#blacklivesmatter

The Declaration of Independence, written in 1776, states that ‘all men are created equal.’ However, 245 years later, we (black people) are still fighting for our ‘inalienable rights.’ 

RX was only about a month old when Trayvon Martin was killed. I cried after his bath and I took this picture with his 'hooded' towel. I couldn't believe the world he had to grow up in.

It is terrifying that #blacklivesmatter even has to be a thing.  As I mentioned before, I lose sleep over the well being of Hubby and the boys. I wait by the window when my husband takes a walk in our neighborhood. I have yet to watch all 8 minutes and 46 seconds of that infamous video (and never will). I had a full-blown panic attack when I thought I saw RX’s preschool teacher on the side of the road in a predominantly white area. Hubby went out looking for him, while I called and texted until I knew it wasn’t him. All I could think of was the bad things that could happen to a young black man that was only minding his business. 

Hubby made me take a social media break after that incident. I was not in a healthy mental space. During that time, I decided to make it my duty to inform my boys, without scaring the living daylights out of them. DL is only 4, but I love to tell him how beautiful his skin is. When I told him he had wonderful black skin, he took it literally and said his skin was brown (LOL!). I couldn’t argue, so I used the time to tell him everyone has different skin but we are all the same on the inside. RX is 9, so I can take a different approach with him. He is quite the reader. It is easy to explain what he sees on the news with a book on his history. 

We have a million books in our house. I pulled out a few to be front and center during Black History Month.

Found the perfect book for RX

Devale Ellis, and his wife Khadeen, are 30 something, married for 10 years, and are raising 3 black boys... Sound familiar? When I heard Devale wrote a book about how he explained Black Lives Matters to his boys, I had to have it. In Why do we have to say Black Lives Matter, Devale and Khadeen take their boys on a time machine trip through history, starting when slaves were brought over from Africa. He highlights parts of (African) American History that were forgotten or glossed over in school. I’ll admit, I learned a thing or two.

As Hubby and I were going through the book with RX, his eyes were wide as he was taking it all in. It seemed he was trying to make sense of it all. He asked intelligent questions like, ‘why were the slaves only in the South?’ and ‘how do prisons make money off of prisoners?’ Once we finished, he said, ‘I don’t know why things are still like this in 2021.’ He quickly identified several nonBlack people that are amazing. I had to explain that not everyone is stuck in 1865, thankfully. However, we are, quite literally, still in the fight of our lives these days. 

This book really got the wheels turning in his head. It was brilliantly written for the preteen age range (the time machine part even had DL engaged). It has earned a permanent place in our library because it talks about more than Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks (two very important people, but they are highlighted in school). Thanks to The Ellises for making ‘the conversation’ easier. Can’t wait for more from the Time Machine series.

XO,