Action Plan- a way to make sure your vision is made concrete. It describes the steps you will take to reach your goals and bring change.
Often times we set these audacious goals and New Year’s Resolutions, or we make bold statements about our vision and mission and we fail to have a plan of action. We put our faith in God, but faith without action is meaningless. There are a few sayings that I always repeat in my mind to stay on task:
- Proper preparation prevents poor performance
- If you fail to plan then you plan to fail
This weekend millions of people were outraged at the verdict of the George Zimmerman Trial. I must admit that I was one of them. I was hurt and angry. It seems that the “justice” system protects everyone, just not us African-Americans, especially African-American males. There were marches, rallies, and protests, but I began thinking what else can be done. Was the goal of those marches, rallies, and protests just to show how upset people were? Was the goal to show that people of all races and ethnicities can join together for the greater good? Was the goal to bring awareness to the injustices of the justice system? If those were the goals then I think they were accomplished, but what’s the next step? How can we protect our sons and brothers? How can we ensure that no other parents of children of color experiences what Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin has experienced?
How can we educate our own people to show that we need to value each other because they see that we don’t value our own lives, so why should they? I have been fortunate enough to have this platform, as well as others, to share my thoughts. My heart is still heavy and I continuously pray for peace but also for wisdom.
We need an action plan, not just to bring civil charges against George Zimmerman, he’s honestly just a small part of a larger problem. I think it first begins with education. We need to educate ourselves and our children on the laws that govern “The Land of the Free.” Once we learn the laws we need to know how to change them to make them fair for all. We need to educate ourselves to occupy the seats of those who hold the most power. My pastor once said “Those who control the language, control the conversation.” We need to change the language of this country so that the laws do not only protect a select few.
We need character development to know how to conduct ourselves in certain situations. We need options when it seems like everyone is agains us. It’s sad to say that the system was never created for us and so we need to learn how to navigate the system that has been designed for us to fail from day one.
Rallies, protests, marches, and petitions are extremely important, but what we need is to educate ourselves and our children.
Proverbs 16:16 says
How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver
“True wealth is portable. It is not what’s on the outside, but the inside (knowledge/wisdom) that holds the greatest value.” Your knowledge is the only thing that cannot be taken away from you. So we need to educate ourselves in everything that we do, not just with social injustice. We need action plans in all areas of life because an action plan keeps us focus.
What could be Bush’s stealth motive for intentionally taking actions that violated Texas laws and customs? In this case, the protesters were protesting legislation pending before the Texas Legislature that the protesters believed encouraged industrial pollution so they wanted to petition their government for the passage of clean air laws. However, silencing the protesters by arresting them also silenced the issue with the result that the “clean air legislation lost by a slim margin in the Texas Legislature. It is quite possible that the governor’s action stymied protesters’ goal to educate Texas legislators on the issue.” Indeed, Bush has not ignored the anti-war movement and protests because he knows that such protests have positive impacts not obtained by other means of political action. When Bush faces an “increasingly spirited antiwar movement,” he and his allies respond with a “broad public relations offensive” to defend Bush and his war. As Rummy’s former chief media adviser stated, “public support is absolutely critical to the success of military operations” or sustaining support for Bush’s war. The thing that triggered this particular PR “surge” was the media attention provided Sheehan and other peace activists in 2005.