Take a Knee

I was on a field during the preseason of an NFL game, standing behind the players, when the anthem began to play...

For anyone that still follows me or has been unfortunate enough to get a comment or two on your posts, you may have noticed that I've been steeped in the kneeling/standing debate. (This in no way is to take away from anything else going on, like Puerto Rico. We CAN have more than one issue at a time and I don't feel that we can only be concerned with what we deem most pressing.) That being said, I've interacted with MANY people of varying beliefs, friends, friends of friends and friends of friends of friends. I have YET to come across a SINGLE PERSON that does NOT want the NFL players to stand. EVERYONE (who again, I've engaged with) wants them to come to their feet during our nation's anthem. The difference is how to get these young men to their feet. My argument is and always has been one of the proverbial olive branch. If you want the players to stand, I feel there's more constructive ways to go about it over name calling, belittling and being offended. Ask yourselves what you can do in your daily lives that'll help our fellow Americans regain their footing and rise to our sides once more. If reason is not something you're accustomed to, take stock of how being shouted at to do something would most definitely NOT make you do it. Whether you like it or not, or feel that these players/Americans could find a different platform in which to protest, ask yourselves earnestly if it'd be as effective.

I was standing behind the players, on the field, when the anthem began. I heard the first couple of bars and then fell into turmoil, the music ceased to exist. I almost dropped to my knee when a thought came over me. I continue to stand for those that can't. I stood through the entirety of the song but I walked away with strong emotions. This protest has effected me. I will continue to stand, for the time being, for those that feel they can't. I will continue to make my voice heard from an upright position for those voices that fall on deaf ears. I will continue to extend my hand to those that kneel in the hopes that it may be grasped in brotherhood to lift back to their feet those that kneel.

The anthem began and the weight of social consciousness proved insurmountable. It pressed down upon every fiber of my body. But I knew that if I kneeled, I wasn't going to have the strength to get back up. Not without help. So I ask you, will you help your fellow Americans regain their balance? Or will you turn your back on your countrymen?

I love my country and continue to stand, but only because those that oppose the one's that kneel seem only to respect opinions from an upright vantage point.

My message to those that kneel for our anthem is that I stand for you until the burden that presses you to American soil is shed.