Hardy 2001: Soul Work - It's not our job to change the world, or is it?

This started out with a story of when the author was pulled over by a police officer.  The police officer was very demeaning.  For example, he'd say things like "Listen here boy" "You gettin' smart with me boy?" and other things like that.  He wouldn't refer to the author by his first name.  The cop used excessive force (e.g. calling for multiple cops to come back him up when there wasn't any problem.  Telling the author "Now you're gonna behave" once that happened) and was really demeaning.  He even referred to him as a nigger.  He got sassy with the cops and they beat him with their nightsticks until he blacked out.  He said he thought he was going to die.  He was taken to prison and charged with things like disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, and "making terroristic threats against a police officer."

Survival Mentality
As a bit of background, the author was an executive director in AAMFT and was considered to be successful in his field, at yet he would come home and be a nervous wreck.  He had a ton of anxiety about what it would be like in prison.  His Dad would tell him to try and make a deal so that he wouldn't go to jail.  Admit to anything to avoid jail time.  That was the mentality in his family.  Don't mouth off to a white man.  If you do, they need to feel some sort of justice, even if what they are doing isn't just.  His Dad said "I had fashioned a life of caution and prudence, a ice dedicated to making myself inconspicuous to offending no one.  If I witnessed injustice, I rationalized it:  It hadn't been that bad."

The Anatomy of Silence
Talking about working with a hispanic client and the frustration that came with the power imbalance from the client's work.  The client said he always felt undervalued by his boss and even had his boss tell him "I come up with the ideas, you're here to haul the fertilizer."  The hispanic client felt voiceless.  Large groups don't have voices because their voices have been taken from them or they don't choose to use their voices.

The author was found not guilty on all charges, but he considers himself one of the lucky ones because he could afford 2 lawyers to help him with his case.