Sad, but not without Hope

Wow, what an emotional two weeks it has been. The world seems to be turned upside down and inside out. We first dealt with COVID-19, isolation, staying home and finding new ways to be ok when things are not ok. And then the horror of watching the life being snuffed out of a black man by a police officer. It seemed to touch every mother's heart for their child, whether young or old, a mother felt the anguish of the cry for a mother. As a woman of color with a son, I have gone through the feeling of uncertainty and worry for my son, husband, brothers and cousins. Make sure they get home, please call or text to let me know you made it, make sure I remember what you had on in case I need to identify you or describe what you had on, did I remember to tell them how much I love and adore them, and to pray, pray, pray. It seems like this is absurd or unreal in 2020 to even think like this, but it is more surprising that I have gotten use to this behavior and its more second nature than an oddity. I was surprisingly shocked by so many responses. When I say shocked, I mean literally holding my mouth open and hand over mouth, eyes wide, shocked. I was shocked to see the nasty, opinionated and uneducated, lacking knowledge responses that so many people felt the need and right to say. A policeman who is supposed, to serve and protect, put his knee in a man's neck for over 7 minutes, didnt bat an eye or waivered, while Goerge Floyd, begged, pleaded and cried for his life. It ended in his last breath. Prior to that a black man while jogging was shot and killed by residents of the community who thought he was someone that they thought was responsible for previous break ins and they tried to apprehend him and ended up shooting and killing him. There have been protests and rioting for the past week. We have gone from shock, dismay, a fire burning for change to reckless and intentional looting to so many people thinking and assuming they know what is the problem, what went wrong and how this is a media ploy. It is so sad and heart wrenching to know that someone can think and value the life of a person of color worthless just because of the color of their skin. It is something that is not new to me, but still dismal to think it happens so frequently that a black life is taken without apprehension and with incident. I believe this is a great time to be compassionate, to research, to learn, to get involved, to pray, to understand and not prove a self serving point. When someone is hurting and lost, now is not the time to explain to them that they are lost and alone. Now is the time to help them find their way back home. If you dont know about racism or think there is room for growth, have the tough conversations, examine your heart and thoughts. Are they biased, insensitive, judgmental and no regard because of the color of their skin. What is going on has been happening for centuries, and just didn't start. Explore how you can be apart of the solution, discover ways to unify and heal. Start with your community or on the job. Can you do a better job of talking to someone that isn't like you? Can you not laugh at racist jokes, but take a stand and call them to their distasteful joke or comment? Can you find out what your state has done for racial profiling, or laws that effect a person of color, jail statistics, arrests? Can you find out an organization that brings about racial awareness and take a friend?

We ALL are connected in one way or another, no man is an island. When 1 hurts, we all hurt, when 1 heals, we ALL are healed. I hope today, you find a way to do your part, help someone. get involved and stay connected. All it takes is 1 person to make a change.