Boxing is not a sport for people with weak stomachs.
I awoke this morning feeling like I was punched in the stomach without prior notice. Ever had that experience? In my lifetime, I’ve been punched in the gut several times, literally and figuratively. What I learned from each experience, is that no trauma is exactly like the previous one.
As a former boxer, I received several gut punches in a single round. Each punch was different. Some I overcame quickly, others I had to work through. Jan 6, 2021 was by far one of my hardest gut punches. This morning, as I reflected on the implications of what success of the insurrectionists might have meant to our democracy and our future way of life, I’m feeling a stomach pain similar to when I lost my daughter due to a tragic car accident.
I don’t intend to be melodramatic, but as a black man living in America with a clear understanding of the underlying rationale for the insurrection, it not only makes my stomach ache, it makes my entire being feel as though I went 15 rounds with Mike Tyson.
I am not sure how we as a society would have been governed when I considered that every level of government, law enforcement, the Congress, and 77+ million citizens thought that overthrowing democracy in America was a great and rational idea. I will not complete my thoughts in this post; however, I would ask that you critically think about what our future state would have been, if the insurrectionists had accomplished their objective.
I would not have entered a boxing ring with Mike unless I felt I was equally strong and equally prepared. How does a disenfranchised citizen prepare to go 15 rounds with a backward facing government?
Opinion: Stan Brooks, PhD
