There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
Malcolm JenkinsRead
Sometimes, we get numb to the fact that people get sent away. We don't see where they are; we say they are 'doing time,' and you really don't know what that is.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the emotional disconnection people have with those incarcerated, highlighting the lack of understanding about their experiences.
Malcolm Jenkins points out how society often becomes indifferent to the reality of incarceration, using the phrase 'doing time' to simplify a complex and painful experience. This numbness can lead to a lack of empathy for those who are removed from their communities and families, as we fail to recognize the humanity and individual stories behind the term 'prisoner.'
In practice
In a discussion about criminal justice reform, this quote can highlight the need for greater empathy towards those incarcerated.
There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
I grew up playing in the streets. We played two-hand touch from street pole to street pole. That's how I learned the game.
Our biggest thing is, any player who's protesting will tell you that the only reason we use the anthem is because it's a platform like no other. We use it to draw attention to other issues. We've heard from many people, 'Use a different venue. Use a different platform.' Quite frankly, this is the most effective one.
When I look at our communities, our country, our justice system, those are things I want to change and I'm committed to changing, and that's going to take sacrifice. Laying the foundation is the hardest part and requires a lot of sacrifice and time.
The people who have been unjustly disenfranchised by our criminal justice system and the people who daily fight for them always have, and always will be, the inspiration and focus of my efforts.
Communities of color have also had to watch video after video of unarmed black men and women being handled without regard for their lives or well-being. As a black man, I see these images, and I see myself; I wonder whether this will happen to me or one of my loved ones.
If you walk down the street and see someone in a box, you have a choice. That person is either the other and you're fearful of them, or that person is an extension of your family.
Let us be honest with each other. The threat to marriage is not the gays. It is a lack of loving commitment - whether it is found in the form of neglect, indifference, cruelty or adultery, to name just a few manifestations of the loveless desert in which too many marriages come to grief.
Whites know never tell blacks what you really think and what you really feel because you risk being seen as a racist. And the result of that is that to a degree, we as blacks live in a bubble. Nobody tells us the truth. Nobody tells us what they would do if they were in our situation. Nobody really helps us.
But loneliness is as delusive a belief in the pertinence of the world as is love: in choosing to feel lonely, as in choosing to love, one carves a space next to oneself to be filled by others - a friend, a lover, a toy poodle, a violinist on the radio.
Tell me about a person's family, friends, and community, and I'll tell you what his opinions are.
The women of Afghanistan have a voice, and it needs to be heard and not forgotten.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.