“The Divide: NYPD & The Communities They Patrol."

Let's stop pointing fingers and solve this issue. Racism may never die, but empathy will never spread unless we all do something about it.

• We're more than 3 weeks into the new year now, yet we cannot put the tumultuous times of 2014 behind us because the same tension, anger, mourning and loss still resides in the air.

• The Divide between police officers and the mayor is evident, but the gap between the police and the communities in which they patrol are wider than ever.

• Something is missing. Let’s start with empathy. Do cops truly empathize with the deaths of "Michael Brown" and "Eric Garner?" Do people in the communities truly empathize with the heinous murders of the two police officers, "Rafael Ramos" and "Wenjian Lu"? 

• If the answer is "No" to both questions, then we have some serious work to do in this country.

• This post is not meant to poke fingers at any side, in fact this post aims to eliminate the word "side," completely. We’re on the same side here. We’re all human beings. 

• I read about the story of a black man in RIverdale. How he felt unwelcome in his community.

nyc-crime/riverdale-man-moving-racially-charged-vandalism-article-1.1746539

"Larry, 24, said he’s half-Portuguese and half-Arabic and felt “harassed” by constant questions and stares. “Part of it is because it’s a quiet neighborhood. But if you don’t look the part, they will question you.”

"His younger brother Lawrence Rowe, who with him Friday morning, said he also felt uneasy visiting Hart.

“I walked in the building, and the doorman looked right at me and said, ‘You’re in the wrong building. What are you doing here?’ ” recalled Rowe, 40, who said he had recently returned from serving in the Army in Germany."

• Now, let me transition from that to this brief anecdote. I met a police officer at a deli near my house earlier this year. He graduated from my rival high school two years ahead of me. I was on my way to a rehearsal for a film. I was wearing my camera bag. He noticed and started a conversation with me. He seemed like a decent guy and probably is, however the ugliness in his speech emerged when we spoke about the community we were in. He told me to be careful. Citing, the culture and people, as troublesome. Yes, "these people…yes these people…" the disdain for the people in this community was evident. His words cemented his actions, yes he painted them all over with the same brush. 

• We must give everyone a chance. That is the essence of common humanity. We should not judge. The man who executed the two cops boasted about it on Instagram. He knew what he was going to do. We cannot base his actions on all black people. 

• Police officers and the people of the community need to come together and speak to each other.  They need to hug it out and sing kumbaya or something…this has gone on long enough. How can police officers work in areas they loathe? How can police officers work a job in which they constantly fear for their lives? Why do police officers victimize the poor? Is it really to generate revenue? Are they being forced to do this? If so, why not quit? Why not revolt against the system instead of one man, the Mayor De Blasio, whose rhetoric had no bearing on the assassination of the two police officers in Brooklyn. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/cops-shot-brooklyn-sources-article-1.2051941

• Check out this take on the police officers by the satirist, "Bill Maher, on HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher," 

Bill Maher on NYPD

• We cannot baby police officers. They must provide solutions. GO out there and meet people. Talk to people, befriend the community, don’t make them your enemy.

• This is America. Our military has treated the citizens of foreign countries with more respect than us. We’re American citizens. Sure there are some bad apples, but very few.

• The crime rate has historically decreased in this country, yet the police continue to militarize. Why? americans-police-continue-to-militarize-despite-record-low-crime-rates/192029/

• Stop utilizing harmful rhetoric to alienate and demonize communities.

• People in the community need to condition and educate themselves on approaching police officers. Hold seminars. People should not fear the police.

• The police need to change their perception. People must educate their children on how to behave and treat those who risk their lives for them.

• The animosity must dissipate. 

"The fact that, we're all going to die someday, should be enough to make us love each other."

-Charles Bukowski

Below is a summary of how I felt in late December of 2014.

We're On The Same Side

My skin color makes me fear for my life...

I don't know why there are multiple sides...

Only pointing fingers here, pushing a distorted view...

I see all of the uniforms turning a blind eye...

The city renowned for apple pie is devoid of empathy.

I want you to stop choosing one side...
We're all alive and shouldn't die...
I want you to make peace, 
Forget the speech, please be innovative.
Why is it in movies we can get along?
Put the guns away and talk
Please listen before you shout

I want everyone to understand...
Black, White, Blue is all the same...
Both sides are wrong and need to make up...
Picking a side is too far gone

I understand your pain...
Yes, you, you, you and you and yes even you...


I can say this because I'm alive...
My parents fear for my life...
They lecture me, on how to act and speak 
Should I be confronted with big bad blue...
I know that "bad" is suggestive...
But that is the reality... we're all bad until we do good.

Semi-civilized human beings talking out their problems in a football stadium...

When we will reach enlightenment?

I so badly want to not worry...

Break the law, die, fight for your life, die, struggle, die, retaliate die, two wrongs, die, turn your back, die, silence, die, anger, die, animosity, die...

Until we all come together we're doomed...

Not in the apocalypse sense... of course... I mean in a truer sense...



Inside we're rotting away... Forget the whole "Walk a mile in my shoes."

I don't need you to go through that hassle...

Just understand one thing...

I'm a person and you are too...

I don't want to die...I desire peace of mind.

Shake my hand...look me in the eye...touch my skin...feel my life.