Nightmares can be real. The recent tragedies occurring in Baton Rouge have thrust our community into the global spotlight and highlighted decades-old divisions here and in our nation. But as Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister writes in his recent column, the recent police shooting of Alton Sterling, followed by the heinous ambush of six law enforcement officers by Gavin Long of Kansas City, Missouri, that left three dead—Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola—and a fourth, Nick Tullier, in critical condition, can also serve as a wake-up call and turning point for all of us.
“This is a difficult chapter in Baton Rouge’s history, but the story is far from over,” writes McCollister. “How the next chapters turn out is up to each of us—and all of us.”
McCollister notes a Facebook post by Officer Jackson made just nine days before he was killed, which said, “These are trying times. Please don’t let hate infect your heart. This city MUST and WILL get better.” McCollister agrees, saying we should honor Jackson’s words and come together to create a better Baton Rouge. McCollister says he is praying for the community daily and “with God’s grace and guidance, there is hope.”
But for Baton Rouge to move forward in a positive direction and begin addressing the divisions of its past to build a more peaceful future for its children, McCollister says it must be willing to “take bold steps now and change ‘the way we’ve always done it.’”
In that spirit, McCollister is sharing his column space in the new issue of Business Report—for the first time in the 34 years he has been penning columns—with Gary Chambers, publisher of The Rouge Collection, with whom he has disagreed often.
“We will not allow this sad moment to define who we are as a community,” writes Chambers. “It is how we respond to this moment and the events that led up to it that will define us.”
Since the killing of Sterling, Chambers notes he has remained—and will continue to remain—vocal in the call for justice along with other community leaders.
“But my heart dropped on Sunday upon learning that six of our officers had been shot and three of them were dead. I offer my condolences to the families of the officers involved, and I’m praying for them. It’s never OK to take a human life. It’s wrong and shameful—and it does not help in our fight for justice,” he writes. “But we as a community must continue to fight for justice. We cannot allow the actions of a troubled individual or individuals reflect who and what we are as a community.”
Chambers says this is a time for Baton Rouge to look itself in the mirror and ask: “How do we heal? How do we improve our community and transcend the deeply rooted divisions that have held our city back for decades?”
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