I wanted to speak about Wilson Montenegro and his cousin Jerrell Frazier. I graduated from Olathe North High School class of 1998. On September 14, 1995, Wilson and Jerrell were shot and killed in a drive by shooting while playing football with some friends on school grounds.
It was Homecoming weekend. I remember on Friday, the football game was the first time I got to dress out and play live with the marching band. It was the beginning of a new year at a new school for me with new friends. Then, later that weekend…
I never got to meet Wilson. We didn’t have the same classes. I saw him only in passing between class. But his life touched all of us. The Monday after, as we walled the halls… silence. No one spoke. No one knew what to say. And we all understood the danger was real.
The things we do make a difference in other people’s lives. It’s a ripple effect. As words leave our lips and reverberate through air, like rocks cast into still waters, what we do touches more than we can see. What we do each day, matters.
Have you ever taken a dandelion gone to seed and blown the seeds into the wind? Have you ever taken a dandelion gone to seed and blown the seeds off up wind of someone with seasonal allergies?
What we do matters and effects people around us.
Like an intricate placement of dominoes, a single motion creates havoc long after you influence the system. And whether done by accident or with intent, once started the result is almost certain.
I have decided to share with you memories of a young man I have never met. Motivated to do so, by a bunch of children from Florida who know the horrors of war. Those children who mourn the loss of friends and family, seek legislation through OPEN and HONEST debate, to ensure this doesn’t happen again, and GROWN MEN say “leave the governing to the adults.”
Adults, who on one hand say ALL LIVES MATTER, but then they don’t raise a finger to seek justice for the family of a child, shot and killed, by a man with a badge and a gun. Or they teach Pro-Life concepts to a teenaged girl carrying her abuser’s child.
Our country, seemingly, is NOT as it once was. Our country, STARVED of leadership, now finds it in the words of children not old enough to be elected to office. We currently have a leader who seeks to protect our country from, FAMILIES, who have humbly asked for assistance and protection. Women and children with nothing, asking for a chance at NOT DYING… for their children’s sake at the very least. Yet, our current elected officials cannot even do that without causing harm.
So we now see what springs from the seeds of dishonesty sown… More of the same.
As a father of two young boys, I write these words with nothing in my pockets, but asking for everyone to lend me your ear. These words may not seem to have much effect here, today, but they will certainly shake the cornerstones of buildings miles away, tomorrow.
Great wealth does NOT a good leader make, but a great leader is more precious than gold. Right now our Country knows what a great President looks like because we have seen what a cheap, morally bankrupt President looks like. Presenting LIES as TRUTH. Protecting GUNS more than CHILDREN. Celebrating the wealth of Our nation as his accomplishment, and unable to spend time nor treasure to save 5,000 lives in Puerto Rico.
“Heck of a job there,” Sir.
But from this dark corner of our Shared history, I want to offer hope. Its currency diminished, its appeal not quite “universal” anymore… but that “… and a prayer” are all I carry on-hand nowadays.
No matter our political affiliations. No matter the State we live in. We ALL bleed for one flag, and that flag stands as a symbol, and ONLY that. What it symbolizes as it flies, is more than what makes it fly. Just as it is with the scripture, it is the “Word” of god, and because it is by the hand of Man, it is NOT god, though it may be OF god.
Our flag symbolizes our commitment to Liberty and Justice, and our dedication to the protection thereof. Up to and including the destruction of that very symbol!
Yes… THAT is worthy of taking a knee, and showing HUMILITY for, our Constitution, OF the People.
Keep your head UP!!
JC
End The Electoral College NOW!! 