I'm tired... ~ A Life Less Ordinary

I never intended for this blog to be anything but my ramblings about design, food, kids and fluff. In light of the recent Trayvon Martin verdict I need to speak out. I'm tired...I'm tired of having to educate and explain why. Why do people of color in America and around the world have disadvantages that those of a lighter hue don't have. I have many friends in many parts of the world of many colors, sexual orientations and political leanings. I cannot stand by and not speak when I see ignorant and misinformed statements. Wake the fuck up people. They try to say that this case wasn't about race, that Trayvon wasn't profiled. But he was. He was painted with the same brush as the bad apples who had previously burglarized the community, and that is the problem. As a person of color, we always have to worry that the actions of one reflect upon the whole. The current majority does not have to worry about that. We make jokes about people taking us two steps back with their ratchet behavior but damn, why is that? We are a diverse pool of people just like anyone else. If he smoked weed or wore gold teeth, so what!! He was 17 years old and just beginning to live his life. I think about all of my cousins and nephews and of course my son. I know that conversation that I'll have to have with him one day and that's sad. I remember when that conversation was had with my brothers. If you get in trouble with police for whatever reason, how to be as non-threatening and passive as possible. I'm tired...I'm tired of our young black brothers killing each other. We have to hold our communities accountable for the atrocities that are happening. Where is the outrage for the young lives snuffed out by our own? Yes, get angry about this verdict, but get angry about what happens in Brooklyn and Chicago and Compton. If we don't value our lives then how can we expect anyone else to! I don't pretend to have all of the answers, but we have to learn to love ourselves. Learn to love our communities and make them a safe space for our children. Fight for the right things, like education and health care. In the end, it starts with us.

Posted in: Rants, uncategorized

2 comments:

Kara says:

7/15/2013 10:03 AM

I 100% whole-heartedly hear you. This is why I wrote stepping away from FB because of all of the idiotic nonsense-type posts. And that is from people I know and sort of related to! Burns my blood that people say get over it. It is not something anyone should get over, but reflect of where it all went wrong. If this weren't a race issue, the lady in the article that is spreading like wildfire would not have been charged 20 years for defending herself. This case was all about race. It is sad, senseless and tragic. It is sad, senseless and tragic that this will most likely happen again.