Today, on this Thanksgiving 2014, in the wake of the Ferguson decision and protests across the country, I felt compelled to come home and write a post. Not a post about Brown or Wilson, but a post coming from a deeper and more human aspect that I know exists within us all. Today I spent Thanksgiving on Skid Row helping the Fred Jordan Mission host their annual event. Before you think that I’m doing this for brownie points please keep in mind that hundreds of people, young and old, come out on Thanksgiving to help on Skid Row. This post is important to me because this week has been especially heavy for all of us with both its sadness and festivity, and I wish for us to recover from the wounds it has left behind. What we do now will affect the future of America and I want to urge you to go forth with compassion, whatever your next steps may be.

Here is a picture I snapped today of Antonio Villaraigosa feeding the homeless on Skid Row. It would be easy for me to criticize the uber-liberal former mayor of LA as doing this for purely political purposes; and two years ago I might have done just that. But the fact is that he was still out there helping, regardless of his motives. He gave the opening prayer and didn’t politicize anything. For that I give him much respect.

I didn’t want to associate myself with either side of the Ferguson debate because there is so much propaganda being thrown from both parties, and I am glad I didn’t. Because today on Skid Row I didn’t hear one lick about Ferguson or Mike Brown. What I did hear were blacks laughing, singing, and wishing people a happy Thanksgiving. No, this isn’t a utopian figment of my imagination, this is how it went down and I saw it with my own eyes. The homeless were white, black, Latino, and Asian—the volunteers were the same, with nearly half of them being black. Not one of them got in a fight or yelled at someone. Violence does happen on Skid Row, but today I saw none of it. What I did see were several homeless people talking, laughing and relaxing with the white and Latino Sheriff’s officers (and I have the pics to prove it). They either have good relations with the Sheriffs or they felt comfortable enough talking to them as fellow humans. Is this what the race-baiters and racists want you to believe? Far from it.

I only intended to snap a couple of photos, but after seeing this I was moved to capture more.

What do the social media platforms and the major news networks tell us? They tell us that all of the blacks are rioting and police can’t be trusted. Well let me tell you this: the looters represent only a miniscule minority of the entire African-American population, and the vast majority of them do not stand for looting. If you watched it unfold live you saw that most of the protesters were standing on the sidewalk, and some were warning their “brothers” against looting so as to not smear the reputation of the black community. And the police? Today I saw police officers helping those that could barely stand. Police are humans just like us—some overreact in anger, and I’ve experienced it firsthand, but most police officers are down to earth individuals that will offer you a helping hand.

I can turn this into a post about police militarization, but I won’t do that. This being a gun blog I could also turn it into a post about Los Angeles, its strict rules placed on gun owners, and how it’s sinking California, but I won’t do that either. There are some days we need to forget about our hobbies and political beefs and just GIVE and share THANKS with our fellow human beings. Today is one of them.

This was only my second time going to Skid Row to help, so again, no holier-than-thou attitude from this post. Honestly it’s easy work and there are hundreds of people that do it, including little kids. So there’s nothing to brag about. I encourage everyone to help out their community in some way, and sadly, I’ve only just begun. I felt a strong message from what I saw during this Thanksgiving 2014 in the wake of the Ferguson decision, so I decided to post this. I’m not perfect. I have character flaws and I will not deny them. But when I drop my ego and become honest I will tell you this: ultimately, we all need each other. You want to help unite America? Whining about inequality or making serious claims about another race won’t give us an inch of progress. Helping your neighbor will.

On this Thanksgiving 2014 give thanks to your neighbors and the people most important in your life. Remember the sacrifices that people have made to get the United States to where it is today. Remember what our country stands for, and help preserve that by caring for our fellow man. United we stand.