“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” - MLK

I started to write a post about the disappointment I was feeling after the Wild West Relay race was cancelled due to the COVID crisis.  I decided to put that side for a later date as I had to express my thoughts and feelings about what it is happening right now in my country.  I was a child in the 60’s but remember vividly watching the news most evenings and seeing what was happening in the country and the rest of the world.  The news most nights was dominated by the war in Vietnam.  Even though the war led the news each night, there was so much more happening.  My clearest memories of those news reports are from 1968 through today.  Yet those of us who lived through the tumultuous period from 1968 through President Nixon’s resignation in August 1974 through today, don’t seem to have learned anything from what we saw and fought for so long ago.

If you are too young to have lived through it, 1968 was a year of major turmoil.  In addition to Tet offensive in Vietnam, it was the year that brought us North Korea’s capture of the USS Pueblo, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (which led to several days of rioting in inner cities throughout the U.S), the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, U.S. athletes taking a stand at the Summer Olympics in solidarity with the Black Power movement, and violent rioting and police brutality in Chicago outside the Democratic National Convention.  And that was only 1968.  1969 was no better.  We had the People’s Park riot, the Stonewall Inn riots, Altamonte, the Zodiac and Manson murders and on a better note the moon landing and Woodstock.  Then the 70’s arrived and this country felt a crisis of confidence.  The key events that led to this crisis were Watergate, Roe v Wade, Kent State, Inflation, the Energy Crisis, the end of the Vietnam War which only lead to a much colder and potentially more dangerous Cold War.

As a pre-teen and early teenager, I truly believed that all of those events changed our country in positive ways.  I believed that we came together and found common ground on which to build a better society.  I even mistakenly believed we had turned the corner when we finally elected a man of color as President.  Yet, in the past several weeks we have witnessed the brutal killings of George Floyd (by the police), Breonna Taylor (by the police in her own home) and Ahmaud Arbery (by neighbors while out jogging).  These events have led to people protesting in peaceful and not so peaceful ways.  As I watch the news, it is like déjà vu.  Those protesting whether peaceful or not so peaceful ways are being dealt with in a similarly to 50 years ago.  Are we heading to another Kent State?  Our President’s rhetoric on Twitter and in public statements makes me wonder.  

Being a privileged white man means that I can never fully understand the feelings that the black community members must be feeling.  They have every right to be outraged, traumatized, fearful and in profound pain.  I totally empathize with them and sit here and wonder when things will change in this country.  As I sit here in Arizona far removed from the events, I feel guilty for not doing more.  I feel helpless.  And I feel isolated.  I want to march with the protestors.  But am fearful of contracting the virus by not practicing social distancing and seeing many of them marching together in close proximity without masks.   I am saddened when I see looting and violence.  I suspect that it is being done by individuals who don’t care about the protest.  They are just opportunists and criminals taking advantage of the unrest.  Nonviolence and peaceful protests will do much more. 

“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

The protests, uprisings and riots I remember from my childhood in places like Watts, Detroit and Newark were much too big and too well-known to be forgotten.  But the revolts at that time happened in smaller communities across the country like Hartford, Fort Lauderdale, York and Harrisburg, PA too.  Sadly most people don’t remember those protests.  It may surprise you that the protests 50 years ago were in response to the unequal living conditions black communities were forced to endure alongside the unequal justice system.  Doesn’t that sound familiar.  Nothing has truly changed or improved for our black community. Not only that, our politicians simply ignored the nonviolent protests being instigated to try and fix the inequalities and prejudice inherent in the system.   

It is hard to believe it has only been 6 years from the protests and riots in Ferguson, Mo.  It is obvious that nothing has changed.  The issues from 50 years ago have not diminished.  It is obvious that black Americans continue to face the same racist challenges with no less severity today than they did 50 years ago.  And we have an administration in Washington that like 50 years ago is ignoring and some might say actually exacerbating the problem through their rhetoric.  

It is time that we have to all stand up and say enough.  We need to ask for public oversight of the police forces across our country.  There should be no tolerance for police brutality, racism or unjustified killings.  If an officer like Chauvin has been the subject of 18 prior complaints filed against him, he needs to be removed from the force.  There should be policies in place that weed out the bad cops who besmirch the reputation of the rest of the police force who do the right thing every day as they keep us safe in our communities.   One or two bad apples do spoil the whole bunch.

My Rabbi in his sermon last week reminded us of what the Mishna says regarding human beings being created in God’s image.  The Mishna explained, “When a mortal sovereign stamps the royal image on a coin, every coin made from that image is exactly alike.  However, when God put the stamp of the first human on humanity, every person deriving from the original one is different from every other one.”  Our Rabbi explained that each of us has our own role to play in this world.  If we are truly going to repair the world (tikkun olam) each of us must play our part.  This means that every life is valuable and every person on this planet should be treated with dignity.  If we don’t understand this simple concept, the world will continue to remain broken.

“The most modern and broadly understood notion of tikkun olam is that of "repairing the world" through human actions. Humanity's responsibility to change, improve, and fix its earthly surroundings is powerful. It implies that each person has a hand in working towards the betterment of his or her own existence as well as the lives of future generations. Tikkun olam forces people to take ownership of their world. It is them, not God, who will bring the world back to its original state of holiness.

More simply, it is important for Jews to participate in repairing the world by participating in tzedakah (justice and righteousness) and g'milut hasadim (acts of loving kindness). Without their stake in the improvement of their environment, injustice and evil will continue to exist.” - https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/tikkun-olam

While the concept of tikkun olam is an essential part of my Jewish faith, isn’t it something that we should all strive for?  At this time, we should all be seeking justice for the oppressed and finding ways to reach out to others with loving kindness.  Violence and hatred only begets more violence and hatred.  It is time to step back and understand that while we may have been created in God’s image, we are all individuals.  We are all valuable.  We all have a stake in this world.  We all must come together as human beings whether we are straight, gay, bisexual, transsexual, black, white, Asian, native American or in whatever skin we exist in.  The skin is only the surface, we are all the same beneath that surface.  The only difference between us is what we hold in our hearts.

Let’s hope that justice prevails and that finally we can truly see a difference in how we as human beings live together going forward.  Let’s bring God’s light back into the world and finally live in love, peace and harmony.

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

May 11 – 6.20 miles (1:03:33, 10:15 pace) – Hill Repeats

May 12 – 4.20 miles (35:07, 8:22 pace) – Speed Work

May 14 – 5.20 miles (41:48, 8:02 pace) – Tempo Run

May 15 – 5.20 miles (46:52, 9:01 pace) 

May 16 – 7.20 miles (1:24:40, 11:56 pace) – Trail Run 

May 17 – 4.10 miles (38:39, 9:25 pace) 

May 18 – 5.50 miles (57:07, 10:23 pace) – Hill Repeats

May 19 – 3.10 miles (23:34, 7:35 pace) – Speed Work

May 21 – 5.20 miles (40:56, 7:52 pace) – Tempo Run

May 22 – 5.10 miles (47:48, 9:23 pace) 

May 23 – 8.10 miles (1:13:35, 9:05 pace) 

May 24 – 5.10 miles (44:52, 8:48 pace) 

May 25 – 6.20 miles (01:04:26, 10:24 pace) – Hill Repeats

May 26 – 4.10 miles (34:16, 8:21 pace) – Speed Work

May 28 – 5.10 miles (41:06, 8:04 pace) – Tempo Run

May 29 – 5.50 miles (49:31, 9:00 pace) 

May 30 – 8.10 miles (1:17:34, 9:35 pace) 

May 31 – 5.10 miles (48:00, 9:25 pace)

Total Miles:  98.30 miles

2020 Total Miles:  752.10 miles