We Shouldn’t Have To Feel This Way

In The News

A Black Perspective of Today’s America

The scales are sometimes unbalanced. And you bear the weight of all that has to be.~ Anita Baker, Giving You The Best That I’ve Got

To be a black person in America in the year 2016 is like being on a constant emotional rollercoaster ride. We are elated to have representation that resembles us in The White House, but we are filled with resentment over our choices for 2016 presidency. We celebrate the Grand Opening for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, and take the streets and march against police brutality as if it is 1960 all over again.

We must affirm ourselves against mounting opposition and tyranny.

You Are Just Being A Victim

A young girl made a plea to address racial bias in emotional remarks to Charlotte's City Council, tearfully saying, “We Shouldn’t Have To Feel This Way.” At this same time remarks are being made that black children are being taught to be victims. No, we do not teach our children to be a victims. We raise our children with an unparalleled sense of resilience, grace, and respect. We have to have teach them about the double standards of America almost from the point of birth. Then you turn and read headlines that suicide rates amongst adolescent black children are on the rise, you gasp for air and exclaim “My God Who Are We, And What Are We Doing to Our Children?” Or, at least this black mother does.

"Suicide rates have increased among black children and decreased among white children in the United States," "If you look at the overall suicide rate among children, there was no change over a 20-year period. It's only when you look at the analytics by race that a pattern emerges." via Chicago Tribune

You Are Not Our Type

You grow up your whole life admiring American leaders like Whoopi Goldberg, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Stevie Wonder but then you read U.S. Court Rules Dreadlock Ban During Hiring Process Is Legal .  So what comes naturally to me is a liability?

You Can Have Opportunity, Just Not Equal Opportunity

The wage gap, gaps in technology, and gaps in education seem to grow wider for persons of a darker hue in America. A new study by National Center for Education Statistics documents continuing gaps (and some progress) in educational attainment of black and Latino students compared to white and Asian students. The National Organization For Women highlights that the equal pay issue largely more troublesome for African-American women. “Lately, there has been a rallying cry from all the biggest tech firms in the US for diversity in tech, yet very little has seemed to change since diversity became a hot-button issue.” Excerpt from Forbes

In Parting

Is it right to exclude Black Americans, tell them naturally there is something wrong with them, or make their paths more difficult than others? No, it isn’t right. It is not the way you feel that matters most. It is what you do with those feelings. What will be your response? That is the ultimate question.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

America is struggling with the weight of injustice on many levels. In the human heart, injustice is a sign of partiality, judgmentalism, and a lack of love. I share with you my perspective as a black person in America, but what we have isn’t a race issue you see, at our core we have a heart issue. The fight for equality and justice isn’t just a black plight, it is fight for all of humanity. We are one nation, one blood, one humanity. Healing will not come to our land until act of the creed of love.