In a perfect world there is no hate. We all love each other and there are no tears. We hold hands when crossing the street and during prayer. We read bedtime stories to our babies and pray over them daily. It is our job as parents to gives our kids a peaceful life with no fear of harm nor foul. All of these things are what I plan to instill in the world as we know it.
"Human beings are not things needing to be motivated and controlled. They are four-dimensional: body, mind, heart, and spirit." --Stephen Covey (Daskal, 2015)
The world today is better than it was for my great grandparents and theirs. It is by far not perfect, but the fear of waking up to my husband hanging from a tree in my front yard is non-existent. The fear of my son being spat on because he wants to further is education is not a fear I own. The fear of me as a black women not being able to vote ended because those before me fought for my right.
From birth I have prayed over my babies. I ask God to keep them from all things that mean harm to them. Not one time during my prayer did I consider that in 2016 a presidential candidate had the potential to spread the hate that I have sheltered them from? I have always know that me raising black men would cause fear to those that know the black man’s history and know that if it had been their people enslaved, tortured and killed that they would one day rise up against those that harmed them.
See, in my journey of motherhood I have set out to teach my children not to hate anyone based on race, color, creed, sexual orientation, religious beliefs nothing. I have raised them to love all, to love the hell out of all. I planned on raising world changers, for my babies to not sit on the sidelines and see others get bullied and not speak up. To report crimes they have been witnessed to. We do not have a “Stop Snitching” mentality in my home, we have a spread love or you will see hate fester mentality. Our lives are filled with volunteering at domestic violence shelters, community baby showers, helping women who need help with their children who are misbehaving. We mentor others using God's word and real-life experiences.
For years I have fought tiny battles, but never realized that those small battles would lead me to the big fight. The fight to empower those without a voice. To listen to the babies that have been thrown away who need hugs. To share the story of those who have been turned out on the street because they love someone who is the same sex as them. To hold the hand of the toddler who is gets nervous when he hears loud noises bouncing balls. To listen to fried relive the aftereffects of being violated by her father and having her childhood taken away. To apply makeup to the teenager who was born with a disability and has been told she is less than beautiful by her peers. To uplift my own son who was called “trash” by an educator who had the job to teach him. To continue to help my husband not feel less than a man because his brain injury has disabled him therefore he is unable to work a full-time job. See I am a mom, a sister, an aunt, a lover, a wife, and a fighter. As long as I have breath in my body I will spread the love God has given me and share my gift of hopefulness to all those I come in contact with.
