Waiting On The World To Change…

I am feeling disheartened.

Tears come easily.

Saturday night was a real revelation.

Safe at home, we were watching a local Los Angeles TV newscast, a KNBC chopper was hovering above Melrose and Fairfax in West Hollywood.

The peaceful demonstrations were centered in and around the Grove, an upscale outdoor mall located in the Fairfax district by the landmark Original Farmers Market and CBS Television City.

Crowds met early in the day, joining a peaceful movement organized by a 17 year-old student with her parents and other families.

Focused on racial injustice and police reform, the calm protesters were unified and then in the twilight hours a small faction of thugs started parallel playing and turned the tide.

First we watched as a roving band of teenagers and 20 somethings smashed the front windows of Nordstrom in The Grove. Thieves starting running in with garbage bags plundered from the trash cans in the mall, stuffing them full with merchandise and then running out.

All this was captured on camera.

The tipping point was, as darkness descended, the looters who appeared to have no affiliation to the protesters, camouflaging the real cause, smashed the windows of an Adidas store on Melrose and broke the metal gate.

Literally hundreds of young people ran into the store crawling under the mangled security gate and, stumbling over each other, emerged with armfuls of shoes and clothing, casting aside the shoe boxes on the sidewalk and in the street.

They called ahead and their designated drivers pulled up to the front of the store offering valet pick up for the brazen thieves and violent looters.

We watched in stunned silence for 45 minutes.

The police were otherwise occupied, busy attending to aggressive looters and arsonists a few blocks away.

There is no question that systematic racism and police brutality has to change in America.

The despair is understandable, but why channel the frustration and anger at people who are in similar situations, small business owners already economically devastated by the pandemic.

Hello from the other side…the powers that be will only focus on the violence rather then the authentic chants for much needed change.

I stand in solidarity with the cause.

Change is long overdue, but violence and looting is not the answer.

A few rotten apples use the cover of the protesters to enact anarchy, camouflaging their unlawful acts and subscribing to violence.

A new reality is that offenders throughout the country purportedly carried sledge hammers, sophisticated batons and fire bombs.

Sunday afternoon, craziness exploded in Santa Monica with violence and looting.

The thugs only purpose was to loot and steal…no better world intentions were on display.

They descended in luxury cars and were well organized.

They decimated the inventory at REI and Vans shoe store. (Photo sequence of man walking away with stolen shoes from Vans).

Peaceful protesters who demand justice are being negated and stifled by a small group of culprits.

The organized criminals in Santa Monica brought large garbage bags and were seen hiding in the alleyways, throwing away the packaging, shoving the shoes into bags and then running away or jumping into waiting cars…I am amazed at how many young women were complicit.

Santa Monica imposed a 4pm curfew, but the looting went on into the night.

Just like many of us who have lost our parents and miss that rock steady, consistent emotional support, many wish this country had a leader who wants to embrace us and reassure all Americans that change is coming, that we need to honor and respect each other (along with wearing masks and keeping our distance).

Sadly, we are a nation on our own, a flock devoid of a spiritual leader.

In my lifetime, this is the worst I have ever seen things in America.

Trump is an easy target, but deservedly so…much of the misfortune that Americans are facing now rest on his unfit, apathetic shoulders.

Humpty Trumpty refuses to bring the country together instead urging his supporters to shoot protesters, bullying and denigrating his political opponents.

I knew things would be bad when he was elected president, but I never envisioned this.

There are still rays of hope.

Remember, this is America.

Community members all across the country came out early Sunday morning and through an organized platform, Bring Your Own Broom, many true patriots swept up broken glass, scrubbed off obscene graffiti and boarded up gaping holes in storefronts in their own neighborhoods.

In America there is nothing we cannot do if we use our words to do battle and unite in a peaceful, proactive nationwide coalition to ensure reform.

Please, I implore you all to vote in November to eradicate Agent Orange and his racist views…that is your most effective weapon to guarantee a better tomorrow and to restart the dialogue in earnest.

“So we keep waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change”

*lyrics by John Mayer, Waiting On The World To Change

One Comment

  1. For me it’s ‘American Pie‘. On constant reverb since last night!

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