What happens next

What happens when the protestors are gone and race relations in America are no longer the leading story? We have seen it before… Ferguson Missouri led morning, midday, and evening news for weeks, and just as quick as it was catapulted into headlines it was over. Residents of the city were left to clean up from the destruction and try to rebuild their communities and lives. Those who came from near and far made their way back to their communities may be thinking about the town they left occasionally. There were investigations and inquiries by the Department of Justice, the state, and local government in the end whatever changes were implemented as a result did make headlines or even page two.

We say D.C’s mayor rename a portion of 16th street, “Black Lives Matter Boulevard.” While this may be at the forefront at the moment, the meaning will soon be forgotten like so many other streets and highways named in honor of civil rights leaders, politicians, local heroes, and others who made contributions or sacrifices for the community or nation.

The real work begins when the protests are over. Making a change will require work in the individual communities which make up this nation. It will require getting to the root of the problem not enacting wide-ranging policies that treat symptoms not the real problem. It will require renewed involvement in the community. It will require all of us to forgo the excuses we had in the past and attend those council meetings. It will require communities to cultivate new standards of what it means to be a member. It will require communities to address how it will deal with those who fall short of what is considered acceptable.

The longest-lasting and most meaningful changes are those which starts at the bottom since it doesn’t have to be sold to the masses like top-down changes. Only time will tell if this call for change will flourish or will wither away like a drought-ridden garden.