Dear William, Daniel, Catherine, (and Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

The police, they can be your best friend, and they can be your worst enemy. The police is supposed to protect society and you, and when they do that, they are your best friend; but sometimes, some individuals turn bad, and abuse their power; and when they do that, they can make your life very miserable.

Just recently, in Baltimore, Maryland, a black young man saw a group of policeman and decided to run away from them — the policemen saw him running away, and apparently decided that he must have done something bad, so they gave chase, caught him, arrested him, and put him in a police van, to transport him to a police station. Many things about that incident are still not known as of today — but, what is known is: when the police spotted the young man running away from them, he appeared healthy; and about twenty minutes later, when he was in police custody, his spinal cord was almost completely severed, causing his death about a week later. Many people believe that this young man was murdered by the police. May people are very angry about this.

The anger of the people has been slowly building, in part because the police has been slow in giving a report as to what happened to Mr. Freddie Gray, the young man who was killed in Baltimore. To show their anger, people have been demonstrating, peacefully, in Baltimore.

Yesterday was Mr. Gray’s funeral. After the funeral, things turned ugly very fast. Here are the headlines as of this morning:

So, why am I writing to you about this — because I love you; and I want you to be safe.

In America, as an American, you have a Constitutional right to express yourself through peaceful protest. When appropriate, if you want to do so, you should do it — BUT, remember, there are always competing interests. Among those competing interests — you have obligations to your family; and to society.

Your family loves you, and your family needs you. You have an obligation to stay safe for your family; to help them through the hard times that we all face in our society.

That does not mean you ignore what goes wrong in our society. When you see thing go wrong, your should take steps to correct those wrongs; BUT, those steps must ALWAYS be such so YOUR family does not suffer because of what YOU do.

To a limited extent, your family has participated in public demonstrations. For example, on October 22, 2011, Babcia Krysia and I showed our support for the Occupy Wall Street Movement by visiting their encampment downtown New York City — some photos HERE. In October 30, 2010, your family also took part in a Rally To Restore Sanity, in Washington, D.C. — some photos HERE.

When I was in college (c. 1968-70), there were many protests against the Vietnam War — I did not participate in any of those protests, but I did participate, with my R.O.T.C. Military Society in the protection of protesters in front of our college by creating a human cordon between the protesters and the police. It was our belief that as military men, we were fighting for the American way of life, which included the right to protest, and therefore it was our obligation to protect the protesters that were voicing their opposition to the war. Our efforts were appreciated by the school administrators and the police — the protest was peaceful and no one was hurt.

I did not participate in the Civil Rights Movement — I was in high school at the time of the Selma to Montgomery Marches — now, sometimes I feel bad that there was so much injustice all around me, and I was unaware of it, and did nothing about it.

What I want you to get out of all of this is that it is NOT OK to hurt people or to destroy other people’s property, no matter how righteous your cause is.

Also, you should always be prepared for things going wrong, despite your good intentions. You should always have an exit strategy.

Crowds can be dangerous. I am not saying that you should never be part of one; but your should always be aware at all times of what is happening around you, and have a plan for what you will do if things start going wrong. Where will you go? If you are with someone, plan on what you will do if you become separated — where will you meet up again? Do you have a means of communications (e.g., cell phones)?

Stay safe out there.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.