I like this article a lot, because it stimulated excellent conversations and awareness. I will be quite honest, I hesitated. Not because I didn’t think there was moral justification for black slaves doing what they needed to escape kidnapping, unimaginable abuse and total disregard for their lives, safety and well-being. I could understand the righteous anger back then and I can totally see why people of color are still angry to this day that we have not provided reparations for the immense, inter-generational damage that still continues to this day.

I think some people might hesitate because they truly don’t value black lives as much as white lives. I hesitated because as an empath, I am diametrically opposed to and horrified by all types of violence. I am beyond horrified by the treatment that all marginalized people experience. I am horrified by the casual way people are shown shooting other people in so much of our media. I’m horrified when a person takes an automatic weapon into a school, I am horrified that we dropped nuclear bombs in Japan, the genocide that going on in so many countries, how immigrant children and families are locked in cages on the U.S. border, how animals are abused, how our Earth is being plundered for profit.

At some level, do I understand that violence in terms of self-defense is often justifiable? Yes.

Do I also think we’ll never have the chance become a peaceful species if we don’t stop being violent to each other? Yes.

The reasons someone might hesitate are varied, but still this is an important exercise to look within and address any biases we still hold…