Benjamin Watson, tight end for the New Orleans Saints, was preparing for a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football just two days ago. As the game went on, the ruling in the case of the death of Michael Brown came through, and it was revealed that Officer Darren Wilson was not going to be indicted.
Less than 24 hours later, Watson wanted to express his feelings on the case, the riots in Ferguson, and numerous other things. Little did he realize that his words and his thoughts would go viral and change the way a lot of people have looked at this situation.
As of 10 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday, November 26, Watsons’s official Facebook Page had less than 20,000 followers . Following the posting of his essay and its viral power, he has more than doubled those followers.
Benjamin Watson’s message speaks on his feelings about the St. Louis County grand jury’s decision to not seek an indictment against Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown back in August. The more than 650 word essay was posted around 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening.
Watson starts out:
“At some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football , the news broke about the Ferguson Decision. After trying to figure out how I felt, I decided to write it down. Here are my thoughts:”
“I’M ANGRY because the stories of injustice that have been passed down for generations seem to be continuing before our very eyes.”
“I’M FRUSTRATED, because pop culture, music and movies glorify these types of police citizen altercations and promote an invincible attitude that continues to get young men killed in real life, away from safety movie sets and music studios.”
Oddly enough, around the time that Watsons posted this essay on Facebook, interstate on-ramps were closed in New Orleans as protesters marched, per WDSU. Reports are that things went peacefully with the protest march, but traffic was backed up for hours.
As Watson went on, he let it be known that he was feeling a wide range of emotions. They went from fear to anger to confusion and even embarrassment and sadness.
“I’M EMBARRASSED because the looting, violent protests, and law breaking only confirm, and in the minds of many, validate, the stereotypes and thus the inferior treatment.”
“I’M SAD, because another young life was lost from his family, the racial divide has widened, a community is in shambles, accusations, insensitivity hurt and hatred are boiling over, and we may never know the truth about what happened that day.”
In just about 22 hours, Benjamin Watson’s essay on Ferguson has been liked by over 428,000 people and shared over 245,000 times. The tight of the New Orleans Saints hasn’t contributed a whole lot on the field this season as the veteran has started just four games and racked up just 88 yards.
Still, his presence is being felt around the world right now and Watson’s words on Ferguson are ringing in the ears of people everywhere. They know that those of all races, religions, sex, and professions are feeling the effects of what is going on in Ferguson.
Benjamin Watson finished his message letting everyone know that he is “hopeful” and “encouraged” after everything that has happened, though. He says that the cure for everything is “not education of exposure. It’s the Gospel,” and “the Gospel gives mankind hope.”
[Image via thebenjaminwatson.com]