EQUALITY

By Miles Patrick Yohnke

© 2015 All Rights Reserved.

Protesters march through downtown Cincinnati during a B LM demonstration, on July 2016. (John Minchillo/AP)

Photos of Sam DuBose near where he was shot and killed by a UofC police officer during a traffic stop. (Tom Uhlman/AP)

Blacks enter here?

Whites enter here?

Do not enter here?

Do not disturb?

Human property for sale?

Where are we going, this society?

Where have we been?

Welcome.

Welcome? Really? Honestly?

A demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement in Baton Rouge, La.

Rich,

Rich with money,

Rich with jewelry,

Rich with friends,

Rich with fame,

Rich with lust,

Rich with cars,

Rich with houses,

Rich with jobs,

Rich with education,

Rich with power,

Rich with greed,

Rich with vengeance,

Rich with jealousy,

Rich with hatred,

Rich with alcohol,

Rich with drugs,

Rich with politics,

Rich with religion,

Poor, poor, poor.

From the shelters,

To the pristine suburbs,

Many minds are not in good neighbourhoods.

Behind any wall,

Or any picket fence,

Could lie a comatose, mechanical being.

With a stench of catastrophic debt,

A dark void of one's self

Protection and security signs and stickers,

Housed throughout and placed, though often,

Not felt inside.

In the backyards,

Lie gardens of well watered green envy.

Dismantle this despair, and stave off,

This five star act of entitlement.

From the perspective of the mind, the motivation within.

Characterized and interchangeable,

But you and I are not.

Evaluate your worth to this world,

You are worth more than you perhaps may think.

Think. Think of others,

Another human life,

A life that is equal to yours.

We are essentially all the same,

In the equality of life.

And deposit:

Still appears to show patrolman Michael Slager shooting Walter Scott several times in the back. (Chris Stewart/AP)

Donations of honor,

Donations of integrity,

Donations of accountability,

Donations of discipline,

Donations of passion,

Donations of compassion,

Donations of commitment,

Donations of loyalty,

Donations of love.

Love thy neighbour, love thy self.

Tear down this wall of hatred,

Tear down this wall of jealousy,

Tear down this mind of us against them,

Build each day with this new solid foundation.

Let this be the genesis found within,

So that society knows where home is,

Where compassion has no postal code.

Eric Garner, right, died after an officer wrapped his arm around Garner's neck in a chokehold. (National Action Network/AP)