The Musings of Jaime David

The Musings of Jaime David
The Musings of Jaime David
@jaimedavid.blog@jaimedavid.blog

The writings of some random dude on the internet

1,168 posts
1 follower

Tag: Social Justice

  • Power To Change

    Power To Change

    You have the power to change.

    If you see injustice in this world, you have the power to change it.

    You have the power to stand up for what’s right.

    You have the power to stand up for human life.

    Human life is irreplaceable.

    All life is irreplaceable.

    Injustice is everywhere.

    Pain and suffering is everywhere.

    If you want to make the world better, you have the power to change the world.

    You have the power to make the world a better place.

    No matter who you are,

    Where you are,

    Or how old you are,

    You have the power to change the world.

    From a tweet to post,

    To a YouTube or Tik Tok vid;

    Whether it’s writing or drawings,

    Sketches or murals,

    Posters or poems,

    Photos or convos

    Whatever it may be,

    You have the power to change the world!

    Whatever your skills or talents may be,

    Use them to the best of your ability,

    And while doing it, try to show some compassion and empathy,

    For empathy can go a long way, you see.

    Empathy allows us to understand one another and what we believe.

    It allows us to understand things we may not have experienced.

    It allows us to see how we can be better individuals.

    It allows us to be a better society.

    Change is hard.

    Change is difficult.

    Change won’t come easy.

    But if you want to make a difference,

    You have to be persistent.

    If you want to end injustice,

    You need to understand what caused it.

    It is never too late to get involved and make a change.

    It is never too late to take a stand against hate.

    To quote a poem called “Change” that I wrote in December 2019,

    “Things change.

    Plans change.

    People change.

    We all change.

    Everyone changes.

    Everything changes.

    Change is all around us.

    It surrounds us.

    It’s all about us.

    It allows us

    To be who we’re truly meant to be

    And allows for us to see

    The people we truly want to be!”

    We have the power to be the change we want to see.

    To quote my poem “Perception,”

    “It takes just one word

    To change the perception of someone’s world.”

    That is all it takes

    To make the world

    A better place.

    You, fellow reader, have the power to change.

  • Independence?

    Independence?

    Today is the 4th of July,

    A.k.a Independence Day.

    It is America’s birthday;

    The day that the colonies declared independence from Great Britain.

    At least, that’s what most people think.

    The day Congress voted for independence was July 2nd

    And the day the Declaration of Independence was signed was August 2nd.

    However, the document itself is dated July 4th.

    What is the true day of America’s independence?

    I would say when the vote was made should be that day.

    Whatever the case, July 4th is considered “Independence Day.”

    For the longest time, it was a day of great celebration for me.

    But recently, with police brutality, systemic racism, and a pandemic running rampant,

    And with an inept administration ill-equipped to come up with solutions,

    It really leaves one feeling very disillusioned.

    With millions homeless, uninsured, and starving,

    And with thousands more being treated like second-class citizens,

    Whether they’re naturalized citizens, asylees, refugees, or immigrants,

    It leaves one to wonder if Americans really have independence.

    With millions of people dependent on corporations and the government,

    While others have millions or billions of dollars to spend,

    There’s a real discrepancy in this broken country.

    It’s sad to see.

    It saddens me especially because I’m a mixed minority.

    I have a constant fear of being shot by the police,

    Or being deported because I look like “an illegal.”

    All of that and more make me very fearful.

    So far, I haven’t had to deal with racism and prejudice,

    But I fear, in the future, racism and bigotry will become more severe.

    I fear people will become more open about their hatred towards minorities.

    I fear for my friends, my family, and my loved ones.

    I fear for everyone who’s Asian, black, Latinx, or mixed.

    I also fear for what could happen to me.

    And that leaves me to wonder, is there really independence?

    Is there really independence in this country

    If so many people have to live in constant fear of discrimination, hate, and bigotry?

    I’d say no.

    I’d say we have a long way to go.

    Who knows?

    Maybe racism, sexism, bigotry, and hatred will never go away.

    Maybe they will always be here to stay.

    I hope that’s not the case.

    I hope that one day, we can live in a world free from hate.

    Maybe that will happen. Maybe it won’t.

    All I do know is, it all starts at the individual level.

    I believe that most people are capable of change.

    I believe that most people can change for the better.

    How do they get there?

    I don’t know for sure.

    What I do know is, I want to try to understand people.

    I want to understand why people are the way they are.

    I want to understand why people act the way they do,

    Say the things they do,

    And think the way they do.

    I want to try to understand people.

    By understanding people, meaningful solutions can be reached.

  • Pacifism

    Pacifism

    It hurts a lot inside us

    When we see so much violence.

    Peace is what we want most,

    But that cannot happen when there exists systemic oppression.

    We don’t want people hurt, to suffer or die.

    We don’t want people to lose their lives.

    We value human life. We see the good and potential that people have inside.

    We want people to be free, be happy, and be caring.

    We want people to live life without fear of being victims of cruelty.

    We want to live in a world where no one hurts one another and where we all treat each other like sisters and brothers.

    We’d all care for each other. We’d all be like family.

    How will we get there? I have no idea.

    Are there peaceful solutions? I hope that there are.

    In fact, I believe that there are.

    One thing’s for sure; I am a pacifist.

    I’m against using violence.

    I don’t want to hurt others.

    I care a lot about people.

    Hurting them, to me, is evil.

  • Black Lives Matter

    Black Lives Matter

    Here is some artwork I made. It is of the Black Lives Matter fist.

    Now, I don’t really have a poem to along with my artwork, so instead, I will include this Black Lives Matter poem that I really liked. Enjoy!

    “The American Dream” by Marri

    Let me tell y’all something:
    The white man don’t care about our suffering.
    The privilege is too bright to see us.

    The white man don’t care about us.
    The white man wants to see us get shot,
    The white man wants to see us wither and perish.

    But who built America on their backs,
    Bare handed, and
    Whipped into submission?

    We did.

    We will take back America.
    We will take back our streets,
    Paved with the blood and tears of our people.
    This is our America.

    Not whitewashed and stained red with racism.

    This is your America.
    Where when we say, “Stop! Don’t shoot!”
    You shoot anyways.

    This is your America.
    Where when we say, “I can’t breathe.“
    You continue to suffocate us.

    This is your America.
    Where when we say, “Help.”
    You continue to let us suffer.

    This is your America.
    Where the president calls us thugs,
    And threatens to shoot us and our freedom.

    This is not my America.

    This is your America.
    Where you shoot us for having cell phones.
    Where you terrorize our sons and daughters.
    Where you **** us for being black.

    Who gonna protect us?
    Not cops drunk on their own power and superiority.
    Not the president blinded by racism.
    Not our white “allies” who stand by and watch us burn.

    But if we burn,
    You burn with us.

    If you **** us,
    You die with us    .

    We tried peace,
    We tried awareness,
    But we always end up with violence.

    We’re scared,
    But who can blame us?

    You’re killing us with your American Dream,
    You’re murdering us with your American Dream,
    You’re suffocating us with your American Dream.

    This is your America—
    Not mine.

    We will take back America.
    We will take back our freedom
    Or we will die trying.
    And that is the American Dream.

    https://hellopoetry.com/poem/3881378/the-american-dream/

  • Karens

    Karens

    They say the craziest shit.

    They think being forced to wear masks in stores is a form of oppression.

    They get upset when people of color barbecue in parks.

    They call the police on the neighbor’s dog.

    They choke their pets while telling the police they’re being attacked.

    They yell at retail employees if their service is not fast.

    They’re everywhere, and they’re a pain in the ass.

    It’s ridiculous. There are even male versions of them.

    They are the biggest snowflakes imaginable.

    They are racist, sexist, insensitive, and privileged.

    Moral of the story is: don’t be a Karen.

  • Justice For Floyd

    Justice For Floyd

    They killed him in cold blood.

    He said he could not breathe.

    He was pinned down to the ground.

    His neck was crushed by them.

    The ones who were “good” just stood there.

    The one who directly killed him got charged with third degree murder.

    To me, that’s too lenient.

    What was seen in the video, that was murder to the first degree.

    Now, there are riots and protests all across the country.

    There was no justice for George Floyd when he was killed by that chauvinist chode Chauvin.

    People are angry. People are upset. People are infuriated. I am too.

    We need to stand in solidarity with Floyd and his family and demand justice for him, and the countless other lives lost due to police brutality.

    We need a change. We need a better way of life.

    The way things are now, it should not be. We cannot be tolerant of hatred and brutality.

    We cannot be accepting of bigotry.

    We need a totally new society; one that does not oppress marginalized groups and minorities.

    How we will get there, I don’t know.

    I hope that we could find peaceful solutions, but at this point, I don’t even know if we could.

    What I do know is this: I am not a violent person. I do not want to hurt others, nor do I want others to see others get hurt.

    I am a pacifist by nature. If that makes me weak, so be it. Whatever the case, I want to find solutions other than violence.

    I can understand the riots and the violence. I even understand the looting. However, I don’t know if all of that is the solution.

    What I do know for sure, I demand justice for George Floyd, and the countless other lives lost from police brutality.

  • No Justice No Peace — Daniela Elana

    No Justice No Peace — Daniela Elana

    I’m honestly despondent about everything going on. It seemed since the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, there’s always something like this, now with the blatant seven minute murder of George Floyd on camera. Similar to a pot that boiled over, enough is enough. It all angers me. Growing up, it was the colorblind era. […]

    No Justice No Peace — Daniela Elana
  • Sexism

    Sexism

    Sexism is terrible.

    It is horrendous.

    It is disastrous.

    It’s the treatment of one sex,

    Usually women,

    In a negative way

    For what’s between their legs.

    It is male privilege

    That perpetuates

    This messed up system.

  • Racism

    Racism

    Racism; it is a system

    Where a person is treated different

    For the color of their skin pigments.

    It is a system

    That has oppressed millions

    For many generations.

    The only way to end it

    Is to fight against it.

    In order to do that, we must acknowledge

    The existence

    Of white privilege.

  • Privilege

    Privilege

    Privilege; it’s a thing that exists.

    You can have privilege for being white, male, or cis.

    There’s also privilege for being pretty, tall, or thin.

    There is even privilege for being fucking rich.

    Privilege is everywhere, and it is fucking shit.

    It is a system where you can get judged for the color of your skin and pigments.

    It is a system where men can’t show their emotions.

    It is a system where rich men can pollute the environment.

    It is a system where businesses can lobby the government.

    It is a system where you can be demonized for being an immigrant, poor, or homeless.

    It is a system that causes great division.

    But do not despair; not all is hopeless!

    There is a way; a way we can fix this.

    We must make people aware; aware of their privilege.

    We must make people realize that the problem is systemic,

    And that privilege is not just simply something that one is born in.

    Privilege is something that society has decided.

    Privilege can give people an unfair advantage,

    And can also promote hypocrisy and double standards.

    Those with privilege can get praised for something,

    And if marginalized groups do it,

    Those with privilege have a fit.

    It’s bullshit.

    This shit needs to end.

    It’s time we give a voice to those who are voiceless.