Category / Self-Defense while working

by Uprising Experience

Witnessing America’s History

Kristi Love |2018

Sharing…old thoughts that remain today. Written in 2018…published during 2020 Quarantine.

When “Advanced” technology exposes America’s truth.

When blogs, social media posts and podcasts take the place of history books.

We no longer have an excuse about not knowing what is happening in America…..land of the free, home of the brave.

We no longer have to wonder “what if” I lived during slavery, Jim Crow, or the Civil Rights Era. We are living in all those times right now in 2018. It just looks different.

No longer can we say or believe that “Race doesn’t Matter”.

I (we) can no longer let the days go by and not speak out against the injustices happening in America today.

This is America. Trump really is the POTUS. His wife really wore that jacket, “I really don’t care, do you?”. A young Black teen in Pittsburgh really did get shot in the back by a newly sworn in white police officer…for simply running away.

This is the America (we) I live in.

This is the sad but true part about how some of us feel/think. Children being taken away from their parents…especially their mothers is not a new thing. It is just being done in a different manner and exposed for the world to see. African babies were taken from their slave mothers and fathers for years. Do I need to say more?

We can write about this all day. The question is what are we doing about this? What can we do as individuals, families and communities to stop this. Change this. Prevent this.

Who do we call? Who do we write? Do we need to protest somewhere?

The love of humanity is needed more and more each day. After we pray to God, we move. After we praise him, we paved the way through our actions.

No weapons formed against God’s people shall prosper.

This is a heart condition. This is a love condition.

God has equipped us all to do His work here on earth. Are we using our gifts to fight for our children, families, and communities. 

This. Is. America.

by Uprising Experience

What if Plastic Straws were not banned in restaurants?

Uprising experience | 2019 | What if?

Videos can go viral instantly, especially when individuals are being physically harmed or harassed in any way.

What if the person recording this video called the police on a white man harassing an employee at McDonald’s? Watch Self-Defense over plastic straws.

What if McDonald’s did not fire the young woman (or place her on leave), but transferred her to another location? After her transfer, check-in with her- her state of mind and how she is feeling after being assaulted by a man she was providing service to.

What if videos that go viral are used as learning opportunities to show what to or not do in heated situations.

What if the Black community started a GoFundMe account for the McDonald’s employee, Yasmine James (who apparently does not have health insurance)?

What if the McDonald’s cooperation takes this as an opportunity to update their training process- and add how to respond to physical assault, verbal threats, etc form customers? Or stress the importance of self-defense, safety, and customer service all in one.

What if we stop recording and call the police instead? Or better yet, speak up while recording. Record, speak up and have your friend call the police.

What if we stop talking about how others treat us unfairly and start treating others how they treat us. *For some, this goes against the motto, “Treat others they way you want to be treated”. *

Some of us can look at this video and blame the employee and say she was in the wrong and not hold that man accountable for any of his actions.

Did you hear? After he left the store, he (a homeless man) apparently called the police to report an “unarmed robbery” and that he was beaten by a group of Black men. #privilege 

We never know the whole story and we form our opinions off of 1 min videos and make judgmental statements. What if we really assessed each situation using our statistical thinking skills?

This is a clear example where it really doesn’t matter who said what (or how it was said), he reached across the counter and assaulted an employee (a woman serving and providing him customer service). Could she have walked away after she got all those hits in? Of course. She could have went to the back and cooled off. However, her response was simply self defense with added commentary.  

What if we knew everybody’s background and actually had empathy and compassion for them because of their past?

What if we could all get along?

*Pay attention- plastic straws are becoming a things of the past. Some places have replaced them completely with paper straws. Other places have plastic straws available by request.