The Piece Project is a strategic plan to change the world. It's a way to fight against racism and injustice. It is a way to heal trauma, to fight for justice and equality with love, and action.
In light of the events that happened with George Floyd and in light of the response to COVID-19 and the state of the country at this point in time, I've really had to search to see where I stand on some of these things. And decide if my stance is such, then my actions must reflect that stance.
In this episode I break down the meaning and components of the project as well as discuss the mindset of law enforcement and African Americans. We define success as getting out of the hood but wouldn't it be nice if we could improve the hood so that we wanted to stay.
Finally if we love someone, anyone and we want things to get better then we must Get To Work!
The Piece Project is a strategic plan to change the world. It's a way to fight against racism and injustice. It is a way to heal trauma, to fight for justice and equality with love, and action.
In light of the events that happened with George Floyd and in light of the response to COVID-19 and the state of the country at this point in time, I've really had to search to see where I stand on some of these things. And decide if my stance is such, then my actions must reflect that stance.
In this episode I break down the meaning and components of the project as well as discuss the mindset of law enforcement and African Americans. We define success as getting out of the hood but wouldn't it be nice if we could improve the hood so that we wanted to stay.
Finally if we love someone, anyone and we want things to get better then we must Get To Work!
So in, in light of in, in the audience of, I guess, the events that happened with George Floyd in his murder. And in light of the response to COVID-19 and the state of the country at this point in time, I've really had to search to see where I stand on some of these things. And if my stance is such then my actions must reflect that that's names. So that's really been my, my intention, my focus, I would say And so as I focus on that I believe the Holy Spirit in the Lord continues to give me information on okay, if this is your heart, and this is your passion, then this is my mission for you. So, with that said, the idea of the peace project was what was downloaded to me. So I'm going to explain that to you. The peace project is a strategic plan to change the world. It's a way to fight against racism and injustice, to heal trauma, to fight for justice and equality with love, and action. So now, there's some principles of this peace movement. So the principles are that all people are to be treated with dignity and respect, that all people have access and provide quality education that will have access to economic prosperity, the equivalent to our F intellect and skill, and attain leadership roles in all facets of society, be a model of excellent excellence, attain congruent single minded consciousness. Now when I say this, and I say, all people, I truly mean all people. But I will give you a caveat in this particular time that we're living in. And being that I am a black man in this society. My focus at this moment and at this point in time is on African American people. So when I speak these things, and I tell you this project, in this this program of how to attain justice, I'm speaking for justice for African Americans at this point in time, but that does not say that you can't use these same principles for everybody. But I unequivocally, unequivocally and unapologetically, proclaim that this program that I am speaking At this point in time is for the African American community. Those are the declarations of the principles. With that said, there's going to be standards or duties or obligations that we as African Americans have in order to move this process forward. And there will be checks and balances and there will be the reason for standards are so that at some later point, we can come back and check in and say that, okay, if this is working, or if it's not working, what needs to be done, so that we don't have to be here 10 years from now going, Okay, well, what did we really accomplish? And how do we continue to get the ball rolling and then we have to wait for an event, such as George Floyd's murder to to motivate us to act, when we should be motivated to act in every every moment of every day for our children and our children's children. One of the Things this incident is really brought up to me is my obligation to move the needle forward to hand off this world in a better place than it was when I, when I got into it so that my children, my children's children are not sitting here having the same debate about the unalienable rights of African Americans in the United States. We all agree that that is something that we all should have. Yet we disagree on whether or not that is attained and how that is attained. And if there is a system that impedes it. I believe there is a system that impedes it and I refuse to sit by and not say something and not do something. Because in my mind, being complacent is complicit to this system. So whether you believe the system is set against African Americans if there is some type of systemic racism or not, it really doesn't matter for this project still, and the principles of this project still apply. can help society as a whole. Those basic standards, obligations duties are to vote, to respect the rights of others, be productive working members of society, obey just laws provide safe and nurturing environments for our children, respect ourselves and speak out against injustice whenever we see it. Now, there's a strategy to this, that is going to be something that individuals can do, groups can do, and society can do. And I believe that that is part of the the beauty or the coherence in this process in this program, and that it is something that can be done by every single one of us, be it internally in our thoughts, in our moods, or externally in our actions in our ability to help and share our resources. And when I say share our reach sources that means share our time, share our energy as well as sharing our finances. So that stat that strategy will be to influence public opinion to create and, and start criminal justice reform, to support unit unions to form political action committees, to provide job training to provide weapons and self defense training to feed, educate and protect our communities. Now, African Americans have been on the continent of the United States since the first African American indentured servants arrived in the colonies in 1619. The Civil War ended in 1865 with the 13th amendment that ratified and prohibit ratified and prohibiting slavery. Here in 2020, African Americans will seize the keys to their unalienable rights. So the peace movement is a strategic system created to uplift empower and Educating this new system will drive action that will change the course of history. So by now you're probably trying to figure out what is this peace movement peace project? What does that mean? As I began to think of the different things that needed to change and how to change him, different pieces of the puzzle will begin to come to light for me. And those pieces of the puzzle form the word piece. Now as a piece of a puzzle, which is p isn't Papa eyes in India, he is an echo C as in Charlie, he is an echo. That's Papa India Echo, Charlie echo. So each one of those letters stand for something that each individual each group and society can do in order to move this conversation to move this needle forward. for justice for all. In the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for African Americans in the United States. So the first piece is that P is just politics. So that piece of the puzzle is understanding and getting involved in politics. This involves actions that will allow each individual to shape political agendas to reflect their needs. It's not about a particular party. It is about getting involved and pushing ideas that are in line with obtaining our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Some examples of that are running for office lobby, writing legislation, registering to vote, voting, engaging with local, state and federal representatives, creating and joining political action committees, creating legislation action items you want to see implemented, forming partnerships. Now the idea of being involved in Politics isn't about being a politician. It's about being represented and being truly represented in the south, minorities are a majority voting bloc. Let me break that down to you. That means that blacks Latin and Asians together in numbers are a larger voting bloc than Caucasians. Let me say that again. Blacks Latin Asians together in the south, are a larger voting bloc than Caucasians. And I don't say that as a us versus them thing. I say that as a reality. I say that as an empowering tool to understand your your ability to be able to change things. People always say, well, we can't change anything because there's not enough of us. There's more of this than that. Well with the within this system of politics and the way that our our political system is structured. It's about numbers. And we need to understand that we are a majority in those numbers. Now, there's some things that they that are done to undermine that specifically in the south. And that's where that's where the education piece comes in, we have to understand that there are forces that work against that. Meaning, the way they draw precincts, the way they the way they form areas to how they count the votes, the way that they inhibit voting in certain places. So when people say, Okay, well, now they're not inhibiting votes. Think of it this way. There are certain places where you have to go to vote, you have to have an identification, common sense, right? You want to make sure that the person voting is the person that that registered the vote that I'll even give you that the person is a citizen and is legally allowed to vote. So now if you That qualification on there then Wouldn't it wouldn't it also make sense to have a reliable means of obtaining an identification a reliable means of obtaining an identification that is developed and that is issued by an efficient resource. So, now think about it the place where you have to get that valid identification is DMV. And now, I challenge anyone to tell me that that is the most efficient government agency to do issue and identification in any state yet that is the only identification that is that is used that is allowed that is that is that they are allowing to be used for that purpose. So, these are the things that we need to be aware of because if this is something that we don't agree with, most of us don't even think about it. Most of us don't even recognize that That's what they're saying when they say, okay, you have to have an ID. But the only place you can get that ID is DMV, which all of us agree that isn't someplace that is the most efficiently run place in the country in any state. So why not have another means or another type of ID that can be utilized, such as credit cards, such as mail, such as retirement credentials, all of these things are valid forms of identification, yet they're not allowed for these types of voting purposes. So it's about understanding that some of the rules that are made aren't made to protect the vote but to suppress the vote, and starting to talk to our representatives to find ways to enhance the number of people that are voting legally and make sure that we can verify And there's lots of ways to do that, such as I've spoken to before, which is having other means of identification, other than an ID that you get from DMV. Or if you're not requiring a identification, then you require you give them a code or you give them a number, allowing people to vote absentee with verifiable going to their address, giving them an I still, to this day, don't understand why we don't have some type of electronic voting. And if I can get a code from my credit card company before I can use my credit card and how come I can't sign up, register the vote, had them send me a code to say the verify that I am the person that is supposed to be utilizing this identification and allow me to vote. So it is possible but the way that the laws and the rules are written right now. It's it's regulated and it's set up to come balut and either suppress or enhance it in a way that isn't acceptable to all. So therefore we end up with a system that nobody agrees with, yet nobody challenges. So part of this palate politics section is challenging the status quo so that we can enhance it. It's time for things to change for the better, not just change so that it benefits one party or the other. running for office, understanding that in order to have the power to change things that we have to be not necessarily part of a system but we have to get in there where the system is make those changes so that they can be broad as opposed to individual changes, forming our own political action committees. Political political action committee has a lot of power because it pools the resources to train candidates, select candidates, train them and provide the resources they need. Such as media coverage such as radio coverage, training, all those things that they need to, to convey their message to the people that they want to support them needs, they need resources to do that. And political action committees provide that. There's nothing that says that we as a people can't create our own legislation that promotes the values and the beliefs that we have. There's other organizations out there right now that they write their own legislation. They take it to their own selected representatives, they have their political action committees that that provide the information to those representatives as well as resources, meaning donations to those representatives. And that those laws are, are voted on directly as written by the outside agency through That representative. There's nothing that says that African Americans can't create their own political action committees, write their own legislation, lobby their own representatives and have their own laws passed. So, that is part of this whole politics and educating education piece that says that in order to affect change, we need to use the system to our advantage. If we believe if we know that that system is set up in there are systemic things in the system that work against this, then we need to pool the resources pool the intelligence pool, the pieces of that system and have it work in our favor, because we are just as intelligent as any other nationality, any other group and we can do the same thing. So that is part of the the politics part of it. It will be incumbent on us to to learn That process to participate in that process, and to use that process to make these changes that we have been waiting for. And that's not a that's not saying that you have to be part of a particular party. That's just saying that we have to come together to get the legislation to get the laws in place and the rules in place, so that we can enforce the things that we should already have. So the I in the peace project, stands for individual. And this came up as I told Facebook, and I spoke with friends, and I guess I haven't really gone into my background, but I was in federal law enforcement for over 25 years. And so when these types of Current has happened. And I've talked to several of my friends that are still in law enforcement. When these types of things happen, there's always the response from law enforcement. That is just automatically defensive, meaning that's all you know, there's one bad apple doesn't spoil the bunch. And, you know, we're out there risking our lives and we're being disrespected. And I always have a, I always have a difficult time because I agree. I agree that law enforcement has a difficult job. I agree that they don't get the respect that they deserve for what they are doing for they are risking their lives for strangers. But I refuse to agree with the status quo, that we're going to do these things the way we do them, because we've always done them that way. And to me, that is a dangerous mindset. And that is the problem that we have within the culture of law enforcement is that is so difficult to change the way that things are done. Because the response is always, that's how we've always done it. So part of this individual piece came as a defense, I would say, to the argument that African Americans need to take responsibility for their actions, that African American communities need to fight the crimes in their communities and stop killing one another because African Americans are responsible for more crimes more killings and police are responsible for and I think about that, and I'm like, well, that's police shouldn't be killing more people than African Americans or than anybody if you ask me. So that's, that's a kind of like the old Chris Rock. And you guys will have to look it up. I'm sure it's on YouTube, but uh, the old Chris Rock a bit that he used to say that you taking credit for something you should be doing. So That's not a real argument to me. So anyway, the the idea of individual came up so because I really believe that African Americans in this society have been traumatized, and we are continuously traumatized, be it from slavery from the school system from the criminal justice system, from the stereotypes that are placed and put in and put out by the media, by movies, those types of things. And I like in the story that I always I refer to when I talk about these types of things is just imagine the difficulty for our children. And I speak of African American children coming up and learning in the schools about slavery. Now, it's a fact and it is something that should be taught, but I do believe that we the way It is taught is very important. I remember learning about slavery. And I grew up in a high school where I went to high school where there weren't a lot of African Americans and that's neither here nor there. But the the issue that came to mind to me as even as I think back on it is when we teach and we talk about slavery Do you ever remember them, saying that slavery was wrong, that it was horrible and cruel and unjust system that was created to tear the culture and and the mean and demoralize an entire group of people? Don't remember that in any of my history books. We taught the facts. They told you what slavery was and how it was abolished and how we were made citizens and we were given a right to be a person which, again, you're taking credit for. Something that you should have already done. So, again, so this, that trauma is something that I believe we need to heal. And that's not only as a nation but as a culture and as individuals. So part of that healing process is knowing your heritage, knowing your history, getting support for the trauma, being your brother's keeper, helping out one another, developing improving your character developing your love and self and your love for others, increasing positive community actions, and recognizing that we are all made in the image of God. So as I said before, I am unapologetic in my stance at this point in time for African Americans because that is where my heart is. And in this time, I believe this is the time when that is important and that needs to be it needs to be accentuated. So the peace project understands that it takes a village But we're also committed to personal responsibility, character building and self respect. The black experience in America is unique and that we had our history stolen and beaten out of us. We have been traumatized and these steps will facilitate healing and growth. And we'll be able to form that single minded consciousness and no longer have a double minded consciousness that web boys spoke of. And that is, the double minded consciousness is the the idea of knowing that as a black person in the United States that you are seeing one way and you are trying to put together pieces of how people believe you are and what you believe you are in trying to make those match as opposed to being who you are and who you are created to be. So that is the The individual piece. Another important piece is the education. So, as far as education, we know that that is a major component in the rise out of poverty. Education leads to higher paying jobs, to careers, to entrepreneurship, to success in general. And even if the education isn't formal education, it is some type of either a trade education, a business, an entrepreneur, financial education. So one of the main tenants of this is improving our schools so that our schools are of the same quality as those schools in more affluent neighborhoods. And that will be something that will work to make sure that we have those types of schools and in our public schools are just as good as our private schools, that our charter schools and our public don't take away. From the resources of our public schools, because there is there's a push for charter schools and private schools. And that is a choice that I think every parent can make. And they should have the right to make. But I don't believe that our public schools should be left behind in order to enhance charter and in private schools. And I think that they both can happen. You can have quality private schools and quality public schools. So there are certain things that we need to do in order to make those things happen. And one of those is that's become very evident in today's world with Coronavirus in the schools shutting down and everything being online. There's a digital gap, meaning that there are schools and there are there are homes that don't have the same access to the internet to Wi Fi that other homes have. And now you have students that are expected to To perform to do their work, yet they don't have the same resources that other students have, through no fault of their own. But that is that is the case. So there's there will be part of this is bridging that digital gap, finding ways to provide that internet access, computer access computer equipment, to all of the children in our communities, so that they have equitable access to the resources they need in order to be successful in their educational endeavors. We will also have scholarships, vocational training, health education, conflict resolution. And one of the things that encompasses all of these is what I call the success pipeline initiative. So what that means is from beginning from cradle to grave, we have resources that are in place to guide nurture, and mentor, our children and adults so that they can be successful. What does that mean? Well, most successful people have had others that have helped them, be a mentor, be it role model, be it someone that they looked up to that they could get an idea of what it looked like, in order to be successful. And that's what this success pipeline initiative would provide. And so I got the idea and I got the name specifically from right now with the the criminal justice system in the prison pipeline for communities. poverty stricken communities have a prison pipeline, I would like to create a success pipeline. So a pipeline that made sure that the kids in our schools had the adequate resources so that they could be successful in their educational endeavors. So have the mission tours available that would be able to help them choose a career that fit with them. That we have the scholarships available so that if they wanted to go to college, that they would not have to be hindered by financial debt coming out of college, they would have scholarships. If they didn't want to go to college and we had mentors that would teach them a trade and get them a job. That would be more than a, a minimum wage, job, something that would increase their level of income not just for them because you have to realize if we can get our children if we can get our, our young youth to go into jobs and to be trained for jobs, just like the it jobs in the professor jobs that are above the poverty level. You've just changed. The poverty in that family, hopefully for generations, and it's about education and wealth building, and creating generational wealth, as opposed to just having a job that will allow you to provide the minimal for your family. So we're talking about creating a pipeline that will change the course of these families, and bring them out of poverty and put them into middle class, at the very least. So if they go to college, we will have mentors, consultants that will help them scholarships. If they want to trade position, if they don't want to go to college, we will find mentors and job training to get them into trade positions that again, that will pay more than minimum wage. And if they want to have their own business, we will get them training, loans, whatever resources they need, in order To start their own business, again, getting that whole family out of poverty hidden that because bringing that individual out of poverty raises that family out of poverty, poverty, and not just the family members that they have with them now, but as they grow older, and they have their own children, that child is now being born into a family that is no longer in poverty. So that's the idea in the basis of the education piece. So now the community piece is probably the biggest piece because it entails a lot of, I guess, a lot of what's going on now, a lot of the social justice and community policing problems will fall under this community. So we subscribe to the belief that it takes a village to change the world. So one of the things we're going to demand better policing in our communities. And I'll go through this list and then I'll describe it. I'll explain that a little bit for you. So we demand better policing in our communities, social media campaign to combat racism, legal representation and training, developing community partnerships and training with law enforcement agencies, self defense and firearms training for citizens. Talk to people that don't look like you and listen, join police forces recruit African Americans into police forces, national standards for policing support crime prevention, nonprofits and communities and form neighborhood watches. So the idea of community really speaks to the heart of a lot of the social justice in the in the the the problems between law enforcement in the community In the best example that I have is I was talking to a friend of mine, an African American friend, who's still in law enforcement. And we're not really having a bait, but really just having a conversation about the state of things and how the culture of policing is hard to change. And we really just, we just want to change that. So that the one look, the community respects the the sacrifice that law enforcement make, and that law enforcement respect the the trauma that these communities are under the pressure that they're under. And one of the things he said that really stood out to me was we have to realize that the kids in these community, the youth in this community, are being taught the same thing that our law enforcement officers are being taught in training. And what do I mean by that? I mean, as a law enforcement officer, we're taught data and day out, that you have to survive at all costs. There's a saying in law enforcement that I'd rather be tried by 12 are, I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by six. So that means I'd rather survive and then have to justify what I did then be killed in the line of duty. And as we talked about it, one thing that my friend said is we you realize that going up in the community growing up in the hood, we're taught to survive and encounter with law enforcement. The same way we're taught that you want to survive that encounter. So on one hand, you have a law enforcement culture that is taught survive at all costs. And then you have communities and young African Americans who are taught to survive at all costs. lesson from two totally different perspectives. And until both sides understand that that's what they're the perspective, the filter they're coming at this from, we're still going to have conflict. So part of this community concept piece of this puzzle is getting the community and the police to understand and listen to each other. One of the things that bothers me so much about the time period that we're in, and about the discussions and arguments that are had about defunding the police and all police are bad and the criminals do, you need to have less criminals and blacks need to stop committing crimes is the tone deafness in these conversations. Everyone is talking but nobody is listening. No one's understanding the trauma in the press in the pressure and the stress on these communities. That is being bottled up. stifled and that is exploding. In these events such as George Floyd. Dave Chappelle said it best he said the streets are talking. That's what these protests are that's what these marches are that's what is going on. The streets are talking. That is that pent up emotion that is that bottled up frustration that every African American has. Every time we see what happened to George for Floyd happen. So you may say okay, statistically doesn't this is a rare occasion. But listen, listen to what I'm telling you. Every time an African American sees a Rodney King, a Breanna Taylor, uh, George Floyd we relive that trauma. being unjustly stopped being followed around in a store, being stereotyped being treated unfairly by a law enforcement officer. And I can tell you from experience that there is a high percentage of African Americans that have had that experience. So every time somebody something like this happens, that the thing that goes off in our head, that could be me. That could just as easily have been me. And even worse yet, that could have been my son, or my daughter, or my father, or my mother, or my brother, or my sister. Now to mess it up even more every cop says The same thing when one of theirs gets killed. They say that could have been my brother, or my sister, my fellow officer. And we're defending positions rather than listening and empathizing with the trauma that each side has gone through, it is going through. So an integral part of this community piece is getting the sides to come together and increasing the safety in our communities. And part of that is an obligation by the law enforcement communities, to have better policing to have equal treatment to have fair criminal justice systems. So That's where not only having criminal justice reform, but also having training within those communities, trainings within those communities that show that teach the young men and women and even adults, what are your rights? If a policeman pulls you over and says, Can I search your car? That is a question. You do have the right to say no, you cannot search my car. If policeman pulls you over and ask for your ID, you know you have, you are legally obligated to give him your ID. Now, if he wants to know where you're coming from, where you're going, who your mom is, who your cousin is, you have no legal obligation to answer any of those questions. And you can say, thank you very much, but I do not want to share that information with you at this time. Is there anything else that you would like to know Know that you are legally obligated or legally justified in asking. And I would I believe that that type of training is essential so that we know what our rights are. we comply with the rules and regulations that are just, but there's no need to, to comply with unjust laws, but you need to know what those are. So that is part of that training. The last part of the, our piece of the puzzle I should say is the last E which is economics. Now, all of these things fit together to increase the empowerment and therefore the power of African Americans in the United States. And don't let anyone fool you. But economic wealth is a powerful piece of this puzzle. Just as we talked about changing the poverty of a family, for generations and how a a professional job or business could do that, there are ways to build wealth as you do that, and secure wealth in a way that is long lasting, and so that our communities are able to, to grow just as other communities are. So important part of that is wealth building. Economic Development of our communities by members of our community, investment groups, entrepreneurs, Angel loans, financial fitness, training, Transcribed by https://otter.ai