Cody, let me explain something to you it’s called perspicacity. This post is about just that. It means sharp insight, the ability to cut through noise and see the truth.
For me, it’s iron sharpening iron. I live with a level of perception shaped by a world you don’t have to survive in.
There can be empathy, but if you aren’t Black if you don’t carry ancestors who were enslaved you can’t fully understand this reality.
You see the world from a vantage point built on privilege. Some people are waking up to that privilege, but most don’t give a damn.
I’ve always spoken with you because you actually want to understand. Even if we don’t talk every day, I knew that when I pushed back, you’d at least see why. Meanwhile, I argue daily with people who defend Kirk or minimize what his movement stood for and truthfully, Kirk isn’t even the worst of them.
As long as you stay open to learning, the world has a chance to shift. But understand this I’m actively fighting not just opinions, but systems.
I’ve been blackballed, discriminated against, and shut out by the biggest corporations.
I’ve won awards on the level of the Pulitzer, yet in this anti-Black, anti-DEI landscape, the white male gaze still dictates who gets to sit at the table.
Every day I fight for my right to be great and for the chance to stand alongside peers who are too often elevated simply because of their skin color.
That’s the reality I carry into every conversation.
I love how Cody explains you, his experience of you and the growth it's given to him because you've been there to nurture it and he was ready to hear it
In a way, he's turned the camera back on you and shown how you shine, how you stand up in the community and in life
Not easy to receive when you're used to being behind the lens hehe
I like your words here in the comments, you sound like good people and it's nice to see when nearly everyone is pissing me off to no end 🤣
It's also relatable because anyone who spends a long time behind the lens, gets added bonuses to awareness and perception shifts... Ok fair, not that everyone uses it but the potential is there
I like this and the humor too. Yeah, I usually fight my battles off camera, but society has a way of forcing the leader in me to step out from behind the lens.
I’m dealing with a lot behind the scenes, and I know this is a hot topic that most people aren’t looking at with the full picture on the table. I appreciate Cody taking the time to write this.
Very, very powerful. I admire your willingness to accept and honor feedback. We don't have to be perfect; just willing to listen, learn, and respect other people's perspective.
“I can condemn assassination while still saying Kirk’s machine was harmful as hell. Both are true.” Absolutely. As someone who is a brown female minority, I didn’t agree w/ anything he said. It’s the opposite of how I want to raise my son. But violence is never the answer. It’s so refreshing to see y’all’s relationship and ability to discuss these issues and learn from each other. We need more of this.
Oh because I forgot to say I also learned from Terrell. I’m grateful to him for sharing a perspective I can never fully know.
From my own lens, women across races and demographics routinely face discrimination, violence, or outright dismissal in every corner of society. It’s hard to speak up as it is, and Kirk’s machine was “harmful as hell” to our voices. But again, violence is never the answer.
Cody, once again you amaze me. This is the absolute best type of writing and human-ing. What I see as the most dangerous thing is the separation. In a world, where it is impossible to recognize truth from lie and lie from truth, our only amour is our 'amor' - the love for another human that guides us to respect one another and profoundly listen. I listen to you and your experience. You listen to mine. We both know that there is truth and lie in both - we are so conditioned, brainwashed, numbed, sterilized... terrified. Our brains need care and we must be careful of our own thoughts. This is why I consistently ask myself: is what I believe true? Is it truly what I believe? I have few absolute truths. I am ready to change. This does not make me fragile. It is my strength. I will never tell you that I know better because honestly, whoever thinks they know for sure is kidding themselves. And this certainty can be extremely dangerous.
I fear for the children most of all. What can they possibily know? They are growing up in a fake world where core values live only here and there, mindful parents and educators trying to do the impossible: save us from everything else. Will there be enough of us listening, with the desire to deeply connect? Will there be enough of us who are willing to say, oh I didn’t think about it that way... that view can live too... your experience is valid. And when we do not agree, will there be enough of us with the desire to peacefully talk it out with respect and love and still be friends? I hope so. For every side. For all of us. 🙏💛
Dani, I also grew up in a fake world. I was raised in south Louisiana in a racist environment that I didn’t understand or acknowledge. I grew up as a Proud American without understanding what that heritage really stood for. The false idea of American exceptionalism that was deeply embedded in my upbringing. The unlearning and recognition of the false narrative is painful and necessary.
Cody, I love what you write here about friendship, and how it is not an echo chamber. That there can be love as well as respectful challenge in a friendship or relationship.
Cody, this is powerful in its truth. As privileged people, we can never really know what it's like to be the "other." I married a man who is half Chinese/Filipino, and my sons remind me of what it is like to be looked at like this. I love how you speak about Terrell and how he pushes back at you and your openness to learning. Even now in semi-retirement, I am still learning - thanks to my kids and the international students I teach. Life is one long lesson in learning to live with humility and gratefulness.
Cody, your essay is raw, powerful, blistering ... and extraordinarily open minded. I agree with you and, thanks to your insightful viewpoint noted here, I also agree with Terrell.
As a straight white dude, the most compassionate thing I can say to a Black person is this: "I'll NEVER understand what it's like. All I can do is try."
I appreciate this follow up post Cody. I read your 1st post as well but it didn’t resonate with me and I felt as though it was missing some of the points that you addressed here. I really appreciate you taking time to listen to others and absorb their lived reality and perspective. These kinds of conversations are what are needed for actually change to happen. I am struggling myself with how to communicate with people around me who don’t grasp the impact and harm that Charlie’s words have systematically. While he didn’t physically harm people (that I know of) his rhetoric fueled people into demonizing many people who aren’t white cis males. There are so many layers of oppression and hate embedded in the organization he headed. His contributed to what is known as Social Murder which is essentially when people die avoidable deaths due to systemic harm and oppression. Charlie promoted taking away women’s right, demonizing black and brown people, saying that they are incompetent and straight up saying trans people should not exist. His beliefs were spearheaded into political activism which have impacted the laws that we live under. I appreciate this new take and I hope that we can all keep having more convos like this that bring us closer to being on the same page.
I’m glad you wrote this! I feel that Terrell not only affected you in his response, but many of us that are shocked at the collective response to a hate-monger’s death. Terrell put the onus on the areas that no one was talking about. That must also have been hard to share, but it hits to the heart of what happened, cuts away the shaft and exposes the grain of truth that needed to be said. You’re lucky to have him as a friend and I’m grateful that you shared that with the rest of us.
Cody I read your first piece earlier today. And now this. Because of your friend Terrell and this piece my eyes are more open than they ever have been. EVER! I cannot feel what he feels either, but I feel like you got everyone who reads this much closer to understanding him. Thank you! And thank you, Terrell! Peace. 💕
Wow! It would seem as if this writing/writer decided to include the “Black lives matter” agenda into the equation concerning Charlie Kirk’s message to humanity. Im done with the black/white battle cry. Let’s talk about God and Satan.
To reduce Cody's post down to "...include the Black Lives Matter agenda..." strikes me as a rather short-sighted and tone deaf response. Either that, or it's willfully ignorant. Ultimately, Cody's message is speaking to the shared humanity and gifts of the heart, soul and mind that weave us together. Because God knows there are enough Satanic forces and principalities out there that are working 24/7 to highlight our differences, mock our Love, and force us apart. Can YOU hear me now?
Cody, let me explain something to you it’s called perspicacity. This post is about just that. It means sharp insight, the ability to cut through noise and see the truth.
For me, it’s iron sharpening iron. I live with a level of perception shaped by a world you don’t have to survive in.
There can be empathy, but if you aren’t Black if you don’t carry ancestors who were enslaved you can’t fully understand this reality.
You see the world from a vantage point built on privilege. Some people are waking up to that privilege, but most don’t give a damn.
I’ve always spoken with you because you actually want to understand. Even if we don’t talk every day, I knew that when I pushed back, you’d at least see why. Meanwhile, I argue daily with people who defend Kirk or minimize what his movement stood for and truthfully, Kirk isn’t even the worst of them.
As long as you stay open to learning, the world has a chance to shift. But understand this I’m actively fighting not just opinions, but systems.
I’ve been blackballed, discriminated against, and shut out by the biggest corporations.
I’ve won awards on the level of the Pulitzer, yet in this anti-Black, anti-DEI landscape, the white male gaze still dictates who gets to sit at the table.
Every day I fight for my right to be great and for the chance to stand alongside peers who are too often elevated simply because of their skin color.
That’s the reality I carry into every conversation.
Dude.... You seem cool!
I love how Cody explains you, his experience of you and the growth it's given to him because you've been there to nurture it and he was ready to hear it
In a way, he's turned the camera back on you and shown how you shine, how you stand up in the community and in life
Not easy to receive when you're used to being behind the lens hehe
I like your words here in the comments, you sound like good people and it's nice to see when nearly everyone is pissing me off to no end 🤣
It's also relatable because anyone who spends a long time behind the lens, gets added bonuses to awareness and perception shifts... Ok fair, not that everyone uses it but the potential is there
Keep being you
I like this and the humor too. Yeah, I usually fight my battles off camera, but society has a way of forcing the leader in me to step out from behind the lens.
I’m dealing with a lot behind the scenes, and I know this is a hot topic that most people aren’t looking at with the full picture on the table. I appreciate Cody taking the time to write this.
Thanks again for the kind words I appreciate it.
Very, very powerful. I admire your willingness to accept and honor feedback. We don't have to be perfect; just willing to listen, learn, and respect other people's perspective.
Cody, you are a damn good writer. I love that you possess the skill of critically thinking—something so many have lost or perhaps never had.
Your writing on this provides a lot of clarity and I hope it is widely read and well received.
And I just subscribed to Terrell. ❤️
“I can condemn assassination while still saying Kirk’s machine was harmful as hell. Both are true.” Absolutely. As someone who is a brown female minority, I didn’t agree w/ anything he said. It’s the opposite of how I want to raise my son. But violence is never the answer. It’s so refreshing to see y’all’s relationship and ability to discuss these issues and learn from each other. We need more of this.
Oh because I forgot to say I also learned from Terrell. I’m grateful to him for sharing a perspective I can never fully know.
From my own lens, women across races and demographics routinely face discrimination, violence, or outright dismissal in every corner of society. It’s hard to speak up as it is, and Kirk’s machine was “harmful as hell” to our voices. But again, violence is never the answer.
Also apologies for apparently processing this in real time in your comments. 🤦🏻♀️😂
Cody, once again you amaze me. This is the absolute best type of writing and human-ing. What I see as the most dangerous thing is the separation. In a world, where it is impossible to recognize truth from lie and lie from truth, our only amour is our 'amor' - the love for another human that guides us to respect one another and profoundly listen. I listen to you and your experience. You listen to mine. We both know that there is truth and lie in both - we are so conditioned, brainwashed, numbed, sterilized... terrified. Our brains need care and we must be careful of our own thoughts. This is why I consistently ask myself: is what I believe true? Is it truly what I believe? I have few absolute truths. I am ready to change. This does not make me fragile. It is my strength. I will never tell you that I know better because honestly, whoever thinks they know for sure is kidding themselves. And this certainty can be extremely dangerous.
I fear for the children most of all. What can they possibily know? They are growing up in a fake world where core values live only here and there, mindful parents and educators trying to do the impossible: save us from everything else. Will there be enough of us listening, with the desire to deeply connect? Will there be enough of us who are willing to say, oh I didn’t think about it that way... that view can live too... your experience is valid. And when we do not agree, will there be enough of us with the desire to peacefully talk it out with respect and love and still be friends? I hope so. For every side. For all of us. 🙏💛
Dani, I also grew up in a fake world. I was raised in south Louisiana in a racist environment that I didn’t understand or acknowledge. I grew up as a Proud American without understanding what that heritage really stood for. The false idea of American exceptionalism that was deeply embedded in my upbringing. The unlearning and recognition of the false narrative is painful and necessary.
Cody, I love what you write here about friendship, and how it is not an echo chamber. That there can be love as well as respectful challenge in a friendship or relationship.
What stays with me is not the agreement, but the tension.
The part about silence hit me in the stomach because I know how often I choose silence to stay safe.
Reading you makes me feel both seen and called out. That’s uncomfortable, but it’s also a gift.
Thank you for not polishing the edges.
Cody, this is powerful in its truth. As privileged people, we can never really know what it's like to be the "other." I married a man who is half Chinese/Filipino, and my sons remind me of what it is like to be looked at like this. I love how you speak about Terrell and how he pushes back at you and your openness to learning. Even now in semi-retirement, I am still learning - thanks to my kids and the international students I teach. Life is one long lesson in learning to live with humility and gratefulness.
Cody, your essay is raw, powerful, blistering ... and extraordinarily open minded. I agree with you and, thanks to your insightful viewpoint noted here, I also agree with Terrell.
As a straight white dude, the most compassionate thing I can say to a Black person is this: "I'll NEVER understand what it's like. All I can do is try."
YES PREACH CODY
I appreciate this follow up post Cody. I read your 1st post as well but it didn’t resonate with me and I felt as though it was missing some of the points that you addressed here. I really appreciate you taking time to listen to others and absorb their lived reality and perspective. These kinds of conversations are what are needed for actually change to happen. I am struggling myself with how to communicate with people around me who don’t grasp the impact and harm that Charlie’s words have systematically. While he didn’t physically harm people (that I know of) his rhetoric fueled people into demonizing many people who aren’t white cis males. There are so many layers of oppression and hate embedded in the organization he headed. His contributed to what is known as Social Murder which is essentially when people die avoidable deaths due to systemic harm and oppression. Charlie promoted taking away women’s right, demonizing black and brown people, saying that they are incompetent and straight up saying trans people should not exist. His beliefs were spearheaded into political activism which have impacted the laws that we live under. I appreciate this new take and I hope that we can all keep having more convos like this that bring us closer to being on the same page.
I’m glad you wrote this! I feel that Terrell not only affected you in his response, but many of us that are shocked at the collective response to a hate-monger’s death. Terrell put the onus on the areas that no one was talking about. That must also have been hard to share, but it hits to the heart of what happened, cuts away the shaft and exposes the grain of truth that needed to be said. You’re lucky to have him as a friend and I’m grateful that you shared that with the rest of us.
Cody I read your first piece earlier today. And now this. Because of your friend Terrell and this piece my eyes are more open than they ever have been. EVER! I cannot feel what he feels either, but I feel like you got everyone who reads this much closer to understanding him. Thank you! And thank you, Terrell! Peace. 💕
Very insightful. Thank you for sharing. I have struggled to put what I was feeling into words and your thoughts from Terrell Groggins did a good job.
And I followed Terrell. Thank you for introducing me to him.
Wow! It would seem as if this writing/writer decided to include the “Black lives matter” agenda into the equation concerning Charlie Kirk’s message to humanity. Im done with the black/white battle cry. Let’s talk about God and Satan.
To reduce Cody's post down to "...include the Black Lives Matter agenda..." strikes me as a rather short-sighted and tone deaf response. Either that, or it's willfully ignorant. Ultimately, Cody's message is speaking to the shared humanity and gifts of the heart, soul and mind that weave us together. Because God knows there are enough Satanic forces and principalities out there that are working 24/7 to highlight our differences, mock our Love, and force us apart. Can YOU hear me now?