Bernice King
Somehow, we have to realize that what we watch and what we listen to not only often reflects our most violent tendencies but cultivates more violence.
Nonviolence as a lifestyle and perpetual strategy will allow us to be on the offense instead of continually on the defense. We will be able to move the ball down the field with team decisions and playmaking versus constantly thinking about how the opposing forces are moving the ball.
Nonviolence will empower and equip us to bring generations to the table and fuse our knowledge, gifts, and zeal together.
Like my father, I believe that nonviolence is the antidote to what he called 'the triple evils of racism, poverty and militarism.' These three evils were consuming our hopes for community in 1964, and, fifty years later, we remain divided because of their festering effects.
It is time for humanity to reset our spiritual compass from self-centeredness to other-centeredness.
Police departments across the nation must develop nonviolent 'rules of engagement,' so that they don't reflexively respond to suspected crimes with violence. This will require more in-depth training in the behavioral psychology of conflict resolution so police have tried-and-true techniques of preventing and de-escalating violence.
In addition to a stronger focus on better training for law enforcement, America urgently needs programs to provide jobs and educational opportunities in economically depressed communities.
We can put millions of America's idle young people to work helping to repair and restore America's deteriorating infrastructure, public utilities, and transportation systems. Nothing would revitalize the nation's sagging economy more than such a commitment.
After acknowledging that most law enforcement personnel are fair-minded and do a difficult job, it only takes one exception to create a terrible tragedy.
If I had to do it all over again, would I want my dad here? I would say no. Our world is in a better place because our father gave his life.
We live in a society where we may have differences, of course, but we learn to celebrate these differences.Collection: Differences
In all religions, we make a choice about what we emphasize, and I choose to come down on the side of a loving God.Collection: Choices