I am posting this piece sent to me by Tarajee Ali.

Do Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter? If you are mentally assessing or viscerally weighing a reasonable response, then you’re being unreasonable. It’s a false dichotomy. Of course Black Lives Matter. Of course All Lives Matter. But when the political landscape can be so divided over truisms, then we have truly reached a low water mark in our society. Someone must bridge this divide, and as humanists, we are perfectly positioned to be such a bridge.

Now, more than ever, America needs a mediator. For most of our nation’s existence, the government has been a de facto mediator. Not any more. Government is just as divided as society. Racial divide, gender divide, gender identification divide, us vs. them, our collective lizard brain is firmly in control.

I am asking all of my fellow humanists to help me bridge this divide – be the sane person in the room and mediate between otherwise reasonable people who have been forced into unreasonable positions. We must create the forums, provide the platforms and the space to bring the opposing sides together and find a way to move forward.

We realize that we are not only Humanists – we are humans. We too are susceptible to visceral reactions that morph into biased positions. Therefore, regardless of which side of the divide you may identify with, we must put that aside and maintain a balance. A balance between not hesitating to speak the truth as we see it, but also recognize that there are other truths to be seen.

The time is now. If we don’t step into the breach, who will? And more to the point, if we as humanists can’t find common ground in applied humanism, are we really who we say we are?

No one person can make America great – unless that person is you.

Signed,

Black Humanist United

Tarajee Ali