My Reflections on Recent Events
My Reflections...
Great-Grandma
My Nana (middle of picture above) was an amazing woman. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree though, because so was her mother. My great-grandmother didn’t have much of an education, but she always heavily emphasized the importance of it.
I remember the stories my Nana would tell me about how her mother would wake her and her sisters up early in the morning and begin a long trek all the way to the white side of town so they could use the public library. Through a shaky voice, as if almost reliving the trauma of the unsettling memories, Nana would recall all of the disgusted looks and racial slurs she and her family would have to endure every weekend on this journey. Nana, at the time, didn’t understand why her mother was so determined to take her little girls to the library when each experience came packaged with so much pain. Little did she know, Great-Grandma, even despite her lack of education, understood a very powerful concept: education was a way out. Great-Grandma couldn’t read very well, but she made sure her girls could. That’s the magic of a strong black mother. Nana would tell me these stories because she wanted me to understand the importance of the education that our ancestors have fought so hard for us to obtain.
What can we do?
I’m going to be honest, as a black woman myself, I don’t even fully know how to fix the effects of hundreds of years of systemic racism. And that’s okay. I encourage people not to let these feelings of helplessness overwhelm you to the point of silence. What I do know is, the road is going to be long and it’s going to be hard. But it is imperative that we tackle it, nevertheless.
It’s also very important to note that there are different angles that we will need to take into account in order to effectively attack this giant and ALL are important. So to the peaceful protestors in the streets, thank you. To the people signing petitions and advocating for better legislation, thank you. To the black men and women working tirelessly to get an education so that we have more representation and power in the workforce, thank you. To the lawyers defending the most vulnerable against petty charges that are contributing to a cycle of modern day slavery, thank you. To people using their platforms to speak out against discrimination, thank you. To researchers who are using their expertise to add to the literature to empirically prove that racism is still alive and well, thank you. To the brave people who see injustice on the street or in the workplace and immediately speak out against it, thank you. To the persons actively serving in agencies/organizations that are geared towards bridging gaps and identifying/decreasing systemic barriers, thank you. To the faith-based institutions that are are offering empathy, love and support to their congregants of color, thank you. To the police officers that are taking a vocal and active stand against injustice within their own departments and across the nation, thank you. To the authors, poets, journalists, videographers, musicians, artists and story tellers alike using their gifts to spread awareness, thank you. To the black parents that are raising their beautiful black and brown babies and teaching them that they are gorgeous, strong, courageous and can do anything that they put their minds to, thank you. To the strong black mothers who, like my great-grandmother, are fighting every.single.day, despite the obstacles, to catapult their children into greatness, thank you, thank you, thank you!
We can ALL play a part. Please don’t let these lives that have been taken both recently and historically be in vain. But let’s also make sure that we are fighting in a way that will honor our ancestors and all of the blood, sweat and tears that they sacrificed to make this country what it is today.
I’m not the wisest person in the world, however, there is one thing I’ve learned over the years that I believe to be one of the truest truths and that is…Love heals. We need to employ a radical kind of love. We need a love that steps into other people’s shoes, a love that casts aside pride, a love that actively listens to other's perspectives without judgement, a love that allows us to mentally, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually enter into another person's pain and suffering so that we can truly empathize in a manner that manifests healing. Systemic racism is a giant, but I believe that one day it will be defeated. It will take a lot of hard work, there will be a lot of pain, tears will be shed, more lives may be lost, but we cannot abandon this fight. We must not abandon this fight. Our grandparents and great-grandparents fought to give us better lives and we must continue what others before us began.
There is something better than this. I know it. And I wholeheartedly believe that a mix of strategy, persistence, prayer and radical love will get us there.
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
- MLK Jr.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lauren grew up in South Jersey, but relocated to the Philly suburbs in 2019. Following undergrad, she began working for a company that provides support services to individuals with developmental disabilities, and it was here that she found her calling. Lauren now works as a behavioral therapist with the ID/DD population while also completing her master’s degree in applied behavior analysis. In her free time she enjoys cuddling with her cute cat, cracking open a good book and sipping on a nice, hot cup of java.