Trayvon Martin Tragedy and the Media's Focus

I do not know for a fact what happened on February 26th in Sanford, Florida. I do know that the captain of a neighborhood watch, 28 year old George Zimmerman, shot and killed unarmed  17 year old  Trayvon Martin. This is a tragedy regardless of what happened. I would argue that only Zimmerman and Martin actually know, and one of them is dead.

My heart and prayers go out to his family. I cannot imagine the pain that they are going through right now. It would appear that the incident was instigated by George Zimmerman based on the information that has been provided. He was told to stay in his car and he did not listen, plus the kid was unarmed that he fatally shot. That sounds open and shut to me, but until all of the information comes out it is a horrific tragedy that should have never occurred.

Now we move on to the media. SHAME ON YOU!! In the month since the shooting occurred it has changed from a horrific killing to a racist occurance (which it might be). Some how though the media has managed to turn this into a black vs white thing. Every where that I look I see or hear about the white adult shooting the black child. How is that possible when it was a Hispanic that did the shooting? Since when is a Hispanic considered white? It is more like a brown versus black thing.

The media is trying to make this a white versus black thing so they can generate more viewers through sensationalism and capitalize even more on a tragedy. They are emotionally stirring this up even more, and I am afraid that innocent people may get hurt. You have the New Black Panthers saying, "You kill one of mine, I have to kill one of yours!"Retaliation is never the answer, especially when it is racially motivated.  Racism is always wrong, wrong, wrong no matter who does it. Revenge is not the answer, either. Ghandi said it best, "An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind."

Regardless of what happened, this is a man using deadly force against a teen-ager that was unarmed. That makes it a tragic killing that should not have happened! This is clearly a wrong versus right issue. All race and color aside, the point is that an unarmed teenager was shot by a grown man.

That leads me to the next part of my blog. Why is the Trayvon Martin shooting on every channel and every hour that I see the news, yet there is hardly any mention of the daily deaths, strokes and seizures of teen-agers who are buying synthetic marijuana and methamphetamine in head shops and convenience stores across the United States? It is marketed under many names: potpourri, spice, bathing salts, jewelry cleaner, K-2, K-3, etc. How about having that on the news all of the time! It is sold in stores so people  people think that it is safe, and it is clearly not. Why are we not shutting down the places that knowingly sell the products that are killing our children?

Some people argue that there are lots of things sold that teens are abusing and dying from. That may be true, but they generally are buying these other products and using them as other than they were originally intended and/or having to combine them with other products or chemicals through a process in order to get high. They are not having to make something from the synthetics that are being sold I am talking about. They are using it in the same form they buy them in. It is murder in the worst case scenario and criminal negligence is the best you can say about it. If you want to argue that alcohol is legal and is just as bad or worse, I hear you. I wish that it was illegal, also.

In closing, it is definitely possible that the shooting of Trayvon was racially motivated. Why? Because racism is alive and well in our country. That is a very sad fact. That said, could we not only focus on the outrage over this shooting but also on the youth that are being rushed daily to the hospital and in some cases dying because of the synthetic drugs that people are selling in places of business? Can we please focus on our lack of proper prevention education to them! Please let us set our youth up to be successful and help them when they have issues instead of setting them up to fail and incarcerating them when they struggle!

Mixed Emotions - What Are You Passionate About?

Sometimes, I get a little frustrated. I think that part of it is because not every one's passion is for the same thing as mine. Many of us probably feel that way. We cannot understand why people are not as concerned as we are about whatever it is we are concerned about. Some of you feel strongly about finding veterans jobs. Others of you feel strongly about starving children in foreign countries, while still others make it their life's mission to save dogs from being put to sleep. Those are your passions.

Today, I am going to talk about my passion. I hate Satan vehemently. I know that drugs are from Satan. Therefore, I hate drugs vehemently. Even more than that, I hate that we have children who are addicted to them. I spent 23 years of my life abusing drugs and alcohol. I do not want children to have to do the same thing I did. Children deserve to have a childhood. Children should never have to go to prison. Children doing drugs breaks my heart. When you combine those two, drugs and children, you have arrived at what I am most passionate about. 

Due to my passion, I feel that others should be as passionate about the issues as I am. I think that it is our duty to protect our youth. Yet, I see people get more wound up about abused animals than abused children. I see people more upset about Skepticon coming to Springfield than I do about a 12 year old overdosing. Put up a political caption on Facebook and you will get 100 comments. You put up a picture of a 13 year old girl missing for a week and there might be 5 comments.

I just don' t get it? When did we begin to put more value and importance on our pets than our children? Why is a gathering of Atheists and Agnostics causing more of an uproar locally than a 14 year old that has been missing for the last 72 hours? Why is it that drugs are becoming less and less of a big deal. We have not really made a dent in the statistics of those who use illegal drugs. It has shifted from one drug to another being the most popular, but the rates are not improving much.

I have mixed emotions. Part of me knows that politics are a big deal. That is where funding should come from for the education of our youth. That is where money should be coming from when it comes to prevention strategies for substance abuse. But we keep cutting the funding to our programs for children, then wonder what is wrong with them. I guess that I don't have mixed emotions, I am feeling a righteous anger. Why are our children not of the utmost importance? What could be more important than our youth, who are the future of our world?

I had churches that I went to and asked if I could set up a table in their church lobby to let people know about the program that we are starting. Some of those churches said that they had too much going on to do that. I had other churches that approached me and asked what they could do to help. Some of the churches that said they did not have time in service or for us to set up in their lobby told us we could post on their Facebook walls. That would have been better than nothing. Of course, when we posted on their walls the posts were immediately taken down. Gee thanks............but no thanks!

In the next several weeks I am going to be starting  a 501(c)3, and my hope is that some of the churches in the area who are saying that they are helping the community will do just that. If they claim they want to make an impact on the community, we will have a great opportunity for them to help us do just that. I really hope that I do not feel as let down as I have by some of them. The other churches that have already offered help, we will be in touch and thank you so much for all that you do.

It seems like the smaller churches are more ready to help projects that do not promote their church. Some of the biggest churches acted like if it did not promote them, they were too busy. Don't get me wrong, we have had a couple of bigger churches that we are not members of offer us some great help. To those bigger churches that did not have the time, I hope that my first impressions of you are wrong. It is not about business or attendance, it is about making a difference in people's lives. I truly hope we can work together and help each other make an impact in the lives of our youth!!

The Documentary

My wife and I will soon begin an industrious adventure that will start this year in September. It will be the shooting of our first in a series of 3 documentaries that will look at substance abuse/alcoholism. The documentary that we will begin with will contain interviews with 10 people who are now clean and sober. It will contain first person testimonials of those who have waged war with addiction and have found a better life without drugs and alcohol. Those interviewed will consist of both males and females who are in their teens and early twenties. There will be a couple of interviewees who will be older, and have suffered more dire consequences from their addiction and now have extended sobriety.

The documentary will address how the interviewees were raised in order to show the diversity of backgrounds that they came from, both financially and in regards to parenting and school activities. We will then look at the first time that alcohol or drugs were used. They will describe how they felt when they first used, and what the substance did for and to them. Then we will delve into how their use progressed and why. Next we will transition into how intense their use got to and what their rock bottom, or low point was. From there we will discuss what motivated them to get sober, and if a relapse occurred. If a relapse was present, we will discuss the mitigating circumstances as well as the force of the relapse and what got them back into sobriety. Finally, the subjects will discuss what the most important parts of their continued sobriety have been, what helped them transition into recovery and what they have gotten positive from recovery that they had either lost or never had.

The main function of this documentary is to hopefully be a tool to use with not only those who are in addiction in rehabilitation centers/prisons/jails/juvenile detention/outpatient treatment, but also to those who are not yet using or in trouble with the law. It will be a great documentary to show in junior high, high school and college venues as part of forums, conferences, training and drug prevention/education programs. Our hope is that this documentary will hopefully be an eye opener and encourage those who view it to engage in open discussion, question/answer sessions and maybe even encourage those who see it that are using to quit or seek help.

This documentary has several primary purposes. The first of those is to inform adolescents and young adults about the inherent risks that using drugs and alcohol pose. The second is to let those watching know that they are not alone in the problems, pressures and hurts that they feel. We want them to know that there are many people who suffer from various consequences of life ranging from sexual/physical/emotional abuse to depression and not feeling that they fit in. Finally, it is made to encourage those watching by showing that there is life after addiction and that recovery is not only possible, it is rewarding.

There has been a new page added to the Spiritual Spackle blogsite. On that page we will be keeping you updated about this project in the comments section. We are looking at several funding opportunities currently. If anyone knows of any grants or foundations that might be helpful, please let us know. We may be calling on you to help with the project, so please keep checking this page out to see how the documentary is coming as far as shooting and editing as we prepare it. Our goal is have the documentary finished by the end of next year.

We will also let you know what the future documentaries are about and how they are coming as we get to them. Right now the focus is on this one, and it will be the focus for a while. I imagine that I will be working on my book in the living room and my wife will be editing in the office next to me for many months to come. I am super excited! Any comments of encouragement, offers of support and/or feedback will be appreciated. There will also be several contests that we will have as we work on this project. STAY TUNED FOR MORE!!!!!!!!!!