The Monarch

In order to evaluate a situation properly, one must first realize our eyes do play tricks on us and so do our minds. This book is written to show you several different ways to look at the situation concerning police officers and young black men. At this point you may have decided that you have a monopoly in the situation; one million other people do too, and they all have a difference of opinion. One thing we can all agree on is, we have some unresolved issues in this country that need to be addressed.

If we can look in the mirror and see ourselves for who we really are, we have a better chance at accepting and getting along with others, recognizing our cultural differences, accepting them or being outraged by them are subtle individual choices we make on a daily basis; rather, it involves going to a particular store or choosing a show to watch.

Some of the answers to our questions can be as simple or as difficult as the fine line between what is appropriate and what is not, also what is acceptable and what is not, and just how phony are we required to be as a civilized society. Are we really willing to take a good look at who we really are as individuals and judge our own behavior?

For example, you say you’re not a racist, but if you walk into a room full of people who are all one race but you’re not of that race, would you feel comfortable taking a seat, or would you rather back out of that room? If we back out of the room, is it because we fear who the people in the room are? Or are we afraid they may recognize us for who we are?

Taking a seat and grouping people by looks, conversations, or actions—we’re all guilty of that form of prejudice, and sometimes we’re right. If this book is a mirror, I challenge you to find yourself. Not just find yourself, but this book and its characters allow you to, hopefully, see the situation from the view of police officers and their family members’ victims and their family members as well as friends and onlookers. What’s your approach? Where do you stand? You have to be clear on where you stand before you can take a stand. Is it better to make a well-informed decision than an educated guess? Or would you just rather sit this one out as a caterpillar?

Are you a caterpillar, a cocoon, or a butterfly, or do you even know? If you don’t know, it’s time you find out. If you’re a caterpillar and you don’t know that you are, you will never build a cocoon; you will crawl on the earth until you die. If you’re a caterpillar and you know you’re a caterpillar, you will build a cocoon and, one day, emerge as a butterfly and soar off with the eagles. Very few of us have already arrived as butterflies.

-- Lydia Robinson