Merry Christmas from the ETeam!

 

My father often reminds me

 Not that I have failed at anything recently, but COVID has made things dificult; for all of us. My father pulled out this gem he had us learn as kids. Thanks Dad!

Dr Flavius Akerele III, The ETeam

Try Try Again

by T. H. Palmer

'Tis a lesson you should heed,
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try again;

Then your courage should appear,
For if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear
Try, try again;

Once or twice, though you should fail,
If you would at last prevail,
Try, try again;

If we strive, 'tis no disgrace
Though we do not win the race;
What should you do in the case?
Try, try again

If you find your task is hard,
Time will bring you your reward,
Try, try again

All that other folks can do,
Why, with patience, should not you?
Only keep this rule in view:
Try, try again.

 

Explaining what defunding the police really means

First of all, defunding is not a great term, and I bet even now some people are losing their ever-loving minds when they hear it. Please relax and listen to logic. Also, I am not using specifics here, just general information.

Reforming might be a better term for now, so I will use that, along with some other Rs.

1.      Re allocation of resources and budgets needs to occur. If the police are going to be considered professionals, then they need training that reflects true professionals, and an average of 16 weeks will not do it. Police need more education, training, and psychological and drug testing before they are ever given a badge and able to interact with the public solo. Move that money from military equipment to training officers before they are sworn in; this would weed out a lot of the “bad apples” before they start, and like any true profession, this training needs to be renewed on a regular basis.

2.      Re-imagining the role of police from warriors to bodyguards and guardians. Warriors are trained to kill and subdue their enemies and the public are not the enemy. The thin blue wall must come down, and the thin blue line must be erased, quotas and incentive systems need to go.  There should be no fictitious barrier between the public and the guardians that are supposed to protect them. Like doctors, police should be held to a higher standard, and that should include malpractice insurance and higher consequences for wrongdoing tied to pension or promotions. Police currently are rarely held accountable for hurting and killing their wards.

3.      Respect the people you are sworn to protect, all the peoples, regardless of race, socioeconomic background, or mere suspicion of being a criminal (hopefully training will reinforce this). In the current form, police demand respect of people who are terrified, which to them means absolute obedience. However, this is America, and you cannot expect a country of people founded on rebellion to be subservient. Give respect and you get respect! By showing respect to the communities they are supposed to protect, they will get respect and be rewarded with trust.

The stats show the police have a failing grade in their current iteration, so it seems obvious something new needs to happen, but Reforming police is only part one, there are at least 3 more parts.

District Attorneys need to be transformed to seekers of true justice and not statistics driven deliverers of punishment. We are seeing real results with DAs who believe in justice not just punishment. Justice needs to be truly blind, so that punishments can truly fit the crime.

Prison system needs to change from penal to correctional and rehabilitative. Prison is place of little or no hope, it is place you try and survive like “escape from New York” where the strong prey upon the weak. Right now, the corruption in the prison system is the worst part of the whole criminal justice system because it is profit driven and prison guards are the most corrupt out of all law enforcement officers because there are few eyes on them, and society does not value the people in the prison system as people.

Probation and parole are also a corrupt system due to the profit incentives to collect fines and fees, and the corrupt nature of these officers to exploit desperate people who are just trying to survive. The prison and parole/probation systems recidivism rate are so high!  Their job and promotions should be ranked based upon how few people go back to prison; the idea as that we want them out of a job eventually.

This would take a massive culture and political shift in this country, the lip service and small gestures will not do it, and we must be prepared to fire a lot of people who are not doing their job correctly, because that is what happens in professions; you lose your job if you are not doing it.

This is my translation of defund the police, and if you still feel the system is doing a great job, I wish you well.

Dr Flavius A. B Akerele III

The ETeam

This is social media

This is social media, so I am fully aware it is not really “social”. I am fully aware that some people behave differently in the online format than they do in person. However, some of you have proved to me that you believe in “selective justice”, you believe that the constitution does not protect all people just those who agree with you, and some of you so-called Christians have shown you do not believe in Christianity.

George Floyd is a symbol, really, he should be a symbol for all who love freedom from oppression, and obviously many of you have never experienced “over policing”  and true fear of the police like others have had, most minorities are not criminals (different topic).

I am not sure how much is true, but is possible George Floyd was a felon and did time? Yes, but guess what? He did his time and had been living a righteous life by all accounts. Does being a past felon mean you get the death penalty for a so-called crime you have not been convicted of? Does your criminal past mean you should be condemned to death?

George Floyd is catalyst of something much bigger, something many of you try and ignore. The United States is only 243 years old; it is a very young country. Slavery ended 155 years ago, so guess what? It is still within living memory! You have children whose parents fought in the civil war still alive now, and you have people whose grandparents were slaves still alive now as well. The scars have not healed.

We live in a great country, with great potential, and we may not always agree with each other; and that is ok. The name calling, the dismissing of peoples’ thoughts and feelings, the lack of civil discourse, and the casual ignorance needs to stop! We will never be truly great until we can be great to each other all the time on all levels, and if you cannot see this than you are more blind than Stevie Wonder.

Dr Flavius Akerele III

PS, I am not going to debate you on social media, that is what a cold beer and conversation is for.

How to lose valuable employees

·         Step one: bad communication and lack of communication

·         Step two: create cliques and surround yourself with those loyal to you. Freeze out those you arbitrarily do not like and never give credit or acknowledge any work they have done for you.

It does not take much to not do this, so why do educational institutions who teach these simple things keep making the same mistakes? 

A misconception of race topic

I will preface by saying I will be using the term “black”, “black people”, etc., for reference purposes only.

Are you aware that there are more black people outside of the United States than within?

Are you aware of the fact that there is no “black race” nor such thing as “black culture?

Some of you are puzzled at this point, so let me break down a few things for you:

·         United States culture does have a huge impact on how black people around the world are perceived, but it is not representative of all black people around the world; not even close

·         Contrary to popular beliefs, skin color does not make a culture

·         Identifying oneself as “black’ is a western concept and popularized and solidified into western culture

·         Most people with black skin around the world identify themselves by their kingdom, their region, or their people. For example: in Nigeria there are Yoruba people, Hausa people, Igbo people, etc. (there are many more, this is just an example)

Are you aware that within the small population of black people in the United States, that there Is not one culture either? The diversity is vast because it is a large country with many different influences.

Are things clearer now?

Do not expect you know anything about a person based upon their skin color, do not expect someone with the same skin color to have anything in common with you. Do not put people in boxes that fit your narrative, reject stereotypes, and labels that are designed to make you comfortable but not the other person.

Changing your mindset over this simple thing could open your world to people, experiences, and life that you have never experienced.

I am not saying you have to change, but I am saying that you cannot expect people to conform to your misguided perceptions, and not get push back; we all want to be valued, we all want out authentic story to be told.

Dr Flavius Akerele III

The ETeam

Too many opinions not enough facts

Occasionally I put out a few simple facts on social media, especially when it comes to law enforcement overreach. It is no secret I am not a fan of the double standard of police overreach and community abuse, but I try and express it a logical manner (most of the time).

Anyway, I digress. How does a discussion of police overreach and victimless crimes get diverted into a discussion of illegal immigration when that had nothing to do with it? How do you believe in justice for some but not for all, especially simply because of skin color? How do you get to cherry pick who is subject to the protection of the constitution? How do you put out statistics that even a 6^th grader can prove wrong and call it fact?

Memes are not a political discussion, and neither is name calling.

It is very difficult to have healthy and positive discussions with people right now, and almost impossible on social media.

How did we come so far with rudeness? How did we sink so low?

This is not a blame game, but a call to action! Remember who we all are! Remember that we all have rights and are entitled to the same protections equally in the eyes of the law. Also, not all laws are just.

Just a bit of a rant. #courtesy #politics #truth #civility #education #justice

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam