Hola peoples -
So I have been following the news very closely lately because I feel like the world is going to break in half at some point. I'm not talking about the news from overseas (where it is equally dire and messy), but specifically about the US. I mean, WTF!, actions have consequences and many cities and police forces in America seem to be unaware of that simple fact. It's not complicated at all (cause and effect, hello?), but these people apparently cannot grasp this elementary concept in their puny little, teeny tiny brains.
I am disgusted. I am just fucking disgusted by the murder by police of innocent citizens because black, by all of the rampant police abuse directed towards people of color, the outright and PROUD! discrimination, the completely in-your-motherfucking-FACE! racial inequality, and this whole goddamned thing of if you just happen to be black, you apparently cannot walk, or sit, or shop, or drive, or talk on the phone, or put your hands up in this stupid goddamned country!
The Civil War is still bloody going on, for the love of all that is noodley. It never ended, which every self-respecting Democrat already knew, but now we have recordings of this heinous shit. I can barely get out of bed in the morning now, no lie.
So I wanna tell you a few stories that will maybe lighten the load. Maybe they won't but, hey, here's to trying, eh?
I've lived in Colorado for almost 20 years, but most of that time was spent in Boulder County. I stayed there for a long time because of Little Shiz and because that's where my friends and jobs were. I liked the liberalness of Boulder County, but not the snobbishness. People who live there do that whole keeping up with the Jones' thing, but there, it's just "how many yoga classes did you go to this week? have you tried restorative yoga?" or "my kid goes to this school and they're rated top in the nation and the principal had an article about her featured in Newsweek".
Boulder County, Colorado is liberal as all fuck (I read somewhere several years ago that stated Boulder proper is 79% registered Democratic, 11% registered Green, and a measely 10% Republican or Indy!), but that place is upper-middle class and white as the driven snow. I'm white so, ya know, I fit in and stuff but I always wanted to mix it up with other colors of the rainbow, call me crazy.
I also can't relate to that "upper-middle class" shit. That's not me.
In 2011, I made a life change and decided to move to the Denver area. As much as I've enjoyed more colors of the rainbow in a bigger metropolitan area, up until 2 weeks ago, I only lived in the suburbs. The 'burbs are (of course) mostly white and kinda boring, especially if that's the only reality you've ever known.
I've only ever lived in the 'burbs. Isn't that sad?
Two weeks ago, I fulfilled a life-long goal of mine to live downtown in a big city. Some people are country folk, but I'm city folk. I come alive in cities, I love the culture, I live the life, I love pretty much all of it.
So I moved to fucking downtown Denver, in this cute little walk-up, by myself. My building has about 30 units in it and, I swear to goddess, I feel like a kid again! Like I just moved out of my parents house and into the big city! OMGWTFBBQ!
My Facebook friends are really annoyed with me for continually talking about it, but suck it, muthahfuckahs! I LOVE MY NEW APARTMENT IN THE CITY! Sarah Jessica Parker is gonna stop over later and we're gonna smoke cigarettes and talk about Big.
Anyway.
Like I said, my building has about 30 units. I've met about 20 people from said units and only 2 of 'em are white. LOL. Do you have any idea how excited I am about this?! Yes, I realize that I sound stupid and perhaps a bit too Pollyanna for your taste, but I don't give a shit.
I'm in the city, goddamnit! Yay! Let's go dancing until 3 am!
What strikes me is that I am not afraid. It's nice. I mean, I think I have a healthy amount of fear about living in downtown Denver by myself (when Little Shiz isn't here, of course), and I'm cautious because I am a woman and I would totally lose if I had to run away from someone chasing me. I would also die in the first wave of any zombie apocalypse, FYI. I just don't have the stones ...
The couple across the hall made me dinner my first night here. They are so awesome! Interracial couple from out-of-state who just moved here hoping to start anew. The dude next to the couple is super cute (hee hee hee!) and single (hee hee!) and his daughter is adorable. The tall men down the hall are a little too nice to me (ahem - stop staring at my boobs, yo!) , but they helped me carry up a dresser. The older gentleman at the end of the hall is the self-professed "hall monitor" and watches out for everyone.
The guy downstairs is a young kid just starting out, super friendly. The nice African woman (whose name I can't quite pronounce yet) and I try to bridge the communication gap occasionally when her kids are outside playing and I'm coming home from work. Her kids have the biggest, sweetest smiles I've ever seen. The other neighbors I've met have just said "hello" to me in passing, but no one has been rude.
Yes.
The one guy who scared me was white. Came up the stairs when I was moving in, all tatted up and pierced and with HUGE! gauges in his ears and looking all fierce and mean, and he completely disarmed me with a, "Hey, how ya doin'? Welcome!"
So that's cool. I welcome any and all diversity, man. It's really nice to be living in downtown Denver. I'm really happy because I feel like I belong here.
The other bright spot is much cooler than my personal story.
I was at work today typing away with Rachel Maddow talking to me in the background. I normally tune out at the certain point when I'm really focused on what I'm doing, and all I remember hearing is "Denver" and then I rewound the video and listened in.
What I heard made me happy and more proud of Denver than ever. Because it's hard to link to Maddow's show, here's the gist from The Denver Channel:
DENVER - Denver's police chief says he plans to require patrol officers to wear body cameras starting next year.
Officers working in LoDo (Lower Downtown) are already wearing the cameras as part of a six-month pilot program and study by the University of Cambridge. A similar study conducted in Rialto, California, showed massive declines in police use of force and citizen complaints when police used body cams.
Oh yeah, we bad!
I really want to post the entire article, because it's really interesting learning about how the cameras work and when the cops are allowed to turn the cams off (not when civilians are around, rAmen) and the pilot program company that started this whole thing - called TASER INTERNATIONAL, I shit you not! - that was bequeathed unto the City of Denver free of charge.
Chief White said the goal is transparency and acknowledged there are questionable situations between officers and citizens every week in the city.
"From my perspective this is really a no-brainer," said White.
The Denver Chief of Police, Robert White, is black. He was appointed by Mayor Michael Hancock (also black) in 2011. Chief White started his career as a beat cop in DC. Looks like the chief has had an interesting career thus far, opting to leave the cops behind for awhile to work in public policy. Chief White has also been Chief of Police in Greensboro, NC and Louisville, KY.
The man has a BA in Public Administration (graduated summa cum laude, thank you very much) and received an MS from John Hopkins in Applied Behavioral Science in '96.
We need more chief of police like Denver Chief Robert C. White. Also, I might be in love with him, so just back off!
;)
Have a good night, all!