AMERICAN RECKONING

“THE JUDGEMENT DAY” 
ARTIST: GIORGI KUKHALASHVILI

A series of essays....

Courtesy of Saatchi Art

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes  

According to the Bible and written within the New Testament, Judgement Day will be the day at the end of time, as we know it, following Armageddon when God will decree the fates of all individual humans according to the good and evil of their earthly lives. The Day of Reckoning: A time when the effects of one's past mistakes or misdeeds catch up with them.

A lawyer may refer to reckoning as a verbal summation before the jury. Wrapping-up is the directional approach to completing a day of filming in the entertainment industry. The sports announcer might be expressing his recap of a particular play on the field and later, after the game is over, his rundown of the completed event by highlighting the best of the action...in case we missed it. And, the news journalist is noted for her succinct style of writing which captures ‘Breaking News’ in a brief but highly comprehensive form. 

If and when the Day of Reckoning arrives, I would like to believe that my ultimate résumé is in order, neatly typed and displaying my background, skills, and accomplishments in order to secure the final and most important form of employment paid out in eternal joy and extreme happiness. 

In my estimation, America, and all that she stands for and for those whom she represents, is facing her most important day of reckoning on November 3rd. The results of this country’s Presidential Election 2020, provided on this date or shortly afterwards, will be the day the hands on the clock will either come to a complete stop, or continue to run in a precise and deliberate manner. We are facing the final days before our ‘American Reckoning’ and the prospects of its final result is scaring the living hell out of us (me)! 

The parish priest, dressed in his finest, most colorful and ornate chasuble for Sunday Mass, stands at the raised podium on the altar and sends shivers down a small child’s spine. He is preaching what will transpire on Judgement Day if we do not practice love, decency, and sound judgement during our life here on earth. We, naively (?), fail to recognize how many people do not own love for their fellow man, are not decent human beings, and do not practice sound judgement in their lives. This conclusion is what has taken us by surprise and catapulted sound reasoning and the state of normalcy into an entirely new dimension. 

Given the go-ahead and support needed to crawl out of the woodwork by the current administration, white nationalist groups espouse white supremacist or white separatist ideologies focusing on the alleged inferiority of nonwhites. Has ‘white privilege’ blinded us from seeing the truth we have lived with for hundreds of years? Simple truth has been given a blind eye for so long that we failed to recognize its nastiness creeping up out of the gutters like devious shadow beings obeying the written orders of condemned, old, white men. 

                                                                  LIFE IS FILLED WITH BEAUTY!

 

                                                                   

What were we thinking all of these years?

The Ku Klux Klan, neo-Confederate, neo-Nazi, racist skinhead, and Christian identity are described as white nationalists. Sadly, it takes another knee of a privileged white man pressed down on the neck of a black man until his life is extinguished for us to attempt to understand why Black Lives Matter. It takes a racist president hell-bent on power and superiority to open the cracks in the earth and release the hatred that has been bubbling below us all this time. 

Why was it so difficult to feel and label the pervasive unrest beneath our feet all along; rumbling like a massive earthquake too deep to break the crusty surface but disconcerting nonetheless? Now that our world is shaken and we’ve come to recognize the source of our fear (those set apart by their unmistakable facial characteristics and hateful expressions), we must not allow them to drive the rest of us into hell along with them on Judgement Day! 

Congress and the Department of Homeland Security, among others, have determined that domestic terrorism consists of acts or attempted acts of terrorism in which the perpetrators are citizens or permanent residents of the country in which the act takes place. White supremacists and other far-right-wing extremists are the most significant domestic terrorism threat facing the United States. 

We are living inside an American Tragedy but are slowly finding our way among the pervasive and widespread unrest and dissatisfaction brought about by the domestic terrorists attempting to tear us apart. We are learning what we can do to fight evil with good and are stepping-up to the plate when necessary. We are understanding that when we’re told that each one of our votes counts, it is the absolute truth. Our voices must be heard loud and clear because we will not take the bullying, hatefulness, and degradation any longer!

If we truly believe we’re strong enough to love rather than hate, demand decency and a good life for all of mankind, and rely on our own courage and perspicacity instead of seeing the world within the vision of a handful of others...we can take on this fight to retain democracy and our freedom. We just have to want it all badly enough. 

Let’s take advantage of these precious few days before our American Reckoning is upon us. Drive others to the polls or to the City Clerk’s office to drop-off their absentee ballot, offer to baby-sit for their children allowing them some spare time, and always offer encouragement so that voting feels like the right it is meant to be instead of a privilege for only a few. 

Stay safe and please be kind to others. Vote like your life depends on it because...it truly does.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes 

All rights reserved

FINDING ONE’S VOICE IN 2020

A series of essays....

CITY OF BALTIMORE IS BEING PRAISED FOR PEACEFUL PROTESTS

COURTESY OF WBFF



....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

I believe that one of the most difficult things to achieve as an adult is the act of finding your voice within this world, especially when so many others are attempting to drown out your voice with their own. 

To find one’s voice may be discovering your own distinctive style or vision of artistic expression. Expressing yourself within written words that can be enjoyed and appreciated by others may mean that you have found your voice as a writer. The joy of capturing selective moments in life by understanding the importance of light, reflection, angles, and shadows is taking the time to find your voice by perfecting the optimum use of a camera lens via photography. Many budding musical artists, writers attempt to find their voices by flocking to Nashville in the hope of redefining their lives and providing themselves with an inspirational key to uncovering personal music potential.

Let’s say that a shocking or frightening experience has shaken you to the core and it may take time for you to regain the ability to speak, find your voice, once again. 

Losing my voice during public recitation or speaking, even within smaller groups, because of extreme nervousness, will always plague me to a certain degree; at least until I feel more confident and comfortable within a given situation. You would think that at my age I would have outgrown this common fear years ago. Unfortunately, I have not. Maybe it’s my way of keeping myself on my toes, however, it can become quite infuriating at times.

This past Tuesday, yet another primary election day, more and more people were fighting to retain their voices by overpowering the blatant attempts of voter suppression that funneled voters through reduced numbers of polling places and locked the doors right at 6:00 o’clock. Pounding on the glass windows and doors, Kentucky voters were granted an additional half hour extension by a judge due to the pleas made by Charles Booker and Amy McGrath, the two Democratic Senatorial primary candidates.

Not only are voters working on finding their voices in a crazy, unlawful attempt at shutting down their Constitutional right to vote, but the candidates themselves are exercising a strong youthful attempt at finding their own voices within a sea of cheap Twitter endorsements. Madison Cawthorn, a 24-year-old (turning 25 in August) political newcomer, defeated Lynda Bennett, a realtor and President Trump's endorsed candidate, in the North Carolina GOP congressional primary for the seat vacated by the President's chief of staff, Mark Meadows. 

If elected in November, Cawthorn would become the youngest member in Congress, a title currently held by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, now 30-years-old, who won on Tuesday and looks set to get some new progressive backup in New York’s congressional delegation next year. Youthful energy and ideas are flowing into Washington D.C. with each election, hopefully eradicating, or at least staunching, old ideas and bringing in new voices for bi-partisan collaboration in the future.

It’s time to talk Black Lives Matter, BLM, and what the importance of this movement means to all of us now that the White choke-hold on Black lives has reached a new level of notoriety and the Black communities are finding their voices in mass numbers. The work of deep-seated, sustainable change remains the hardest work there is. Systemic racism for centuries has, indeed, left an indelible mark on our society. I deeply believe that we must make the best of this opportunity, afforded us by the unabashed killing of a black man, to find our voices and fight for the rights of people of all races, colors, and with the ideals brought forth by the birth of this nation. 

We are moving forward and turning our baby steps into giant ones as more people are working together and marching peacefully forward in a joint, intellectual effort towards opening huge cracks in the wall that surrounds Blacks and the history of slavery in this country. For way too many people...it can be eye opening. Unfortunately, history textbooks are diluted and weak when it comes to depicting an accurate history of minority groups that have suffered the loss of identity and land, respect and life, along with their inalienable rights at the hands of our (their) own government.

Are we looking at a new era of progress? Or, will we be disappointed by the lack of empathy for others, once again? No one knows for sure. However, this time around feels different to me; more substantial, calculated, and hopeful with each peaceful protest march in so many cities and small towns across the country and with each verbal dispute against brute police force and acts of brutality, change is in the air. 

People are finding their own voice in 2020. We’re not hiding behind the shortcomings of our politicians or bypassing important opportunities to speak our hearts and minds. The movement to change what is wrong and make it right has definitely begun and I, for one, am looking forward to it with all the excitement and energy I can muster.

Please stay safe. Stay healthy. Wear your mask in public. Recognize the truth.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved