In light of the events in Ferguson tonight, it seems essential that the first post in this blog’s hopefully long future addresses this moment in American history. First lets address the fact that this is a moment that will go down in the history of this nation, for better or worse (and as I write this I see an innocent reporter, doing her job and trying to inform the nation about what is going on, pelted by a rock in the middle of her report).

To the protesters who are lighting fires, throwing rocks, and causing mayhem, you are not acting in a way that shows you are Americans. Citizens of this country should not behave in such a way, they stand up, they fight, they do things to affect change. Being violent and destroying your community is not a means to that end, and anyone who thinks differently is either ill informed or has a more nefarious goal in mind. It is impossible for anyone else to understand your frustrations, and the pain in that community (though there are many communities in the nation that go through similar scenarios unfortunately) but sometimes you have to rise above it. We all have to rise above it, and respond in a more responsible way.

To the Grand Jury who did not indict officer Wilson, it is impossible to understand your logic on the sad event. Any other person in the community would have certainly been indicted based on the amount of evidence that was available against him. This officer was tasked with keeping the community safe, and in the very least, he did not live up to that oath. The officer did not act responsibly in firing his weapon at least a DOZEN times. This is the most unbelievable part of the whole situation, how many times the officer’s weapon was fired. In my mind, I cannot think of any justifiable reasons for a person to fire a weapon so many times at another, unarmed, individual. The officer in doing so put everyone in the vicinity at risk, and acted irresponsibly, and for this at least, he should have to submit to a criminal trial.

To the Prosecutor and officials who decided to have the announcement late at night, this is an incredibly irresponsible action. It felt like it was done in order to get “Primetime” ratings for your announcement, and not in the interest of the community, general public, or safety of your citizens in the least. The most amateur of government officials should have had the foresight to prevent this scenario from replaying in this community again. The announcement should have been made the second it was known, (very early this afternoon) and not at the very end of the night when antagonists felt that they could get away with rioting under the anonymity of darkness. The rioters need to be held responsible for their actions, but so do the officials who created a perfect scenario for the rioting to occur. Where is the police in all of this? They seem to be guarding their police house pretty feverishly, but that is about it. On the television we are currently seeing riots all over the community, but instead of going out and trying to put the rioters to rest, they still stand in their line, blocking the path to their police station, letting the citizens in the community fend for themselves (perhaps I am watching the wrong news station and they are doing their best to quell the panic on the videos of the other stations?)

Tonight it is difficult to be an American, and to watch this play out on our television screens. It is a historic moment nonetheless that must be viewed and that we each must be aware of. What kind of historic moment it turns out to be though, that is up to us. It should be all of our sincerest hopes that this moment will be the turning point, and that in the future we can look back on this night and say, that was the darkest it got before the dawn. It was after that night that we all finally, after generations and generations, decided to put forth the effort needed to heal our nation, our communities, and to put aside stupid, asinine racial prejudices that do nothing but tear us all apart, and to build a better America, and a better world.

Perhaps in the future, things will get better for humanity. In the meantime, if we all just try to be the best human that we can be, that is a good start.