SPEAKING STRENGTH TO EACH OTHER
Part One: Our Children Series and What We Face
Challenges, Challenges and more Challenges, We live in a World where we face challenges daily and how we respond to those challenges will determine the path we take in Life..
My children joke with me and call me old, and they say that I grew up in a time where things were different. I cannot understand how we have allowed our society to become plagued with so much violence. I am not just speaking of minority on minority crimes, police against minorities crimes, domestic violence and random gun violence; but society as a whole thinking the worst of each other and not lending a helping hand. I remember growing up and hearing how a community/village raises a child; but yet so many of us do not look out for each others children.
The hatred, the lack of patience and the lack of love for one another is overwhelming; when did we become these people. We have to be there for one another, we have to look out for each others kids and put action behind our words of family and love. We have to seek out the real answers to so many of our questions:
Racism plays a major role in our society and yes we are getting closer and closer to overcoming Racism, but it does still exist. When a Police Officer views your child as an animal and not a person because of the color of his or her skin, what can you do? Our children have to continue to be careful and watch what they say, watch what they do and who they talk to; as usual as we try to keep them safe. I remember going into a store with my daughter and being followed all around the store, you can see people coming in and out and up and down your aisle and piercing through the clothing racks hoping to catch you stealing. My daughter asked me why they were following us; and as you ponder the question you can feel your eyes swelling with water as you explain that they just want to make sure we are not stealing. To be honest it is not a nice feeling at all to be followed around in the store, especially when the others in the store are comfortable to shop as they choose. I spoke to the floor attendant in front of my daughter and stated boldy that "we have money' so do not worry, we will not steal. The person was so embarrassed that they turned red and went to the other side of the store. Someone who has never had to worry about things like that cannot comprehend this concern nor experience. We have learned to brush it off and to teach our children to do the same, but it is a reality whether we choose to acknowledge it or not; we as minorities are judged not just by the opposite race, but by our own as well. We have to go to battle daily just to survive.
Our children face these challenges daily and they just try to merely survive. There are minority children being killed daily and yet outrage only surfaces when children of other races are killed as well, because it is expected that minority children be killed because they are savages and not human so their death is expected in the world they live in.
None of us have all of the answers and we have to learn to love our fellow man and treat our families and neighbors with respect (Basically as we would want to be treated). When you hear about young kids being killed daily and shot down in the street like animals; we all vent for a minute and then what; the whispers are let them vent for a minute and they will refrain and get weary. We are weary, we are so very tired of burying our young people daily; when with this turmoil end? One kid said that he feels like this is the Wild Wild West and you never know if you will make it home, whether you know how to use your gun or not. This young man is sixteen years old and he is living in a war zone in his own community.
We listen to people venting daily, when a mother has to get on the school bus to fight for the safety of her child, yes we are appaulled that an adult, a mother would react in this manner and no matter what you should know better; but there are two sides to every coin. Not taking any sides and just hearing a scenario, (we are not condoning by any means this type of behavior) imagine every day your child complaining about mistreatment on their bus ride home, you speak with the school, you complain and you vent and to your dismay the status quo for this treatment of your child continues. what do you do next? We all think that we know, but do we?
Personal Experience Time: This is my Blog I can share;
I remember being beat up every day on the school bus when I was in Elementary School by a Girl named Gail, I mean she would smack me on the back of my head, she would kick me and I would just sit there and cry as everybody looked on and laughed. I didn't want to tell my mother because I was embarrassed, so I just feared riding home on the bus every evening. One day one of my oldest brothers came to pick me up at the bus stop before I had time enough to dry my face from the tears, he asked me why I was crying; another kid told him that this girl beats up your sister every day. Needless to say this was my tough brother and he got upset with me for allowing someone to beat up on me daily, so he decided he would beat me up all the way home; and he agreed that this would be continuous daily since I seemed to like and endure the abuse. I decided to share with my mother what had been going on (my brother threatened to tell), and she was livid. My mother was upset with me for not saying anything and she was upset with the school for not stepping in ( I never told anyone at the school).
Well, my mother went up to the school and they said they would handle it; I was so happy to ride the bus the next day and unfortunately Gail was ready and waiting for me, and my harassment was worst than before. I told my mother what had happened and she told me that I would have to stand up for myself and fight back, because nothing else was being done. Let me tell you back in those days you could have a fight and live to tell about it, nowadays it is a fight to the death, literally. I remember holding a pen in my hand and walking through the auditorium with my class and some other classes, Gail decided that she wanted to pick on my in front of everyone. I vowed to myself that if this girl messed with me one more time, I was going to take her down. My good friend said here she comes and Gail came up behind me and pushed me; I had a pen in my hand and I just started attacking her, all I remember was the Principal grabbing and saying "LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE", I saw blood and ink all over her face and I was more scared than ever before, I thought I was going to jail!
Well, the school contacted her parents and they contacted mine and the response was not at all as I initially anticipated. My mother threatened to sue the school if they suspended me, she told them that she had voiced her concerns and complained about the harassment and nothing was done. The Principal spoke with his office and they confirmed what my mother had said and I was not suspended, but Gail was and my life was forever changed at that very moment. I became the Girl that kicked Gails buttocks and respect was then granted.
Gail and I later became friends (she apologized to me) and I was able to hold my head up high and feel a sense of freedom. Kids face these types of crisis everyday, but with guns and massive emails and social media abuse at times. We have to protect our children at all costs or else they will truly become a statistic.
We will discuss many topics in one article and focus on Real Life incidents.
.
Part One: Our Children Series and What We Face
Challenges, Challenges and more Challenges, We live in a World where we face challenges daily and how we respond to those challenges will determine the path we take in Life..
My children joke with me and call me old, and they say that I grew up in a time where things were different. I cannot understand how we have allowed our society to become plagued with so much violence. I am not just speaking of minority on minority crimes, police against minorities crimes, domestic violence and random gun violence; but society as a whole thinking the worst of each other and not lending a helping hand. I remember growing up and hearing how a community/village raises a child; but yet so many of us do not look out for each others children.
The hatred, the lack of patience and the lack of love for one another is overwhelming; when did we become these people. We have to be there for one another, we have to look out for each others kids and put action behind our words of family and love. We have to seek out the real answers to so many of our questions:
- Why my kid, why that kid?
- What can I do to help?
- What is the problem?
- Why are our kids killing each other?
- Why aren't the police on our side, is it . us against them?
Racism plays a major role in our society and yes we are getting closer and closer to overcoming Racism, but it does still exist. When a Police Officer views your child as an animal and not a person because of the color of his or her skin, what can you do? Our children have to continue to be careful and watch what they say, watch what they do and who they talk to; as usual as we try to keep them safe. I remember going into a store with my daughter and being followed all around the store, you can see people coming in and out and up and down your aisle and piercing through the clothing racks hoping to catch you stealing. My daughter asked me why they were following us; and as you ponder the question you can feel your eyes swelling with water as you explain that they just want to make sure we are not stealing. To be honest it is not a nice feeling at all to be followed around in the store, especially when the others in the store are comfortable to shop as they choose. I spoke to the floor attendant in front of my daughter and stated boldy that "we have money' so do not worry, we will not steal. The person was so embarrassed that they turned red and went to the other side of the store. Someone who has never had to worry about things like that cannot comprehend this concern nor experience. We have learned to brush it off and to teach our children to do the same, but it is a reality whether we choose to acknowledge it or not; we as minorities are judged not just by the opposite race, but by our own as well. We have to go to battle daily just to survive.
Our children face these challenges daily and they just try to merely survive. There are minority children being killed daily and yet outrage only surfaces when children of other races are killed as well, because it is expected that minority children be killed because they are savages and not human so their death is expected in the world they live in.
None of us have all of the answers and we have to learn to love our fellow man and treat our families and neighbors with respect (Basically as we would want to be treated). When you hear about young kids being killed daily and shot down in the street like animals; we all vent for a minute and then what; the whispers are let them vent for a minute and they will refrain and get weary. We are weary, we are so very tired of burying our young people daily; when with this turmoil end? One kid said that he feels like this is the Wild Wild West and you never know if you will make it home, whether you know how to use your gun or not. This young man is sixteen years old and he is living in a war zone in his own community.
We listen to people venting daily, when a mother has to get on the school bus to fight for the safety of her child, yes we are appaulled that an adult, a mother would react in this manner and no matter what you should know better; but there are two sides to every coin. Not taking any sides and just hearing a scenario, (we are not condoning by any means this type of behavior) imagine every day your child complaining about mistreatment on their bus ride home, you speak with the school, you complain and you vent and to your dismay the status quo for this treatment of your child continues. what do you do next? We all think that we know, but do we?
Personal Experience Time: This is my Blog I can share;
I remember being beat up every day on the school bus when I was in Elementary School by a Girl named Gail, I mean she would smack me on the back of my head, she would kick me and I would just sit there and cry as everybody looked on and laughed. I didn't want to tell my mother because I was embarrassed, so I just feared riding home on the bus every evening. One day one of my oldest brothers came to pick me up at the bus stop before I had time enough to dry my face from the tears, he asked me why I was crying; another kid told him that this girl beats up your sister every day. Needless to say this was my tough brother and he got upset with me for allowing someone to beat up on me daily, so he decided he would beat me up all the way home; and he agreed that this would be continuous daily since I seemed to like and endure the abuse. I decided to share with my mother what had been going on (my brother threatened to tell), and she was livid. My mother was upset with me for not saying anything and she was upset with the school for not stepping in ( I never told anyone at the school).
Well, my mother went up to the school and they said they would handle it; I was so happy to ride the bus the next day and unfortunately Gail was ready and waiting for me, and my harassment was worst than before. I told my mother what had happened and she told me that I would have to stand up for myself and fight back, because nothing else was being done. Let me tell you back in those days you could have a fight and live to tell about it, nowadays it is a fight to the death, literally. I remember holding a pen in my hand and walking through the auditorium with my class and some other classes, Gail decided that she wanted to pick on my in front of everyone. I vowed to myself that if this girl messed with me one more time, I was going to take her down. My good friend said here she comes and Gail came up behind me and pushed me; I had a pen in my hand and I just started attacking her, all I remember was the Principal grabbing and saying "LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE", I saw blood and ink all over her face and I was more scared than ever before, I thought I was going to jail!
Well, the school contacted her parents and they contacted mine and the response was not at all as I initially anticipated. My mother threatened to sue the school if they suspended me, she told them that she had voiced her concerns and complained about the harassment and nothing was done. The Principal spoke with his office and they confirmed what my mother had said and I was not suspended, but Gail was and my life was forever changed at that very moment. I became the Girl that kicked Gails buttocks and respect was then granted.
Gail and I later became friends (she apologized to me) and I was able to hold my head up high and feel a sense of freedom. Kids face these types of crisis everyday, but with guns and massive emails and social media abuse at times. We have to protect our children at all costs or else they will truly become a statistic.
We will discuss many topics in one article and focus on Real Life incidents.
.
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