It was Tuesday, June 2nd, and I decided to take to the streets and become part of the movement for change and to bring justice for the murder of George Floyd. There were so many emotions going through my head before I arrived at Franklin Park, which was the epicenter and starting point for the rally on Tuesday evening in Boston. I was angry, nervous, excited, scared, and joyous all at the same time. I was angry for what has been happening to the black community for so long, and how hard this country has made it for them to be provided the same opportunities that I have been afforded. I was nervous because I have never protested before and didn’t know what to expect. I was excited because I saw the change that is possible and what we are doing not only in this country but around the world. I was scared because I didn’t know how police were going to react or handle themselves after the President’s clear stance on the protests. I was joyous because the images I saw on social media and TV were of people so diverse and full of life walking in unison, chanting together in the memory of George Floyd. I am not black, but I knew in my heart what was right and felt like I needed to be a part of this no matter what.
Trying to process the bottle of emotions running through my head, there was a moment before I left my house where I had to ask myself, is this something that I would be willing to die for? Undeniably and unequivocally the answer rang through my bones, YES. You may be asking yourself, why? He’s not black, he doesn’t have a horse in this race, this doesn’t’ affect him. But it does. This movement affects every single human being not only in the United States but across the world. We have reached a pivotal point in humanity where we have a decision to make. This decision will chart the course of history. If we decide to stand up for our fellow brothers in sisters that have been through so much, we can begin the process of healing and growing our bonds stronger as society and humans across the world. If we decide not to end racism and not fix our broken systems we are choosing to be enslaved to archaic ideologies and to be locked in the cages that shackle us to a deep, dark past. What will you choose?
The choice is obvious in my mind, and I hope it is just as obvious to you. If it isn’t, I implore you to take a few minutes for self-reflection to better understand why you feel this way. It is through understanding that we learn to open our hearts and our mind. It is through understanding that we learn the knowledge we need to grow and advance ourselves as humans. It is through understanding that racism and barriers to opportunity can be broken down. It is through uncomfortable moments that we grow as an individual and can learn to see things differently from what they used to be. If true change is to happen it can’t just be one race fighting for this change, it must be the people, united as one who confronts the storm head-on. That means you, white people. You can no longer sit back on the sidelines and say that this will all figure itself out. This is our time to step up and end these injustices, racism, and broken systems once and for all. We are in the midst of a Revolutionary War, and when you look back do you want to tell your grandchildren that you took part in this revolution to help advance humanity to a better place? Or do you want to sit on your couch and tell your grandchildren you did a great job watching the news?
Instead of fighting the British Empire for sovereignty, we as Americans are fighting the broken systems, the ideology that lies at the core of those systems, and the leaders who allow these systems to exist and thrive. When I use the word “war”, I want to be explicitly clear that I am not calling for violence or any behavior that would be detrimental to another human’s health, but am referring to attacking the ideology and psychological pillars that are at the root of our broken systems. To fight this modern-day Revolutionary War, we must understand the tools we have at our disposal.
Social Media is a weapon and a very powerful one; moreover, we must understand that this powerful weapon can be used on ourselves by our own governments or special interests through disinformation and deep fakes. Perfect examples of governments or special interests using this technology to fracture their people are the uprisings in Libya, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Malaysia, Lithuania, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Brexit in the UK. If you want more information about these cases I recommend watching the “Great Hack” on Netflix which goes more in-depth on the topic. On the flip side of this negative use case, we must understand that we can use this weapon in a much more powerful and greater way to unite and bring people together. This weapon can be used to bring truth, reality, and bring ideas to the forefront. As I am currently writing this post I noticed a topic on twitter that was trending: #whitelivesmatters… First knee jerk reaction, I became enraged. After looking into this, it turns out that the nation and followers of KPop (Korean Pop) completely flipped the script on white supremacists elbowing their way to the main stage by flooding social media with the hashtag, #whitelivesmatter and posting videos, images, and fancams of Korean Popstars. Their goal was to completely subdue and suppress the #whitelivesmatter movement by clogging the system with Kpop. What an absolute thing of beauty and brilliance. This is where we must understand if we want to defeat the enemy of hate, oppression, and racism, we must begin to think outside of the box and use the tools that are at our fingertips at a much higher level. We must be smarter than our opponent by understanding how our enemy thinks and how they behave. We must be two steps ahead and using social media is a good start.
Voting is undeniably another weapon we can use at our disposal, and we must participate in it. This includes not only the presidential elections but also in our local and state elections. If we want a true change in our democracy voting is a great start. I know it may not seem like a powerful weapon, but it is a tool that has been given to us and we cannot afford to throw it to the side. If we are going to win this Revolutionary War voting will need to be one of the many tools used to fight our broken systems by voicing our opinions through the ballot. No matter your political affiliation, voting is your voice. We can take to the streets and protest all we want, but voting is the action that gives us power in parallel to protesting.
What is power? Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. Pair this with the financial backing and limitless means and you are looking at many of the 1% in the United States of America. So how do we flip this script so that not just a select few have power? We must combine all of the weapons at our fingertips, unite forces together, and create our own systems that work for every person. Did we ever consider a mass exodus from the financial and government institutions that have shackled us to their sinking ships? There is no denying the power of the US Dollar throughout history, but with every great empire, there will be an end. I’m sure you thought about this during the 2008 financial meltdown, but now the difference is that we have an opportunity that must be actioned. To quote Miracle on Ice, “Great moments come from great opportunity. And that’s what you have here tonight.” We have the opportunity to start our new future and break out of the shackles by entering Crypto and Blockchain Technology. For those who don’t know anything about these subjects, get yourself informed and I mean ASAP. If we want to emancipate ourselves from the monetary cage that is the financial institutions across the globe it will start with the people recognizing that their off-ramp is at the intersections of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology. Literally, anyone can join, and all are welcome. There are no biases, there are no credit checks, there are no discriminations when it comes to cryptocurrency, and this tool will give access to a new financial system that works for everyone, not just the 1%.
Let’s just imagine that half of the population that currently banks with the legacy financial system opted out and decided to only use cryptocurrencies and blockchain to manage their “money”. The total assets of the banking industry in the United States are about $23 Trillion dollars. That is just the tip of the iceberg, and imagine if we were able to include millions of currently unbanked Americans and citizens across the world into the new blockchain financial system. We are talking about a major shift of wealth in trillions of dollars across the globe and the best part about it is that you are your own bank. Blockchain at its core was designed to be a decentralized platform where there are no major central authorities like the big banks or Federal Reserve. Blockchain runs on programmed code and predetermined guidelines that allow you to easily move your money how you best see fit. It’s your money and you should be able to decide how that money is managed. You shouldn’t have to get paid measly interest rates by giving your money over to a bank. It’s time we take the power back, and what better time to do this than now.
I bring this up because this is the ultimate weapon against racial injustice, discrimination, and racism. When it comes to blockchain it has no discrimination, and I urge and implore everyone to take a real deep look at things and highly consider crypto and blockchain as your best path forward to really making a change to some of the broken systems of today. What do governments do when they fight crimes? They follow the money trail. Where there is money, there is power. The only difference with crypto and blockchain is that you hold all the power as the end-user. There is no confiscation of the cryptocurrency by banks or governments. (unless money laundering or criminal activities are involved) If we all adopt crypto and blockchain technology we can take the power back and bring power to everyone no matter their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or age. Cryptocurrency represents the unrepresented. It gives a voice to the voiceless, and it brings you financial sovereignty from a system that has let us down over and over again.
In conclusion, if you have questions on how to start, where to start, when to get started I am always available and would love to talk to any individual who may have questions about Cryptocurrency or Blockchain. Keep in mind I may not know every answer, but I will point you to someone who does know the answers. Cryptocurrency and Blockchain isn’t perfect, but it’s our best shot at bringing a fair, unbiased, democracy to everyone. We must unite as people, but as human beings who inhabit the earth. We need to fight the power with our brains, our hearts, and our crypto. Racism has been learned through centuries and millenniums in time, but now is the time we burn that mother fucker to the ground. Racism is an institution that we will not and shall not tolerate. I stand here today vowing to my brothers and sisters of color across the globe to stand up for you and walk side by side until we walk through the ashes of this horrific and dehumanizing institution of racism. I stand in solidarity.
Great to see this post!
I (@ericwilson, this is a curation account I use) was in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the protest, it really is something everyone should experience.
I haven't spent much time curating over this last week, I just realized I upvoted your previous post as well! The odds of me finding both the way I curate is prety slim.... Glad I found it!
Right on @ericwilson! Thanks for taking a few minutes to read
Thank you so much! Just want to do my part.
Keep it up! Are you on twitter? If you are, put POSH (Proof Of Share) as your second or third tag on the post, then Post your link on twitter using #POSH as a tag, then put your link of your share in the comments
Some users on the platform use this as a way of not only rewarding your work on Hive, but also helping promote Hive on social media :)
a great post. i had a similar reaction to learning about what kpop stan did.
i've cross posted to the black lives matter community: https://peakd.com/c/hive-186309/created
Congratulations @bentwan27! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your board And compare to others on the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Support the HiveBuzz project. Vote for our proposal!
Great read
I appreciate the love @twingatsgaming!