I’ve sat down on many occasions WITH THE WANT/DRIVE TO WRITE A LETTER to our nation in my heart! I’d get halted at not knowing how a little black girl born, and partially raised in the tricky streets of South Central Los Angeles would be received. The second half of my childhood I lived in VEGAS which opened my mind to the real time concept of multicultural COMMUNITIES working together toward the common good for its citizens.
In my mind I know the map of our country, and as the !!!! explain I’ve had the chance to really enjoy some of our nation’s AWESOMENESS! Still, the remote areas of our country’s make-up, the different agendas you hear about, and all the HORRIFIC NEWS REPORTS we all hear, played a part in my apprehension on moving forward with my vision.
My imagination, isolation, biased media, and ignorance stifled me from writing a letter when you break it down to the simplest. I was convinced that the nucks & crannies of our nation were filled with those who hate the majority of the rest of the nation.
The truth is most of us are wrapped up, sometimes literally in our individual worlds, oblivious to most of the dealings outside our own bubbles. From my view I can’t help but see the racism, bigotry, separatism….blah…blahh…blahhh….negativity that prevents our overall progression of truly being the “ONE NATION UNDER GOD IN-DINVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY, AND JUSTICE FOR ALL”. So many of our loved ones have sacrificed their lives to protect the promise of civil liberties afforded to us all! Many of our society’s inhibitors stem from our nations dark eras that’s been neatly tucked away. Many of us have experienced racism and bigotry. To be matter of fact it’s not a good look, and ultimately acts as a hindrance to our nation’s progress.
Blatant hate resurfaced from our nations past is argued to have heightened since the election of our nation’s first African American President Barack Obama. Hateful opinions that refuse reason and willingness to have an open mind about the POSSIBILITIES of our continued growth as a NATION! It’s our collective responsibility to ENSURE the success of the system that OUR PREDECESSORS played key roles in. To purposely act against the evolution of our collective worlds is sadly a slap in the face to those who sacrificed their lives for us as a collective to be able to communicate with one another today.
I spoke with a gentleman who made his racially biased opinion against our administration in a bold distasteful way online. I initially found myself intrigued by the bill board displayed outside of his Georgia restaurant which read “I don’t support niggers in the White House”. Another picture on his page was taken in front of “the nigger bar”. The thoughts of the post lingered in my head for near a week, until I decided to reach out to him directly. I couldn’t wrap my mind around how on one hand he’d spoke of his pride in our nation, but on the other he completely opposed the progression this administration has brought to more of the majority of American folks.
I couldn’t believe that in the year 2012 we still had to endure the same hate that so many of our ancestors past. Finally I couldn’t help, but to reach out to the man in an effort to wrap my mind around his position. The first few moments of the call my voice trembled, and my words were slow to come to mind. One of the first things I remember addressing was the fact that I’m an African American Women and whether that alone meant that he hated me without question. His immediate response was “little lady, I don’t HATE anybody”. We both spoke about some of the challenges that we face as a nation and the ways we saw us moving in the right direction. In the end we spoke for near an hour starting with me simply sharing my experience of being exposed to so many people from different walks of life. I noted the common threads that we all share. We shared the pains of both of our communities around drugs and crime.
My Junior High & High school years in Vegas planted a few seeds of how diverse, and inherently loving we are as a human race. My work experience includes years in call centers where I got the chance to talk to people throughout the United States. The conversations gifted me little moments to connect with someone that I wouldn’t normally come across in my day to day life.
Our history has shown us the POWER in; working together, supporting innovation, offering competitive educations to our citizens, utilizing the value in all of our citizens, working more efficiently & responsibly with our limited resources. The thought that our nation has changed through the years to become the “land of the freeee, and the HOME OF THE BRAVE” is AWESOME TIMES A MILLION. We all have to do our part to ensure that the darkness of our nation doesn’t taint the possibility of our future!! It’s going to take plenty more of those difficult conversations to expose the lies that feed into so many of our individual fears that are ultimately holding us back as a nation.
I remember speaking with a true gentleman from Alabama one evening. Entering the call my fear expected this (assuming) White Man, with his thick southern accent to have a handful of racially biased thumb tacks to pin on me. I’ve actually experienced that in the past….deep…. TURNS OUT that I was the one being racially biased in this case!!!
He went on to share the beauty of his state, and how I should take the time to visit Alabama. As politically correct, and customer friendly as I could I acted on my comfort with him to share my fear of “Sweet Home Alabama”, and what dastardly things I feared upon my arrival! The tenderness in his voice, along with the words of encouragement he shared made a lasting impression on me. The truth, and openness of the conversation spoke to my heart. I still haven’t made it to Alabama, but I can proudly say that it’s not because of some old nagging fear.
The common good, pride, hard work, LOVE, passion, pain, desire, compassion, and will of everyday people in the remind me of the strides that we’ve made as a nation. I couldn’t help but think of how pleased our GOD/CREATOR must be at the strides that our nation has taken toward civil & human rights.
You may not see people like me where you live, just has I may have never come across someone like you. Let’s celebrate those differences more! You never know what synergy, and partnerships…SOLUTIONS that could be just around the cornerMy son was 28 days old when I wrote this letter! He was in bed next to me sleeping and grunting! He looks so precious in his sleep. Babies and their innocence just trusting in our ability to get it together and work things out makes you want to PUSH HARDER TOWARD a BRIGHTER today, and even brighter tomorrow!
COUNTRY STRONG keeps running through my head. Country Strong…Country Strong…Country Strong!! HOPE for a better world for My Babies is a huge part of My why to fight for justice, and us having a healthy conscious society.
What’s your WHY that encourages you to strive towards healing our nation?!
