Black Lives Matter

2020 has truly been a turbulent time in our country and our world.  This week a black man named George Floyd was killed while a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly ten minutes while arresting him.  He was being arrested for check fraud.  He repeatedly begged for his life.  His last words were, "Mama, I can't breathe."  

The outrage from his death and the deaths of others like George Floyd have prompted nationwide protests and support for the Black Lives Matters movement.  People are angry, hurt, and scared. Some people still refuse to acknowledge their white privilege and the systemic racism that is rampant in our country.  They claim "All lives matter," but all lives can't matter until black lives matter too!

Right now, the pressures of parenting have never been higher.  But we are committed to work hard to teach our children about privilege, racism, and how to treat people of color with respect, dignity, and compassion.  In our tiny, predominately white town, we don't have a lot of daily encounters with people of color.  However, we will commit to reading stories about racial equality and with non-white protagonists.  We will commit to donating money to organizations like Color of Change to bring about opportunities for black leadership in our country.  We will commit to teaching our kids to speak out against injustice, and we will model that for them.  We will commit to listening and learning from people of color because in our home we believe that Black Lives Matter!