After watching the pain and frustration my parents endured while going through their divorce, I remember saying “I will never bring a child into this world”. I was 12. Of course this statement stemmed from my own turmoil and the effects their dimise had on me. I had a lot more of life to experience and I would get older to realize that there was no need be that extreme.
Fast forward 20 years later and that statement has resurfaced. Why? Because of the recent killings of black men. Not only their deaths, but the retaliation that has been taken out on police officers. Now there are more men who cannot return to their children. Their wives. Their families and friends. With so much disregard for human life, why would I want to bring a child into this world. Especially when they may have a target on their back?
But I had to check myself. Fear is not what I’m about. Fear is a liar. So to combat fear, I speak to what I want and what I know is true.
I will marry my black man.
I will have my black son.
I will have my black daughter.
And we will be unapologetically black.
Because that’s the skin that I was given. The skin I’m proud of. And I will not let other’s hate of it detour me from creating my black family.
Living in Love, Hope, & Faith 