Timothy C. Allen
This was prepared for the Moment of Silence at the Springfield City Council meeting on June 1, 2020.
To all – I have been greatly affected by the video of the death of George Floyd while in police custody. It got me thinking about the brutal and senseless lack of humanity of that act, and also some of the recent and continuing problems we are dealing with in our city and in our country. It is a challenging time.
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused over 100,000 deaths and had a huge impact on many of our citizens, families, healthcare workers, citizens and the country itself. In addition, nine years ago today, the tornado hit our city. It was a devastating event for many in our city.
Because of these three situations, I have written down some of my thoughts. I want to share my thoughts with you, my fellow Councilors, and also people in the community.
1. Like all of you, I have watched George Floyd die while in police custody.
2. Like all of you, I have watched the Covid-19 pandemic news and grieved at over 100,000 deaths of US citizens and the health and economic impact on our citizens and country.
3. Like many of you, I was greatly affected by the tornado of June 1, 2011 – which hit our city and greatly impacted people in certain wards and neighborhoods.
So I called our President, Justin Hurst, and asked him how he planned to acknowledge these circumstances at our June 1 City Council meeting. In our discussion, he expressed that he was glad that I had called him, and he asked me to do the ‘moment of silence’ in our meeting.
I was surprised and honored by his suggestion. I accepted his invitation and started researching what I wanted to say. He gave me full freedom for what I wanted to say and how to say it.
In my preparation, I did the following things:
- I watched endless news coverage of the George Floyd situation and COVID-19.
- I remembered and thought about the tornado of 2011, which affected my city, many neighborhoods in it, and my own neighborhood.
- I researched the Covid-19 information, which we have been deluged with for at least the last 3 months.
Regarding the George Floyd situation,
- I watched the CNN special, ‘I Can’t Breathe – Black Men Living and Dying in America.’
- I looked up some quotes, mostly from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- I listened to the I Have a Dream speech.
- I listened to my son’s podcast on racism.
- I watched Andrew Cuomo’s press conferences.
- I listened to the remarks by Mayor Sarno, Commissioner Caulton-Harris and Commissioner Clapprood at the Monday City Hall update meeting.
- I became more educated on some of the issues we are discussing here.
In our progression through life, we all deal with many situations. While the catalyst for my call to Council President Hurst was the George Floyd situation, I thought it would be most fair to discuss all three situations. We could learn from all three situations. They have all been traumatic in their own way. Many of our citizens have been affected by each of these issues.
The Situations.
The 2011 Tornado
Impact: The tornado happened to us, but just some of us. Buildings were destroyed. Peoples’ lives were disrupted.
How we recovered: We rebuilt our neighborhoods. In nine years, the recovery is basically complete. Most buildings have been rebuilt and the recent construction and opening of the
East Forest Park Library was the last symbolic piece to complete the tornado recovery.
What it took: The community came together, supported each other, and, with the strength that comes with working together, rebuilt our community.
The COVID-19 pandemic
Impact: The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted many people directly, but everyone indirectly. Over 100,000 lives have been lost in our country. Countless families have been affected by these losses. Healthcare workers have been stretched to their limit. Families have been devastated by the economic losses.
How we recovered: We have figured out much about the coronavirus. In Massachusetts, we have flattened the curve, brought our numbers down, and asserted some ‘control’ over its impact on our lives. The bad numbers are going down due to strong attention and discipline to three main things – staying home, social distancing, and wearing masks. Now we must continue to act strong and disciplined to continue to succeed in the health challenges, while we apply that same effort on the economic and emotional challenges.
What it took: The community came together, supported each other, listened to medical advice and governmental guidance, and with the strength that comes with working together, have asserted some control over this virus. It is up to all of us to keep this virus at bay.
The George Floyd situation
Impact : The impact of George Floyd’s death was first on him and his family and friends, but we realize it is also on all Black people in this country and on all Americans who are against injustice. George was a human being who died in front of our eyes. It happened to him but it happened to all of us. We can’t escape the brutality of the behavior we witnessed and the moment that he stopped breathing. It was taped. By the time we saw it, we could not save his life. His cries of ‘I can’t breathe’ and his cry for his Mama will echo in our hearts and minds for a long time.
How we recovered: We have not recovered. There have been protests, both peaceful ones and violent ones. There have been many words said, millions and billions of words. When the protests end, what will we do? Many of us have reflected on this.
But the real question is…how will we recover? What will we do?
In the first two situations, we have figured it out. We eventually beat the tornado. But it was a one-time event. It took lots to beat it, but we beat it.
It may be presumptuous to say that we have figured out COVID-19. It will continue to ravage communities, families, and individuals. Too many people have died and been negatively affected to say that. But we have found some success in beating it. When we follow the guidance, show some discipline, and act with love – staying home, keeping a safe distance from people, and wearing masks to protect each other – we do well against this virus. It is not fun to stay apart and to live this way, but it must be done for the time being.
But the George Floyd situation is with all of us. The brutality and racism that is often demonstrated in our country is unacceptable. It is a virus we have been living with for years, for too long. We make great progress in some areas, but fall back in others. There is plenty of will on all sides to do better, to create the America that we envision when we recite the Pledge of Allegiance – ‘with liberty and justice for all’. We say the words, but is it really true? It is a great vision, but not a true reality. We need to convert that ‘will’ to action.
The prejudice and racism affects all of us – some more directly than others for sure. But the world we live in is inhabited by many people, all of whom have some impact on the world that we all live in. We are all connected. We are.
To prepare us for the work ahead, we will have two moments of silence in our meeting.
The first moment of silence is for reflection, thought, and prayer. We need to reflect on the horror of these three events, particularly the human meanness that we saw on display in the George Floyd death. We need to beat that meanness with human kindness. Let us now have our first moment of silence to reflect.
Thank you.
Our next moment of silence is to begin to consider our actions to fix our world, deal with racism, make human kindness our preferred and normal way of living. What actions could we take? What legislation could we put forward? How can we change hearts and minds? How can we work together?
Let us now begin our second moment of silence.
Thank you.
In closing, thanks to President Hurst for letting me share my thoughts with all of you. Thanks to all of you, my colleagues, who work to improve our city and the lives of the people in it. And thanks to all citizens and public servants who serve our city.
In the I Have a Dream speech, Martin Luther King talked about police brutality, along with many other issues and social ills. There was much to work on in our society and in our community at that time, and there is plenty to work on now.
I call on two of MLK’s quotes to help us now. There are many quotes to choose from, but here are the two I picked.
‘We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.’
‘The time is always right to do what is right.’
What I believe is right is to let George Floyd and all of our brothers and sisters breathe. We all need to breathe. Let’s get in that boat together and get started.