Let’s see this moment, so we can learn and help change it

“Race.” The word has been racing through my head. Everything I thought I knew, or thought I believed, has been challenged. I am confused. I am sad. I am angry for the black people I know and those I don’t.

I am left with a lot of learning to do. I want to learn. Not to be a better husband or parent, a better boss or a better friend. I want to learn so I can be a more productive member of our society.

Since Feb. 23, we’ve witnessed the deaths of two innocent and unarmed black men and a black woman involving current or former police officers. In South Georgia, Ahmaud Arbery was out for a jog when he was stalked by a white father and his son. Gregory McMichael was an investigator in Glynn County, Ga., for 24 years. McMichael and his son were only arrested and charged after a video surfaced detailing the modern-day lynching.

On March 13, Breonna Taylor was shot eight times in a botched no-knock raid on her apartment by the Louisville Police Department. Taylor was an emergency medical tech. She had educated herself to help others.

Most recently, and most visibly, on May 25, George Floyd, unarmed and without resistance, was cuffed, forcibly pulled in and then out of a police SUV, thrown to the ground and placed on his stomach. For the next 8 minutes and 46 seconds, Floyd’s chest and neck were compressed by Minneapolis Police Department officers, including Derek Chauvin, who placed his knee on Floyd’s neck.

Another officer tried to dissuade a growing crowd from videoing the event. With more than 600 pounds applied to his body, Floyd still had the strength to cry out for his mother, and 16 times he told officers, “I can’t breathe.” Chauvin maintained his full body weight on Floyd’s neck even after it is clearly visible Floyd was unconscious.

Another black American is dead. All four officers involved were fired and have been charged, including a seconddegree murder charge against Chauvin.

As the publisher of the Express-News, I wear a few hats. We have more than 100 talented journalists who take seriously their mission to report on what is happening in San Antonio and Texas. We have a talented marketing team that does all it can to create the investment required to support our newsroom and business. We have a talented and connected Editorial Board. As a member of the Editorial Board, I will occasionally weigh in. My true preference is to let Josh Brodesky, Gloria Padilla and Cary Clack do the writing and opining. I do most of my opining on Twitter, @Medici1.

In a recent conversation with Josh, Cary and Gloria, we all understand the past 90 days have been life-altering. COVID-19 will change the way we go about our lives. If COVID-19 will change our lives, our hope is our experience with Breonna, Ahmaud and George will reshape the way we live.

I want the Express-News opinion section to play a central role in the conversation that changes and shapes San Antonio. I want to understand why so many households in this vibrant city lack broadband access. In a world where many of our children will spend more time at home distance learning, how can we educate everyone equally if a home does not have access to broadband? Were we educating everyone equally before the pandemic? Let’s fix this.

I want to help feed people. This is “Military City, USA.” Our DNA is structured to help others. Why are so many people in our city going hungry? Let’s fix this.

Lastly, I want to learn so much more about race. Black people are angry. They should be. Hispanic people are angry. They should be. Let’s live this so we can fix this.

In closing, I spent nine years living in Atlanta, the epicenter of American civil rights.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is everywhere in Atlanta. On

April 16, 1963, after being jailed for organizing a protest for the poor treatment of blacks in Birmingham, Ala., King wrote a letter from his cell.

Inside that note is this quote: “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education, and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”

Sounds a lot like June 2020.