The outpouring of charity for Damar Hamlin was reminiscent of the civil rights summer of 2020

When disaster strikes, whether in personal life, community or even communal grief, clichés can fall on our lips like tears from our eyes. Sometimes life is too overwhelming to sit in the moment and come up with the most eloquent statement to make. That’s why, as Damar Hamlin continued to lie on that Paycor Stadium as the ad break began, Joe Buck was at a loss for words.

With limited information and being broadcast live, there is really nothing else to say other than that the situation has taken a frightening turn, thoughts and prayers go out to Hamlin and his loved ones. . Anything else is at best ignorant, and at worst insensitive.

When the worst — the only inevitable moment for all of us — strikes in our families, we gather from far away to pay our respects to the deceased. Then we cycled through the list of email addresses and vowed that we would all gather more often. It’s the right thing to do and say in a dark moment.

However, on Monday night, something that usually doesn’t happen when lives are turned upside down by an unforeseen incident, the metaphorical pause button was pressed. As Sam Fels eloquently expressed on Tuesday: “We have to pause. Thankfully, both the Bills and Bengals had to pause as well.“

The show stopped. The participants were shocked and upset, then they left the field and will not return. That is Monday Night Football. Last game in the penultimate week of the 2022 NFL season. The RedZone team couldn’t change the channel to another game, so we were forced to sit back and watch. Our frustration, frustration, helplessness and ignorance with very few updates.

Within minutes, a voice will sell the viewer a car, or maybe a man with a bushy mustache will try to dissuade the new homeowners from becoming their parents, and then There’s a football field with no games going on, or Suzy Kolber in the studio.

The fact that time literally never stops allows for a number of moments when a significant proportion of the public, belonging to political and ethnic groups, is left to reflect on a single moment. . However, sometimes in those moments, people can step up in dramatic ways. It happened three summers ago with George Floyd.

It’s been two months since we were ordered into the house. A necessity because airborne viruses fill emergency rooms so quickly that patients cannot receive proper treatment, and it is the only way to control mortality. Then, on Memorial Day when many people might normally stay in a friendly home with the aroma of meat on a fire that engulfed the neighborhood, former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 years. minutes and kill him.

Police killings via viral video have been going on for years, but this time everyone is at home and has nowhere to go. No colleagues to play nice in front of, no peaceful restaurants to dine in, no new sports or shows to watch. No distractions. The game has been cancelled.

People get absorbed in what happened and become angry. They are not only on social media but also on the street. By July 2020, it is estimated that more people joined those protests any in the history of America — between 15-26 million people.

The most promising thing about those protests was the diversity in the crowd. Other races have always joined the Negro in these times, but not to the extent that they did that summer. According to Brookings data, in Los Angeles, New York and Washington combined 54 percent of white protesters. It was a real moment in which the fight for civil rights seemed poised to take a step further.

The real discussions have gone beyond simply reforming policy in the US with more training and Decree of consent. Reconstructing what the police actually do was on the ballot in Minneapolis. There is a measure on it in 2021 that will cut down on the police force and encourage “comprehensive public health approach.”

Disappointingly, that moment did not last and the ballot measure was not passed. But that summer showed that when people put their anger and confusion into the right channels, good results can come.

It happened again this week, albeit on a smaller scale, to Hamlin. His Chasing M’s Foundation Community Toy Drive has seen an increase in donations in recent days. As of early Wednesday afternoon, the total was nearly $6.5 million. Also, according to Pro Football Talk, Hamlin’s jersey is currently third highest seller in the NFL. That money will also go to his Chasing M fund.

This does not mean that we should expect more global pandemics and life-threatening injuries to distract the public from the narrow focus on work and relieve work. But for life to be lived to its fullest, we need to find more ways to hit that collective pause button.

The race for humans to take, devour and conquer before reaching the finish line is their doom which is why life is so much harder than it should be. History has shown that the ugly, gluttonous side of humanity will never be destroyed, but we have also shown an extraordinary ability to step up.

So be sure to send your thoughts and prayers to the Hamlins and their loved ones. That is the right thing to do. But let’s also dig a little deeper and find ways to tap into our common generosity and sense of justice without involving death or something like it.