We Are All Just Humans

The U.S. was hit with a devastating storm resulting in severe ice that has wreaked

havoc on the lives of millions.

Photo Credit: Unknown

I live in the southeast and while some areas got bad, the storm basically missed us. There was freezing rain for a few days but no major issues. However, as a nurse, in the event of inclement weather and unsure road conditions we had to stay at the hospital to ensure there was enough staff to care for the patients. So after having spent the weekend in the hospital to wait out the result of our “code white” to determine if road conditions were safe enough for travel, I’m finally home. 

Photo Credit: Unknown

As I’m sitting on my couch scrolling Facebook, I’m met with multiple posts about this destructive ice, but that’s not the only destructive “ice” posts I’m seeing. We as a country are seeing, not only one devastating “ice storm”, but two devastating ICE storms. And then it hit me, my earlier statement holds true to both ice/ICE storms. 

Photo Credit: John Abernathy

The U.S. was hit with a devastating “storm” resulting in severe ICE that has wreaked havoc on the lives of millions.

Photo Credit: Aspen Kate

It’s crazy that we’re experiencing two ice storms at once. One natural and one man made.

One storm has left so many without power, stranded in below freezing temperatures and the other has ripped families apart by, what appears to be, any means necessary. 

I was heartbroken to learn of the passing of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse. 

I watched the videos many times and from many different angles, where a masked ICE agent shoves an individual. 

I watched Alex (who only has a phone in his hand) get between the ICE agent and the person that was shoved, to protect them. 

I watched the ICE agent then decide to pepper spray Alex repeatedly and pull on his clothes, shoving him to the ground as well. 

I watched as multiple ICE agents pinned him to the ground while another ICE agent appears to disarm him of his weapon (a weapon that was not in his hand, a weapon that he had every right to carry in the state of Minnesota). 

I watched, as MOMENTS after Alex is disarmed, an ICE agent fire multiple shots into Alex

killing him.

If you missed that, I want you to read it again. 

Actually, nevermind, I’ll just say it again. 

MOMENTS ***AFTER*** ALEX PRETTI WAS DISARMED, WHEN HE WAS NO LONGER “A THREAT”, THE ICE AGENT FIRED MULTIPLE SHOTS INTO ALEX PRETTI, KILLING HIM. 

And for ANYONE who says, “Oh, he shouldn’t have had a weapon on him if he didn’t want to get shot”. It’s his right as a U.S. citizen to carry a firearm. Period. Plenty of republicans (and some nonrepublicans) have vehemently protested during times when we feared that our second amendment right was going to get taken away. Just because republicans aren’t happy that others (that are not for their agenda) are carrying firearms, legally, does not give anyone the right to gun down another individual. You can’t say, “It’s our right to carry weapons!” and then, in the same breath say, “Now that they’re carrying them, it’s a problem.” It doesn’t work that way. 

Photo Credit: Aspen Kate

I’ve watched plenty of videos of the shooting of Alex Pretti and I didn’t see ANYTHING in ANY of the videos that corroborated that he was or was trying to use the weapon he had on him to harm another individual. 

I want everyone to understand some things about me. 

I don’t really speak up about a lot. 

I’m not very political. 

I don’t really watch the news. 

I try, for the most part, to remain a neutral party, Switzerland if you will. 

Mainly because I don’t like confrontation. 

Photo Credit: John Abernathy

I don’t like to rock the boat. I don’t like to make waves. You can get thrown overboard for doing that too much and I don’t know about everyone else, but I prefer to stay in a dry boat when amidst a sea of sharks. 

But sometimes, it’s necessary.

I understand there are two sides to every coin, two sides (if not more) to every story. But…when the feeling in my chest gets as heavy as I’ve felt in the last few days, I can only stay quiet for so long.

Photo Credit: Aspen Kate

I was reminded of a saying this weekend in regards to our atrocious “code white” policy. Many were trying to get answers to questions that our supervisors were directing us to HR and HR was then directing us back to our supervisors. An endless circle of unanswered questions.

I was told,“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

Now that being said the opposite can also be said that the squeaky wheel gets replaced (or in certain protestors cases “taken out”/killed. Similar to the concept of “if you rock the boat you might get thrown overboard”).

Photo Credit: Aspen Kate

Well, this is me, starting my own squeaky wheel, boat rocking, wave making journey. 

We are all people in this world. Now do I understand that there are illegal immigrants that have wronged the citizens of this country, killing their family members, yes but there are also citizens of this country who have wronged their fellow citizens by doing the same thing. We are all (save for native Americans) immigrants to this country.

Photo Credit: Aspen Kate

Where would we be had our families not been FORTUNATE and BLESSED enough to get to this country when they did? Some are being forced back to a country they haven’t been to since childhood and some have never even been to their “home country” at all! 

I’m 98% British and Irish so I wouldn’t even be in this country had my family not found their way over at some point.  

Photo Credit: Devin Martel

And you know what. This land isn’t even ours anyway, if you want to look at it from a “zoomed out” perspective we are only here for a short period of time, I’ll say 100 years max because few live to that age and even fewer live past that. When we’re gone, hundreds or even thousands of years from now, what are our ancestors going to say about us? 

The same thing we said about our ancestors who enslaved people, thinking them “property”… “What the fuck were they thinking?” We are all just humans. We may all have different accents, skin tones, hair color, eye color, be of varying heights and weights but WE ARE ALL JUST HUMANS. And we all deserved to be treated with love, respect and dignity. 

If you want to see change you have to speak up. And if plenty of people speak up enough something is bound to happen. One small flame can’t warm us from this cold but a million little flames together can melt the ICE.

Photo Credit: Nikkolas Smith

I want everyone to understand, I don’t say this in a destructive way but a way to bring people together as human beings. I don’t want my words to incite violence or harm of any kind to anyone including the ICE agents, as angry as many of us are at them (they should be held accountable for their actions, but in the correct, legal way). I say this more so that people will see it and maybe share it to others repeatedly so that we can collectively become one big flame/squeaky wheel/wave and so that we may change the world for the better. 

Photo Credit: Gabriel Devereux

Morals of today’s story:

• Let your wheel squeak, rock your boat and make all the waves you can.

• Human Rights, as well as Second Amendment rights, are everyone’s rights, they are not selective. Period.

• We are just all humans and we all deserve to be treated with love, respect and dignity.

• One small flame can’t warm us from this cold but a million little flames together can melt the ICE.

• Make a difference, speak up, change the world for the better.

Thanks for reading. Follow along & grow with me. 

-CJ