I hopped onto the Florida expressway as I was making my way to the apartment I was moving into. I had gotten off work, went home and picked up some of my things to take to the new place. I was so tired that I didn't really care, just wanted to hurry up and get it all over with. I crossed from the right lane all the way to the lane on the left, didn't use my blinkers and was speeding. I drove 73 in a 60, sure enough, lo and behold, I see the bright lights that everyone detests. I was pulled over by a state trooper who had no mercy on me. Never having had a ticket before didn't matter, my record was about to be tainted. I cried! I explained to him my situation and that was when I started disliking cops.

What is crazy about all of this is how insignificant that incident was. Looking at it now ,I know that the cops that have pulled me over previously were just doing their jobs. Maybe if he hadn't stopped me, I could have killed someone on accident due to my recklessness. We look at discipline in such a negative way. We forget that cops are placed for our safety and to enforce rules.

I am going to sidetrack for a moment; let me put it to you this way. In the animal kingdom, it is imperative for structure to exist. Packs survive because of their leaders. Gorillas—which have the close resemblance to humans interactions—have a male leader or as everyone knows, an alpha male. He is the one who takes care of the women and the young; each one underneath him has a special job. Looking at it another way, in history, Native Americans also followed a similar pattern. You would have a chief, then you would have the witch doctor or medicine doctor and then you would have the general people. We exist within structure because it is in our nature.

So why am I saying all of this? More and more the media has been pressing on negative actions from cops. Sadly, a lot of us fall within the category of judgement towards the latest events, like pointing and wagging our fingers will really make a difference. I have had family members that have served our country in different uniforms. And this is why I have chosen to speak on this topic. Racism is a very real thing, but generalizing makes everything just as bad. The actions of a few should not dictate the view of many. It seems we have failed to let God show us what mercy really is. Subconsciously we have all reacted depending on what the news dictates.

Cops: there are good cops and bad ones, but mostly good ones, so why do we focus on when a white cop kills a black cop and not when cops all do good things to all people, including pulling us over? Muslims: there are good people who practice Islam and bad people who practice extremist movements, why not focus on Muslims like Malala who have put their lives at risk for things that they have no access to like education or even basic necessities? White people: there are those who swear an oath and do their job and keep us safe, but why do we focus on the ignorance of people like Donald Trump that inspire hate, anger and racism? And the list goes on and on and on. At the end of the day blacks, whites, Hispanics, asians, gay, transgender, straight, cops, soldiers, teachers, lawyers and everyone in the world, if you get cut, do we all not bleed red?

Lets stop this hate and this madness. It is so disheartening! Lets all care about each other, because there are so many people out in the world who don't have time to worry about these issues because they live in constant danger, because they don't have access to basic necessities and because they barely even have basic human rights. Lets gear our focus into things other than hate, because when did that ever solve anything?

To the state trooper who pulled me and my friends over last weekend, thank you! Because even though I was just going five miles over the speed limit on the highway, you wanted to check and make sure that we were all safe. I was the designated driver last weekend while my friends drank and honestly, this was by far my most favorite experience with a cop. I did not end up with a ticket but was reminded that cops are humans too. They have families and constantly put their lives at risk. I want everyone to take a moment of their time and say a prayer for those who have lost their lives in the last few weeks and for their families.