From: Michael Greven
Columbus
The Black Lives Matters vigil on April 21 on the Columbus City Hall steps was a powerful and important gathering. The vigil was to remember those who had been killed without just cause and who had died needlessly. The speakers were citizens who had lost a loved one to violence or were offering words and thoughts about the lives lost. Regrettably, our nation is challenged by unacceptable killings by police, particularly of young black men.
One of the responsibilities of our elected officials is to protect the citizenry, and that means all of the citizens. A great deal of money is spent on equipment, vehicles, incarceration and support for our local and state police agencies. It was clarified by Black Lives Matter speaker Brittany King that one area where support for police is insufficient is diversity training. That is a critical oversight that needs to be corrected in our community and statewide. Currently, our local law enforcement officials do not have to take part in any diversity training; rather, it is optional. That is a nationwide trend, which is very, very troubling, and could be one of the primary reasons we have so many senseless killings of young black men and me of color by the police.
To his great credit, one of the audience members at the vigil was Columbus Mayor Jim Leinhoop. Mayor Jim is to be praised for his willingness to listen, which is the first step in a very critical dialogue. Ms. King pointed out the lack of diversity training for law enforcement officers and urged us to contact our local officials and demand that the police be adequately trained to deal with a population that is ever more diverse in our community. I am hopeful that Mayor Jim listened and heard what Ms. King had to say, and that he will work to see that our law enforcement officers have the best possible training.
It is in our community’s best interest to ensure that our police officers are the best trained and most respectful law enforcement officers in the state and or country. The police need to be respectful of all members of our community.
Another powerful message that was spoken by a local pastor was the importance of remembering that we all need to be our brother’s keepers. Each person walking down the street regardless of skin color, height, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity or weight is our brother and/or sister. It is that simple. We need to shed our lenses of intolerance and judgement and embrace the idea of openness, concern and kindness for our fellow man. It is understood that this is not easy, and it will be a daily challenge for each of us to overcome our fears and prejudices as we interact with our fellow citizens.
Thanks to Black Lives Matter for organizing an event that will hopefully be instrumental in challenging our community to engage, think and do better.
