?
“No”
“Then if it’s not like you, do you honk, or ding?”

She honked, and Kelly ran to the back for a different costume- the doctor:

“My name is Sally, and I am a doctor who operates on animals”
Honk!
She tried again: “My name is Sally, and I like to play in my room with dolls”
Ding! Kelly was on the right track

“My favorites are my Pokemon”
Honk- try again Kelly
“My favorites are my Barbies”
Ding!

And Sally sat up higher, realizing what power she had; that she was seeing her own life, as directed
by her.

Then Jamey came out with the grey-haired wig on:

“Hi Sally, it’s me- ‘Grandpa, Grandpa’!”
he looked over to us and we giggled, as he continued:
“I like to play with your Barbies too!’

Sally didn't move.

I decided to coach her a bit:
“Sally? If that’s right, then you “ding”, if it’s wrong, you want to “honk”...
Did your grandpa like to play with your Barbies too?”
She looked at me questioningly, shrugged her little shoulders and said:

“I don’t know…. I never met him”

That’s when it all became so clear.

Sally was depending on us to show her what her grandpa was like BEFORE he died; she wanted us to TEACH her about him, about her family. Her grandpa’s spirit is what she was looking for, and suddenly our grandpa scene went from being something just for entertainment to being extremely important and responsible work.

All of the adults in the room did their best to hide their instant tears, including us on stage.

Jamey, being a professional, quickly recovered, and engaged Kelly in a scene where Sally and her
grandpa had a wonderful time playing together, and going on an adventure. She also learned that whenever
Sally wanted to, she could use her imagination to play with her grandpa, and she can know that he loves her
very much, even if he can’t be with her now because he died.

When the scene was over, Sally bounded off the stage, happy and confident that her grandpa loved
her, the other kids applauded wildly for the great adventure scene with “Grandpa, Grandpa”, and the adults
all took very, very, deep breaths, and passed tissues to each other.

We continued with the shows, the tours, the many, many biography games, but none of us will
ever forget little Sally and her “Grandpa, who died”. It was a silly, low-paying job with long hours, but that
day, we were more than actors- we were an important part of a little girl’s growth.

I wonder if Sally still thinks of him?

We do.

Dedicated to every member of Freestyle Repertory Theatre, and every children's performers;
It can be a really rough, disrespected gig, but it's days like this that make it worth it, isn't it?

I'm proud of you!

Converting an indian to Christianity: Religion Relies on Ignorance

So, apparently, no one can tell if this is just brilliant acting, or seriously messed up kids.
Unfortunately, I think it's the latter:

The question becomes: How does ignorance play a part in Religion?
What if the answer is that Religion RELIES on ignorance? That Religion cannot exist without Ignorance?
My favorite moment is at 8:57 when Sara just makes a decision for them...

The Racism Experiment

So, I had heard about this experiment, and read about it in a lot of the Positive mental attitude books I read. You can see me read some of them here: http://YouTube.com/AsaBones  I often read about how beliefs can trigger certain behaviors in people, and in ourselves, and how your thoughts govern the way you live life.... this is a frightening example. WELL WORTH THE WHOLE THING. So, in what ways do you think YOUR beliefs are affecting the way you treat other people? What about the way you treat yourself? Here's a great video on the power of belief.