JUSTIFIED MURDER: How many more “Rodney Kings” does it have to be?

Many people seem to have forgotten–though we’ve all heard the phrase Commonly used by military veterans, “never forget”.

Rodney King was beaten by police officers 56 times with multiple clubs…. a Korean lady murdered a black child and all the judge gave her was probation and no jail time ? The cops who beat Rodney King … not guilty—-Cause they were white. That led to the riots in LA in 1992. A jury said his beating was justified. What is different nowadays? I see cops justifying all kinds of violence …because they have a badge. 6 weeks of academy and they are the Gods of law enforcement….lawyers go to college 8 years and barely know the law.

Well…I’m called a stupid, liberal idiot (and I’m not a democrat or a liberal —I’m a libertarian) if I support black people who are still pissed that the law and myth that “justice is for all” and remains a pipe dream. We live in a society where “money talks” and criminals walk. Crime is ok as long as you can pay the fee.

Cops with 6 weeks of training can give an innocent man a charge (me) that can take away his right to vote for walking down the steeet and using my own freedom of speech against me as if it is a crime and calling me a “rioter”…and I’m not even black. I am not an authority boot licker … I can stand for my own values and also recognize when human and civil rights are not respected or valued.

Cops are still drunk on power and Martin Luther King Junior would still be speaking against injustice …but he was murdered too remember? Wake the f up and stop worshiping authority!

I have personally experienced police brutality multiple times. Once my service dog was taken from me in an airport because I was reported to have been intoxicated – eveb though I wasn’t. And recently in Phoenix, Arizona police pepper sprayed me and beat me up for questioning the legality of them limiting my free speech and movement.

Freedom for all is STILL not a reality in America and having served this country I take freedom seriously …and not just MY OWN.

NOW I PROTEST

“NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE”

I voted for President Trump by the way… so don’t tell me this is a political issue …I call bullshit. People just want to make it political– everyone has an agenda and I’m ok with being bold about what my agenda is: LOVE everyone. PERIODT.

Freedom for all is STILL not a reality in America and having served this country I take freedom seriously …and not just MY OWN.

BLACK LIVES MATTER –

GET OVER; It’s 2020.

Jonathan Hursh is a U.S. Army Combat Veteran Paratrooper, M.A. Master of Educational Technologist, BA History, State Certified Professional Teacher, Writer & Digital Influencer. Contact the author Jonathan Hursh @

JonathanHursh2020@gmail.com

Lights out on Division Street. The True American Pandemic: Hate & Division

America; the beautiful–is sick.

…with an infection much more costly and devastating than the Corona Virus. The vaccine America truly needs… Is an antidote for hate and division.

America is hurting.

She’s been through it all.

She has been abused.She has been spit on and ignored.

She has been hurt and lied to.

She had been betrayed.

She has been bullied.

She has been raped.

Lady liberty has been mocked and belittled and told to her face she will never be who she was created to be: a country of free people.

The truth is: America has NEVER been a “free” country …

it HAS; however, always been the goal.

I am done with division! I AM SICK OF IT!

Are you sick of it?!

Boomers against millennials…

Millennials against boomers…

Blacks versus white…

Republican versus Democrats…

Meat eaters versus vegans…

Snowboarders versus skiers…

Punks versus the skins …

Sneetches with stars vs the ones with “none upon thars” (Dr. Seuss)

…forces in this world have forever been trying to divide and conquer. It’s not new.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, self-control these are the literal signs of good. The fruit you will see when a human behavior produces good.

Consider the enemy of love; the rotten fruits of hate: misery, impulsiveness, cruelty, evil, and selfish-gratification…

What do we see when we look at the responses to tragedy in our own lives? In the world?

Do we see ourselves responding in love with patience? Are we kind to one another when we reprimand, do we reprimand I. Love?

I have learned that most often in my life the way I react is the most important thing about who I am as a person.. When tragedy strikes… Do I react instantly? impatiently? Do I listen ? Or do I only care about my own needs?

What I noticed about my own life and relationships is that when I know what I believe and work to live intentionally… The bi-product of being intentionally GOOD is literally evidenced in the fruits i see around me–and you can see it too!

Love and kindness is the only thing that has ever healed me and I believe it will be the only thing that can heal America…even if it is the harder, longer road. Love requires patience and patience requires time. But not just time…time spent consistently loving!

I’m have been on a mission for six years now of learning to love myself. Even though I don’t have a dream as eloquent as Martin Luther King Junior’s… in the words of Forrest Gump, “I  May not be a smart man but I know what love is”.

LOVE IS PATIENT. LOVE IS KIND.

LOVE is intentional.

And The greatest power I have…is myself.

I have the power to MAKE THE CHOICE TO LOVE MYSELF.

I HAVE THE POWER TO BE KIND

I HAVE THE POWER TO BE PATIENT

AND

I HAVE THE POWER THAT WILL CHANGE MY CIRCUMSTANCES

Doing so is precisely what makes me capable of loving and forgiving everyone.

… I did not always have someone to tell me that I had that power. I was lied to by bullies, false teachings, abusive relationships and confusing circumstances… but I have overcome.

I understand why people are burning buildings to the ground…I have burned many things to the ground myself. But these were symptoms of a bigger problem. They were CRIES FOR HELP and CRIES FOR LOVE. Cries for acceptance and cries for understanding.

Hurting people do not need us to yell and point fingers at them… they need what o needed…an outside source to tell me:

“YOU HAVE THE POWER TO LOVE YOUSELF TOO”

…”I do?”

“YOU DO!”

That’s literally all it takes. It is kindness that brings us to repentance.

Repentance is simply changing our thinking and opinions about something it once was…to the good thing.…to the thing that is better…healthier for us.

I am no longer going to be waiting around for a dream to come true. My current reality is all that exists and I make the choices about what I will do about it.

Only me. And now that I have done me. I am totally willing to help others see what love is by watching me. I can only hope and pray that somebody might go… “I want to love myself like he does.”

I will be the dream Martin Luther king Junior had. I will be the reality of Jesus’ on earth. I will be the Buddha seeking myself until I am consistent.

I believe that is what we all need to do. 

Maybe humanity is good enough for common ground.

Starting now. Go.

Jonathan Hursh is a U.S. Army Combat Veteran Paratrooper, M.A. Master of Educational Technologist, BA History, State Certified Professional Teacher, Writer & Digital Influencer. Contact the author Jonathan Hursh @

JonathanHursh2020@gmail.com