Mute In the Desert

In the desert heat the migrant walks, the vigilante roams the desert and the drone sees all from above. From that view you see see hills with shades of green and brown changing shapes. Near by the jazzy mechanical beat of urban cities with a boundary

 line of farms and prisons. To you or me the sound and sights are the healing vibes of the story of life. Its a blessing we take for granted, its what we think of at those moments we rest and mediate. To those with disabilities those are not always things existing but stories from another land where Normys reside. Now consider in our midst all these years was a man named Abraham Smith. Bringing mental ill, he sometimes was with us, sometimes mind was in another realm. He had a speaking issue his whole life. In the recent years is ability to hear as well as communicate. Can you imagine not having control of your mind, losing your ability to function or to communicate was evaporating. Could you imagine the frustration, the hurt, the disappointment the helplessness. Worse off not everyone has the time, not everyone understand. Some do for that you are grateful with no way to express it other than a few words, a look, a slight wave. we learned through Helen Keller how fulfilling and wonderful life that can have when investment and community are made. That's not what went down. But the contrast gives a visual treasure chest of why Abraham Smith matters. He was mentally ill, he was mute, he was living on the streets of Tucson, sometimes he stayed with family. That day thats where they found him, where friends, family and government gathered. It was one of those harder days. The TPDs Mental Health team and the mac team was there. He left in a body bag, the family in shock began to mourn. They had warned not to send a uniform in, he had past trauma with police and that would escalate the situation. The family gave them the key hopping, praying they could deescalate the situation. That didn't happen. The name of the officers never went out, citing protection of the officers the thought of transparency not treated with sensitivity. Just as sending a uniform in was not sensitive, just as a member of the MAC Team pulling the trigger on a mentally ill mute person for not responding. What can you expect though, its hot,110 or more. You can see liquid simmer and evaporate on any surface left in the sun. The large amount of each of us that is liquid. Should we expect the same is not happening. Its an aggravated feeling, an overwhelming feeling; this heat. Where we do things quick, where the sun takes an effect on our moral, our physical bodies. We do things quicker. This way that day.

learn more about Abraham 

Christopher Ray Hoffman, he was a brother, a son, a good Samaritan, a mechanic. A father, his partner , a dancer and a student. 2 people, becoming 3, working on leaving poverty for a more than welcome middle class sense of stability. They were renters. His brother had been removed by police about a month before. His brother associated with safe park. But for him, the options he had, the sidewalk was not one he wanted to experiment with. The Hoffman's as a family work hard, play hard they stand for whats right, they believe in America. They are thick skinned, rough around the edges but wholesome and caring. Christopher Ray Hoffman, was the guy on the motorcycle a week ago. Yes the one the police crashed into. His fiance now grieving, with kid to care for and two bread winners removed by police. She reconsiders whether she can still go to school being the only bread winner. The driving of the officer wasn't defensive. It wasn't sensitive to the other drivers These incidents days apart, blocks a part. A neighborhood known for poverty, working class. In area with double the police, an area patrolled by two different stations. A city with an Urban Camping ban, a county with a panhandling ordinance. Can if we cant mention police abuse, do to the sensitivity nation wide can we speak on culture insensitivity? Can you hear Kelly Thomas crying in the wind?