Racism and Police Brutality is Not Ok!!

My feelings about racism, police brutality, and our health have my heart very heavy. I participated in a peaceful protest today in downtown Philadelphia. Seeing the National Guard with their fingers on the triggers of their weapons made me angry and sad. My 29-year-old son was with me. All I could think about was what I would do to protect my son should a situation arise?

Why should Black people have to continue to deal with being hated because of racism and threatened to the point of death by police brutality in America?

Why do they hate us so much? Is it safe to sleep in my bed, why can’t they just leave us alone?

My Brother, Nephew, and my children ask me these questions. I don’t have answers for them and that breaks my heart. I am used to solving problems as a mom, a vegan chef a wellness coach, a project manager. That’s not acceptable. We are tired of being afraid.

Enough is enough and the whole world knows it. I am angry about the injustice but I am also optimistic.

The world is on reset due to the impacts of Covid19. That reset is giving us time to slow down and really see what is going on in our world. We have been so busy with work and life we have not been paying attention to the darkness in the world. Globally we can no longer ignore the disparities based on race and class. Change is coming. I am excited about the world that will be built, but that’s in the future…

To my Brothers & Sisters…

• Rest, try to eat healthy to maintain your mental & physical strength.
• Drink water, pray, meditate – try to center yourself 1st thing in the morning (for me these days its 4:45 am – insomnia) before you begin to tackle with your day.
• Talk to the young people in your life. They may not have the tools to talk about what they are feeling.

My nephew is 13. He has already had the Talk but now He asks questions that do not provide the assurance of the safety that His Caucasian friends enjoy.

As a counterpoint, we are teaching Him about the brilliance, intelligence, and creativity of Black people and how He can use His love of trains to plan and build the communities He and His generation will live in.

To my community that is not African American. Time for silence is over.

This country will not survive the continued oppression of its People. Policies change when People insist upon them.

We need your voices, your influence, your privileged power to make real and lasting change that all of our children will benefit from.

I am not ok. I want the National Guard out of my community and my People to live freely without fear of harm.

I want to know how you feel.

Be well, take care!