South Carolina: Halfway Underwater but Not Fully Overwhelmed

South Carolina has been an embarrassment and an eyesore financially and socially for years. This year, however, the state has progressed and come together during tough critical times.

Currently, the state is flooded from Columbia on down near Charleston due to dams splitting near two major rivers in the wake of Hurricane Jocquin.

You see on the news often that when this type of natural disaster occurs, there are riots, looting and all out violence. Here in South Carolina, the residents have really come together and helped each other. Several legitimate clothing and food drives have been formed, law enforcement and government officials, including the National Guard, have worked around the clock during this crisis.

The University of South Carolina was playing LSU this week in football. Due to the floods, the game was moved to LSU's home stadium. The residents and fans of LSU were very nice and hospitable as well, even playing a lot of South Carolina fight songs and music during the game.

It appears the country has noticed how this state bands together instead of dividing. This was demonstrated during the summer with the Dylann Roof massacre. We don't always see eye to eye on certain issues, and seem to be stuck in olden times too often. However when you look around, you are hard pressed to find a state that will look out for its fellow resident and offer a helping hand.

I was becoming ashamed to be a South Carolina native and resident. Over the past few years, my faith has been restored. Good job to all of SC!

Standing Your Ground Is Brutal and Possible

I definitely can't breathe right now and it's more than just the continuous unjust murders of Black men by crooked law enforcement officers. It is the way it is being handled, the fallout and the fact that I have yet to see any effective action or plan to finally corral this madness.

Many people of all walks of life are sick and tired of either hearing about , seeing it or all the above.

I noted some possible solutions in my article I wrote when Troy Davis was unjustly executed a few years ago. The U.S. Justice System and law enforcement alike should be looked at more seriously as this is a dangerous pattern. I mean, really what will it take for this to come to a head? Will a person of great wealth and prominence have to be murdered first?

One thing is for sure, this type of thing has been going on for decades and even centuries. Sure things have improved but some things remain the same. Certain people have too much authority and abuse it.  They are power hungry and get an emotional high from flaunting their position. That should come as very little of a surprise to many.

However, here are some more points and observations I have made over the past few days.

1. One of the biggest problems here is the same things keep happening because the right people aren't doing the proper things to prevent it. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. Rioting and looting are violent, protests are often too peaceful, and boycotts are typically ineffective. There needs to be some proactive NOT reactive solutions made. We cannot complain and such after the fact. Action starts now before something tragic can happen again.

2. Although this problem appears geared towards blacks against crooked police and the justice system, keep this in mind. There are ignorant, violent and corrupt shells of humans in every profession. Good and evil always coexist. They make it bad for the ones that are good and actually serve and protect. Also, this transcends race, class, religious or political affiliation. It is an AMERICAN problem. That being said, we cannot get anything done until we have UNITY among like minded, positive people. History has proven that this is doable. We simply have to organize as a country and come to a consensus that this is a nationwide problem, like a virus.

3. History can be changed and made. It also repeats itself because of the aforementioned insanity going on. We fail to see where we are ineffective; therefore bad cops continue to murder whom they want, and the justice system is still broken.

4. Going back to unity, we need to agree that this violence is enough. No one wants to bury their loved ones, especially for unjust purposes. Change never comes easily and often takes time. However now is the moment for baby steps and for all of us to discover common, middle ground.

The streets can once again be safe, and stand your ground laws can mean something. You just have to be proactive in your approach to the powers that be, and have as many movers, shakers and heavy hitters as possible. Refuse to take no for an answer until we reach a point of greater peace. Then perhaps in 2015 or in a few more years, we can breathe a sigh of hope and relief again.

These are my thoughts and I am entitled to them. I wanted to think outside of the box because that seems to be most effective right now. We are trying to end a growing, ongoing problem. Therefore, we must do things out of our comfort zone that we have never did before. Our forefathers and ancestors did it to improve our generation. It is our turn now. Basically, be history or make history.

I gladly welcome all feedback and thoughts.