martinlutherkingjr – Sereniti Sparkles

As the people of the world grow more intolerant of things they do not agree with or understand, I say, this is not going to end well. Ignorance of the unknown is all this boils down to because the power of human interaction is much stronger than that.

For example…

Little Jimmy grows up in a household where the theme is everything white. He is taught that ALL white people are good people and anyone that looks different must be watched out for. His family lives in the country with a few neighbors, all of caucasian decent. Jimmy plays with big toy trucks and has his boxer puppy as a companion. Jimmy is also slightly mentally disabled and has a hard time interacting with others. He says racist remarks towards others without understanding what he is saying. He watches as his parents celebrate the hate he spews. All Jimmy knows as he grows is what surrounds him in his small world.

Then there is little Shayla. Shayla grows up in the projects where all that surrounds her is black. Her mom and grandma teach her that the white man is the reason for all that is wrong with their world. They teach her that white people can’t be trusted. The only interaction Shayla had with white people is when the white police officers come to harass her neighbors and brothers. Shayla is taught to stay away from the police because nothing good ever comes from talking to them. Shayla grows up only seeing the world from her perspective.

Jimmy is now a grown up who works in a factory. He still lives in the country and is even more pro-white because of the many years living within his surroundings. He joins in on hate speech on a regular basis. Jimmy now has 2 little boys that he is raising with his wife. He is responsible for their teachings and what they will become.

Shayla is still living in the same projects she grew up in. She wasn’t doing well in school so she dropped out early and now lives with the father of her new baby. She has also grown up with the understanding that white people haven’t done anything for her and they are not to be trusted. Everything around Shayla is depressed. She doesn’t see a light at the end of her tunnel so she keeps perpetuating the lie that all white people are bad.

Within these two scenarios, can you see how their story could change? Can you see an opportunity to give them knowledge other than what they have been brought up to know?

I can. What if Jimmy met someone that was black and that person didn’t shy away from him because of his ignorant comments or lifestyle? What if Shayla met a white person that wasn’t offended by Shayla’s beliefs about white people? What if those people loved Shayla and Jimmy despite their prejudice? What if they continued to try to understand where it all came from? What if they decided to stand by Shayla and Jimmy no matter what to show them that good people can come into your life in many different shades?

If more people went toward the hate, enforcing love and understanding, we would have a chance to change perspectives. But if you just allow Shayla and Jimmy to sit in their world and feel that you hate them back, they will never have the opportunity to change. Hate combatting hate is the same as putting fire on a fire, it will only get bigger until it destroys us all. Combatting hate with love and putting water on the fire is the only way that we won’t implode.

That is why I say to all people, I love you, despite your racism…

To everyone that know’s the name, Paschal’s Restaurant located in Atlanta, GA, they understand it to be a staple in Atlanta. Paschal’s Restaurant has been around since the civil rights movement when Martin Luther King Jr. would organize at their dining room tables. It is a restaurant that speaks to the core of Atlanta and the United States. To me, Paschal’s Restaurant is so much more than that.

To explain more about this feeling, let me begin by addressing who I am. I am a 35 year old caucasian female. Raised around my father’s Italian mother, and my mother’s best friend, Ruby and her daughter Angelique. At a young age I knew what it meant to be of a different culture. I also was aware of, the oppression that came behind it. They say, don’t speak on another person’s journey, as you know not. Always speak from your own experiences, always from the heart. Growing up, I was consumed by Hip Hop music and culture. My favorite dance music has always been and will always be, Dancehall.

When you think about why you find your best friends in life, think about the bond that ties you. Mine was music. Most of my friends growing up did not look like me. We connected through the music. Yet, there were still things I needed to understand. I remember being in a heated conversation about race and what my white privilege meant for me. At 14 years old my best friend, Venice, brought me to tears because I would never truly understand what it meant like to feel the systematic oppression that was placed on people of color. As I grew up I began to understand what she meant.

Over time I experienced being with my black friends, getting refused to use a bathroom for a sick friend, being pulled over for no reason by the police, and being escorted by military officers out of City Walk when Cash Money was performing.

No I didn’t walk everyday as an African American, but my whole life, I have been walking beside them. Watching all the injustices unfold. Decades after the Civil Rights movement, being Black in America was still a stigma.

I made it my purpose to break the stereotype of the “white” American. I needed to show the better side of who we were. Love was how I would lead.

One day, I decided to move to the mecca of music, ATL. When I got to Atlanta, I had to get money as soon as possible. Within a week, I had an interview. Paschal’s Restaurant had called me to interview and I was so excited to be working downtown Atlanta.

When I researched Paschal’s restaurant online, I was intimidated. Such a statue in the south, such a monumental name. I hope I was good enough. I was so excited to walk through those doors.

When I got to the interview, tall Photos of Martin Luther King Jr. hung on the walls. Every server and bartender was African American, and then there was me. Blonde hair, blue eyes and ready to work.

I remember phone calls, while bartending at Paschal’s from elderly African American people asking me, so politely, if I was caucasian. I would always smile, because my love for Paschals and Paschal’s love for me was exactly what Martin Luther King Jr. fought for. Not only to coexist, but to treat each other as family. To find our likeness and walk together.

To say I was accepted by Paschal’s was an understatement. From the bartenders, servers, and kitchen staff, Paschal’s became my family and remains that way 4 years later.

Everyone has experienced that place that you finally feel at “home”. Home can mean many things to many people. But my feeling of home comes from a place, that has always seemed to be a monument in my life, even before I knew it existed.

So today, as I sit in my favorite spot, at my home away from home, I can’t help but remember the great words of MLK Jr.

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” – Martin Luther King Jr.