Chaos + Change: The Power of a Chair

By now, we are all aware of the viral event that occurred in Montgomery, Alabama on August 5, 2023, at the Riverfront Docks being coined "The Sweet Tea Party", which I presume is a spin from the political actions of the 1773 Boston Tea party that occurred in Massachusetts. The Boston Tea Party was an act of protest against the British Parliament's Tea Act of 1773, which lowered the tea tax and granted the East India Company a monopoly on the American tea trade. During the protest, American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded ships and dumped 342 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company into Boston Harbor. The protest lasted approximately three hours, according to the Library of Congress and Wikipedia.

I have sat with this for a few days. As an attempt to uncover and understand the simmering or/and thoughts of resentment that may be harbored in the underbelly of Montgomery's citizens that sparked this point of infliction, causing the video to go viral.

A video leaked showing the full incident. A family on a tube boat was illegally parked in a commercial space, preventing the local riverboat cruise line from docking and allowing its passengers to exit. The family was a Caucasian family that was approached by an African American security guard, who requested they park their tube boat elsewhere. The "tube boat" family refused and, instead of adhering to the request, decided to assault the security guard.

On August 5, 2023, it was marked as one of the hottest days in Montgomery, Alabama, according to weather.com. So with the rising temperature and rising temperaments, coupled with defiance, I guess a brawl was inevitable. But what I don't understand is, why call it a "sweet tea party"? What political protests occurred that I may have missed? The viral video was initially interesting and caused me to laugh (like so many others). But then the turnaround was so quick, the songs, the memes, the T-shirts, the reels all over social media...it was a definite phenomenon that is still occurring in real-time.

I don't see the politics...but I did see ordinary people, strangers, and common folks come together to help that poor security guard who was being assaulted and outnumbered 6:1.

Now, here we are, the aftermath!

As a result, good samaritans were arrested. The provocateurs were released. And you can buy T-shirts commemorating the event online 1 for $20 and 2 for $30!

I find it interesting that in Montgomery, AL, there was little to no protest over the entire state's decision to utilize $200 Million of surplus Federal Education Tax dollars to build a whitewater rafting park, even though Montgomery Public Schools ranks 49th in the nation, and is one of the worst school districts in the US. There was no brawl, scuffle, protest, or rebuttal. But, I digress.

I will conclude that we are entering an election season, and one thing that I know to be true is that during an election season, news, antics, brutal events, and other sensational sound bites will be slung among the American people to digest, filter through, and determine what is credible news vs fake news.

It is my suggestion, in these upcoming dog days, dog whistles, and wagging of the dog antics anticipated to occur during the highly charged political season, is to maintain your mental health, seek advice and guidance, and by all means, take a gadget-free day away from the screens and ground yourself.

Brace yourself. Chaos will always occur, but from chaos, CHANGE will and always do happen.