BATTERED AND BEATEN, BRUISED AND SORED, I CAN STILL COME BACK AGAIN!
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Yesterday at 4:56pm
Reference: Posting by a Friend of mine.
"Negativity, Negativity, in the last several days I have received several negative feedbacks in regards to my Notes and Blogs. Those who know who they are may say I am speaking extremely negative about my past abusers because of the position they hold in Law Enforcement."
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Dear Friend, I know you've been battered and bruised, beaten and sored over abuse and oppression at the hands of law and order. Obviously, you are hurting over what happened, but today's pain is not so much about what cops they did to you many years ago, but rather about what some people are saying to you in reaction to your story.
Please be assured, however, that each of us has similar stores to tell about such things as negative feedback from others, including from the most unlikely of people, whenever we expose the perpetrators. My take on your comments, and I will say this with the highest respect for well-intended people who think they are helping whenever they hand out negative criticisms (oxymoron?) on victims of abuse, is that they make us stronger.
I've seen it happening again and again throughout my entire life. In me you can find a friend with the utmost respect and unconditional support, because I relate to your pain.
Over the years, I've learned to view such attitudes and behaviors as products of underhanded means whereby the weak tries to control the strong. When negative criticisms don't yield the desired results, the perpetrators become desperate and then anything could happen.
So here is a word of wisdom: As long as they criticizing you, they are making you stronger. Let's just hope that it keeps this way.
My story is similar to yours, but in a different way and social scenarios. As examples, at work, for standing up for what I believe in, I myself suffered lenghthily from "emply-soul" syndrome at the hands of vicious work managers bent on judging and isolating subordinates on the basis of personal biases, stereotypes and group-think mindsets. And, that is not all. Well-intended coworkers, whom I befriended and greatly value, hurt me too by joining sides with the perpetrators for reasons of self-preservation. Talk about supervisors making you feel like a criminal, that's what happened to me at work. I call it abuse. But I am not of the thinking that I should hold grudges against anyone over what they did to me in the past, as my tormentors in face made me stronger.
Over the year in 2009, a Friend of mine from Alabama was ticked off over my handling of Lou Dobbs' hate-mongering and anti-Hispanic rhetoric on CNN. He harshly criticized me and accused me of being a racist. Another FB's Friend accused me of being too negative in my writings, and "removed" my name from her Friends list. My last perpetrator is a Hispanic State Representative (D., PA) who is absolutely convinced that his public record is immaculate and therefore warrants no public scrutiny. When I started asking him "the" questions two months ago, as is my duty as a constituent who voted for him twice, he wished me to "go on my merry ways" (ad literam), which means "veta Pa'l carajo", in Spanish , and removed my name from his Friends' list shamelessly. And, whether I voted for him twice was neither here nor there. His mantra:" "Vote for me but don't you dare questioning my public record."
One thing stands out form our experiences as they relate to abuse and perpetrators. Exposing the evils of our society will get you both strong allies and as well as stubborn enemies. Those who stand for justice, I tell myself, will join in support of you and will want to be accountable to you. Those who have strings attached to injustice, on the other hand, won't.
Group-think, my friend, as a perpetrator of justice (intentional or not) is something that concerns me an awful lot. Practitioners of the group-think tend to be narrow-minded and prone to turn the into blind followers capable of great evils (i.e, Nazis, Inquistionists, Philadelphia Democrat Precinct Leaders, who find comfort in and sleep well at night while minimizing or ignoring the real troubles of our community, etc.) They simply can't sift the fact from their fantasies.
Question their twisted notions and/or postures or their erred positions on the issues affecting our community, and watch what happens next. you will see them squinting the eyes in disdain; showing empathy or understanding is beyond their comprehension. And, why" Because they thrive in blindness and deafness. They cannot see the problem; hence, they will not take your side or help fix it; they do not listen to the voice of the victims; hence, justice will not prevail. The show of the human saga will g on and the pain and horror which you endured at the hands of officers enjoined to protect the law and enforce order will repeat itself. Group-thinkers will not only continue to blame you for what happened, they will also criticize you for taking a public stand against the perpetrators.
Adherents of group-think go by what others think and adopt their thinking paradigmatically. If everybody around them says that cops are God, it never occurs to them to think that there might be corrupt officers among them. Not only they blindly believe the false notion that cops are Gods, they will be the first to grill you for exposing the anomalies of such paradigm.
In summary, my friend, I admire you valor. Coming out of the darkness of pain and self-doubt to expose law enforcement officers who thought they were above the law, however embarrassing it could be, takes courage. So, please try to disregard those with negative criticism who cannot possibly empathize. Their scolding and slight will make you stronger. You said it" "Stay in control of me." For God's sake, suit yourself! But above all, remember: "battered and beaten, bruised and sored, you can still come back again.
BY HECTOR M. LUGARDO
