What has America come to?

As I sit here working on this post I am thinking about the case of Trayvon Martin, the countless missing Black children who the media has omitted from their head lines and sound bites. I am extremely saddened at the thought of a beautiful young man shot dead at the age of 17 and his murder has gone uninvestigated for over a month now. A young man in his early 20s was shot in Detroit by a convenience store clerk who refused to give the young man the correct amount of condoms for the money paid or a refund and the young man knocked over a rack of snacks, leading the clerk to shoot him. He was rushed to the hospital where he bled to death while his friends were accosted by hospital security. A young Middle Eastern woman was brutally beaten to death in San Diego (the place I called home for the past 3 years before moving to Japan). The attack on women in this presidential race is appalling. I fear for the future of my daughter. If my husband and I have a son he will look like Trayvon Martin.

I am angered and disgusted at the state of America today.  When I was a kid my parents never sugar coated stuff. My dad always told us he hoped things would be better for us, but in the mean time we are black kids growing up in white America. That means we must always watch what we do and say. In school we are told we can grow up and do and be whatever we want. Sadly for young black people in America like Trayvon they will never get that opportunity. As I sit here watching my 10 month old daughter play on my living room floor I say a silent prayer thanking God for such a beautiful and healthy little being and the opportunity HE has given me to raise her up, but I pray that no one ever finds her beautiful enough to take her from me. I pray she never goes missing. I pray that she never fall prey to predators like Trayvon's killer, or a pedophile or to human traffickers, because sadly I have seen the statistics and the reports that all tell me that there would be no justice for her. Those reports tell me that there is no room for her picture in the media is she should go missing and what's disgusting is that if the media did give her some attention it would only be to smear her name and suggest that it was her fault. I pray this prayer not only for her but for all the young children of color.

Justice for Trayvon Martin and all the other young people of color! Do we look suspicious???? Are we next? We wear our hoodies for all the injustices! 

Almost in tears I recognize that I have chosen the profession to which I am sitting here criticizing. Looking into the future I can only ask God to bless me with the opportunity to make changes to this system, so we can correct the injustices like that of Trayvon Martin, and the many others whom the media has left out.

As a child I never thought I would see the day that America would have a president that wasn't an old white guy. I cried when I watched the election and Obama was announced the winner and I cried even harder watching his inauguration. Although there have been things that I hoped he would accomplish in his 1st term that he has not done (mostly due to the republican party stalling at every turn and being downright defiant in willing to go to work for the American people) I can honestly say that I am proud to be an American because of President Obama's presidency. Sadly the downright racism that is going on is not only disrespectful to the President but to all people of color!

I pray that in my daughters lifetime there be a time when she does not have to worry about being the victim of a hate crime because she is a beautiful black woman.  I don't  want her to worry about whether or not she looks suspicious because she has on a hoodie. I want her to be proud of who she is and hold her head up high not scared or worried. I most certainly want her to never have to worry about whether or not she can go to the doctor because health insurance should never be an issue for her.

So today I held Olivia a little longer and hugged her a little tighter in hopes that she will recognize that she is loved and cared for; in hopes that it will protect her from harm; in knowing that I can't always be there to watch her every step but in cherishing every moment I get to spend with her. The disgusting crimes of hate and violence that have continued to occur over the past several months have reminded me that tomorrow is never promised and that I MUST cherish every moment I have.

And with that I will say, until next time just pray...