Originally Published Dated April 9, 2015
Sometimes when I'm driving in the car my mind will
wander off to think about something. When I finally snap back to reality and
hear whatever is playing on the radio, I think, "What the hell am I
listening to?" It makes me wonder just how long I'd been driving and
paying no attention to what was going on.
The very first thing I noticed tonight when they
released the dashboard video of the police officer who shot Walter Scott was
the fact that he was listening to Everlast's song "What Its Like." (listen to song here). I
actually thought it was meant for affect in the news story. It would have been
poignant, right? A really great choice?
I was taken aback when I realized that is what the
officer was listening to when this all was going down. For anyone who has never
heard it, the song is absolutely beautiful. It tributes people who, for one
reason or another, have fallen on hard times. He asks his audience to consider
what it might be like to find themselves in that persons shoes. He asks his
audience to be empathetic. For at least the last couple of decades the popular
music we have been offered has been very formulaic. Once a sound or theme
becomes popular, music executives will go after that until it is run into the
ground. I can honestly say this Everlast song is one of the greatest songs in
at least the last couple of decades because it is not like any other songs and
its so thought provoking.
I don't know the officer. I hate it when I make a snap
judgment about a person because of a single act. It is beneath me, I believe. I
try to allow people to have bad moments and make bad choices. I am not there
yet with this officer Slager. I have seen him, within a minutes time, shoot a
fleeing man in the back, handcuff him when he is either mortally wounded or
already dead, and race back to get the item he would use to create the lie
where he would place the blame on the victim.
Irony is supposed to have a piece of it that makes you
chuckle, if only in the back of your mind. This isn't funny in any way. It is
ironic, though. He was listening to one of the most compassionate and loving
songs we've had in a long time. This song is asking us to find our humanity and
offer it to others. And this was our soundtrack as this police officer took off
after a man to kill him for a broken tail light.
t is what the officer was listening to
when this all was going down. For anyone who ht
is what the officer was listening to when this all was going down. For anyone
who hor anyone who has
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