The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Unless one has been in a coma while living under a rock the past few days, there's roughly a 99.9% chance he or she has heard about the protests and rioting in Baltimore, Maryland. Freddie Gray, an African-American male, died in prison a week after he was arrested of a non-violent crime, as approximately 80% of his spine had been severed. Speculation about his death coming at the hands of the area's police force, in conjunction with the seemingly countless other such cases across the country over the past several months, sparked a number of African-Americans to protest the matter. Unfortunately, while a majority of these protesters went about their business in a peaceful manner, some decided violence and property damage was the better option. Like with the protests in Ferguson, Missouri a few months ago, this situation has brought attention to the issues of police brutality, prejudice, poverty, and (in)equality, and has prompted a vast array of opinions along the way. While I...