This marks a new era for The Video Creep. Recent events and situations have placed me in a position where I don't even know how much longer I am going to be in existence on this planet let alone have a Blog as well as a career.
I feel that it is strange that I made the decision to live more positive and have a better outlook at the world and to stay away from the ones that cause me problems and soon there after I am diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer that has taken the sight from my left eye and rendered me currently unable to drive while I receive Chemo and Radiation therapy.
Now I have to admit that I have decided that this cancer is not going to kill me because my body and mind are fighting this illness with all that we have and I have one of the best support teams that you can ask for.
What bothers me is what is happening in the country that I love and now in the state that I have always called my home.
It is no secret that I am recieving my treatment in Downtown Dallas where I have also had to take on the position of Observer over the past couple of days while reporters flock to all areas of My City in light of the recent tragedy involving the Dallas Police Department.
Yes I said My City, Like Gotham is to Batman Dallas and I have a love hate relationship as I will fight for her but she sometimes forgets that I am here for her. I will always shed a tear when she is hurting.
Now I have had issues with Racism and Religion in the past few years and I want to take this time to address some of these events.
Let me start with race and then I will talk about religion in a later edition of the Video Creep.
I want to start with these racial issues because of the recent events in MY CITY and how angry I am that I feel that Dallas again has to awnser for the sins of this Great Nation's Black Sheep.
I have seen My City wear a 50 plus year wound that we will never fully live down as we are famous for 3 things. A sometimes great Football Team, A fictional hard drinking Evil Oilman, and the Assassination of a United States President.
It was after Kennedy that the city was labeled "The City of Hate" because of the so called political atmosphere within it's limits with everyone thinking that we were all Bible Thumping Bigots.
Nothing can be farther from the truth Yes we do have are fair share of Psycho conservatives but there are plenty of them everywhere you go it's just that here in Dallas the crazy conservatives all have Big Mouths and are loud and will try to make you listen to their opinions, but the truth is that we are ignoring them because We all Have big mouths here...Honestly I can't give some a hard time about this because I am one of the bigger mouths in the city.
Racism does exist in My City and I have fought to keep it out. I have stood up to old relatives who spout their racist views as well as put the fear into young men who think they are being funny.
I have stated time after time that Dallas is not the villain that we are always made out to be and if Texas is the reddest state in the union it is because we are our own shade. Now many of you will ask what makes me such an expert? That is the part where I say I live here.
I listen to fellow filmmakers on their Podcasts bashing The Lone Star State and how much they wish that we would succeed from the Union and I have faced the prejudices that come with having pride in my home. Granted I wear a cowboy hat when appropriate as well as my boots. I feel those are the only typecasts that I do indeed have.
I am supportive of the rights of all citizens in regards to who they want to marry. I believe that a woman has a right to choose weather or not she wants to terminate a pregnancy. I feel that what a couple choose to do in their bedrooms are in fact their own business and everyone else needs to mind their own.
A business should have the right to choose who they refuse service to...That being said if you refuse service to someone due to race, religion, or sexual orientation you are nothing more than an ASS!
In regards to guns I am all for a private citizen's right to carry a gun and I am also pro open carry. Now granted do we really reed to carry assault rifles because some of the individuals that I have encountered that are carrying the rifles I have to ask what they are over compensating for. Personally I prefer to carry a 9mm and a rifle with a lower caliber because the kickback is annoying.
When it comes to Race, It follows me like a Black Cloud. I have encountered racism here in Dallas however I have also encountered it far more in other places in the Deep South.
Now the racist individuals that I encounter I quickly put them in their places because I will not tolerate it in My City. I have come to notice that the "Young Racists" are cowardly. Let me tell you a story.
I was at a convention a couple of years ago hanging out with one of the celebrity guests in the hotel bar and yes having my fanboy moment. There was a African American man sitting at the bar having a beer and looking at us. The look on his face was one of I really want to talk to the Celebrity guest but he was too nervous to approach.
I soon went to the bar to order my final round of tequila for myself and my crew before I Tab out. And had a brief conversation with the individual and it was a pleasant conversation about the good time that he was having at the event. At this point I began a conversation with one of my regular customers that was sitting in a different part of the bar.
This was when 4 police officers entered the bar and approached this man telling him that they had reports that he was giving the "Evil Eye" to people in the bar.
What I saw on this man's face was nothing but Fear and naturally he was defensive and myself and my customer watched as the situation unfolded in front of us.
Now there are those that choose not to get involved and I am not one of those but I also know all to well what happens when you try to get involved in these situations, So first off I went to Laura and told her that I was going to have some words with these officers, Laura I modestly became frightened as she has seen me get into it with the Lake Dallas Police on occasion and her and other members of my crew tried to talk me out of it saying that the situation was not racist.
Eventually after the officers stepped out of the bar I followed them to "Have some Words" and this was when we saw the officers talking with the man who actually called them. A man who refused to be in the bar to face the man that he was accusing because he had no guts and he was in the middle of a rant about "Those People" that is when my Assistant looked at me and said "Now That was Racist" and we all watched as the officers laid into this man for calling them and using them as his "Weapon" for his bigoted beliefs. They even told him that they might even arrest him while they were running his ID for wasting their time.
By that point we had all ran back to the bar and I bought the man that was harassed a beer.
These police officers were just doing their job with information that they were given and when they pieced together the facts they dealt with the situation in the best way they could. It was horrible that they were used like that.
There are two lessons here, The first is that cops aren't the villains and they are human and they do make errors,
The Second is the fact is that racism in our country still exists and it does exist on both sides and I feel a great deal of pity for the poor individuals that have so much Hate that it destroys them the way it does.
We did have that incident in McKinney at the Pool Party but I honestly didn't;t consider that relevant because McKinney is just a bunch of Snooty Jackasses who think they are better than EVERYONE else and the situation escalated to something that should NOT have happened and I'm just happy that nobody was killed or seriously injured there and hopefully everyone can move on with their lives.
That brings me to the events of last week.
What bothers me is that this was a peaceful protest in which the police were involved to protect the piece. This was also a protest for the events in other cities in other states. Yet someone decided to shoot our Police Officers because of the shootings across the nation and the lack of accountability that the police have seemed to avoid. Again THIS WAS NOT DALLAS!
Here you saw these Officers put their lives on the line to protect and serve people who were protesting against them and these people were also on the line and have come to the side of their fallen finest.
This was a senseless act of violence but the police did their jobs with magnificent valor and showed the nation just who in the hell They Are.
We May Rise and Fall but in the end we Will Meet our Fate together. We are all in this together and we need to stick together. Dallas was never the City of Hate as there is too much to Love here.
I ask Why did this happen. We May Never Know. One thing that we will know is that This City, MY CITY, OUR CITY will endure and we will prevail.
