Teach them…

Posted on by serenitisparkles

2020 has brought clarity to everything around us.  It has exposed our greatest fears and highlighted our greatest love.  It has brought us to our knees with humility.  Through the Pandemic, the Economic Downfall, and Civil unrest, we have been given our most important opportunity.

It is our time to teach the future generations the most vital lessons of today.  We can wait no longer to be conscious of what humanity has the power to do, both for good and evil.  If we do not teach them what these lessons are, there may not be a bright future.

So let’s begin,

Covid-19 came in like a tornado and has wiped over 100,000 Americans from the face of the earth.  It has caused many to lose the people they cherish most in an instant.  The ripple effect of all of those deaths has caused us to understand that everyone’s life can inadvertently cause someone’s death.  We are humbled.  Take care of you, take care of your neighbor, life depends on it.

 

The Economic downfall has caused people to lose their homes, their savings, and their stability.  Like an earthquake, it all started to crack.  The floor beneath us started to fall out.  Work hard and save because you don’t know if tomorrow will be a day the floor is no longer there.

 

And finally,  the Civil unrest.  This is what happens to a nation of people who have been silenced for too long.  Complacency can be the enemy if you allow it to live within you.  Accepting the mistreatment of others can also kill.  Without saying a word, you can take part in allowing a system to harm the people it represents.  More than ever, in 2020, we understand that we have to speak up, our lives depend on it.

 

As we smile around the world through our selfies and group photos, we are missing our sparkle.  We are losing our light as hopelessness grows within all of us.  Teach them that strength and respect for one another can save us.  Teach them to walk back into the light we once knew.  Teach them so that the smiles of the future will never be so grim.  Teach them…

The C word VS the N word and why they are not the same.

Posted on by serenitisparkles

“Cracker” is what I would be referred to at times and it never bothered me.  Not because it wasn’t derogatory, but because it literally held no actual weight on society as I knew it.  “Crackers” weren’t systematically oppressed.  “Crackers” weren’t being targeted by the police.  Being a “Cracker” didn’t affect your place in society.  “Cracker” was just a word.

Many people ask well “if the N word is so bad to say, then why isn’t the C word as bad” One is a word and the other torments you.  One word is used as a clap back and the other is used to cut you.  One is the word of the moment, the other is a word derived from the cruelest moments in our nation’s history.

Other people ask the question, “Why can’t I say the N word if Black people say it to each other?’  

It is because THAT is their word.  The N word has been used as a racial slur and a representation of the oppression for centuries.  Since the blood was first placed on the white hand by the slavery they instilled in this nation.  That blood, stains.  Every time a white person says the N word, it cuts like a knife in an open wound.  The N word represents all that is wrong with White vs. Black in this country.   Our Black American citizens decided that rather than let this word be used against them, they keep it.   That by being so restrained in its use, it gives white Americans (specifically) a taste of what it is like to not be entitled to “do anything they please, anywhere.”

So no, the C word will never be equal to the N word because Black Americans have never been offered that same opportunity.  They have been kneeled on by the power of government and law in a country that’s primary principle is that All Men Were Created Equal and All Men Deserve Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

So “Crackers”, if you find this word offensive, think of what a lifetime of being exploited feels like.

Juneteenth, Hidden in Plain Sight

Posted on by serenitisparkles

I’m sure we can all agree that somewhere in our history books there was a mention of June 19, 1865.  I’m sure for most it was like the many other stories of oppression, hidden in plain sight.

How do you teach something yet still hide it?  How do stories of the lives of our Black brothers and sisters be told but not be of equal celebration?  How can June 13th not be a government holiday? How could we have not seen that this was a vital day to becoming America we know it to be?

Without this moment in time, many of the greatest moments in history by the hands of our Black brothers and sisters wouldn’t have existed.  Without this moment, some of the most beautiful children would have never been born.  Without this day in our country’s history, we would not have been impacted by some of the greatest influencer’s in our society.

So why has Juneteenth been hidden in plain site?  A day that memorializes June 19, 1865, when Union general Gordon Granger read orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free.  Although the Emancipation Proclamation had formally freed them almost two-and-a-half years earlier, and the American Civil War had ended with the defeat of the Confederate States in April, Texas was the most “remote” of the slave states, with a low presence of Union troops, so enforcement of the proclamation had been slow and inconsistent.

Why are not more of these moments in history celebrated like every other American Holiday when we, the masses, defeated evil.  We are witnessing a moment like no other before us, not because we are standing together, but because THEY are finally listening.

To my White Constituents…

Posted on by serenitisparkles

As a grown white woman, I would like to speak to all of my fellow members of our race.  I would like to directly address you.  I am particularly speaking of the liberal mothers that won’t move down the street because there are too many black students at the other school.  To the white college student who didn’t feel comfortable walking into “that” bar because it looked too “ghetto”.  To the white grandparents who spoke of affirmative action like it was an easy ride.  To the white customer who would rather the white associate help them.  To the white people who look down upon other races as if they have something to prove.

I am here to tell you that “they” DON’T have anything to prove.  It is your turn to prove your worth to this community.

No, I’m not speaking to myself because I am not apart of YOU.  I have never wanted to be a part of that so my friends have always been every race and treated as family.  But I DON’T need to prove that to anyone because “my people” know me.  The kids know me.  The parents know me.  This movement represents the pain of many of my family members so I am taking this personally.

My entire life has consisted of me being bullied by YOU.  You now want to be an ally because it is convenient.  Because it is a part of pop culture.  But I have always been.  I’ve been there every day.  I have held their hands, made the best memories, supported them, and always lifted them to the kings and queens they are.  But YOU.  You need to take a long hard look at the fact that YOU just appeared on the scene.  All of sudden, you say it out loud.

All of sudden, you march through the streets, taking selfies using the #BLM.

I still see YOU for what you are until you prove that you want these people to have what YOU have.

I’m here to call you out.  I have always been on the side of right by my brothers and sisters of color.  I have always stood next to them no matter what would happen to me for doing so.  I’ve lived through your racist remarks and police harassment.  So I’m calling you out because this is a movement close to my heart.

This is a movement I have been living for my entire life.  This movement is going to ensure that we recognize and celebrate my brothers and sisters of color.  This movement is for them.

I’m calling you out, My White Constituents, to recognize your failures to the Black community.  To recognize the blind eye you turned and silence you maintained.  I’m pleading with you that you realize that until you continue to stand with our Black brothers and sisters, you will be asked to prove yourself.  The Black community knows which white people stood for this cause all their life.  If you are going to stand up, don’t plan on sitting back down on this one.  You are either a part of the solution or the problem.  Remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the Silence of our Friends”.

Let Us Pray

Posted on by serenitisparkles

Does it matter who we pray to, as long as we humble ourselves to the understanding that this is bigger than us and we are all connected?  I would strongly argue, No.  Prayer has become a term with a religious connotation.  But prayer, in its rawest form, is HOPE.  When we pray, we give thanks for the life we live and HOPE for a better tomorrow.  Prayer can be powerful.

Hands held, eyes closed, love in our hearts, hope in our soul.  Let Us Pray.  Let us pray for the people of the world.  Let us pray that they have another day.  Let Us Pray for the heavy heart that we all carry watching the disparities around the world.  Let Us Pray.  Let Us Pray for the evil that consumes so many.  Let Us Pray that it is ousted by good.  Let Us Pray that we realize our voice can make a difference.

Let Us Pray.  Let Us Pray that all children are warm with full bellies and happy thoughts.  Let Us Pray that we are given the time and capacity to see the good vs the evil.  Let Us Pray for the Black Men who walk with targets on their backs.  Let Us Pray that this stigma is lifted to form a better tomorrow.  Let Us Pray.

Let Us Pray for the Mother’s caring for their children alone.  Pray that they keep going because the future depends on them.

Let Us Pray for a country wounded by its founders.  Let Us Pray that, tomorrow we will be better, love more, and accept everyone as they are.  To pray for one is to pray for all, and to pray for all is our greatest gift and our guiding light.  Amen.