July 28th, 2018
Dear my sweet, sleeping boy,
Today I woke up sleeping next to you and had to finally cry. I cried for Nia Wilson, the young 18-year-old woman who was murdered recently at a BART station. We still don’t know the motive, or if there even was one but it’s another instance of unsolicited violence against black people. Some day you might stand at such a station as a young man. Some day you will be big enough to navigate the world on your own. But how will people see you my boy? How will they stereotype you and judge you just because of what you look like? When will all these broken structures in America change?
Since your babeh (dad) and I moved to the US in June of 2014 together, we’ve watch the news tell us or found out through our own searching just how many black people are being killed constantly. It is beyond alarming. On the day of your naming ceremony we honored and took a moment of silence to reflect on the murders of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling that occurred just days before. And the list goes on. I do not write this to scare you but to share with you. To tell you that you must see with open eyes what is happening. Racism is alive and is often deadly. People are still reacting out of fear which is beyond concerning when it’s the people sworn to protect. We have a mental health crisis in America that is not being addressed. Our justice system is fractured and biased.
It is also important to remember that America has terribly horrific history of harming black and brown people. Our United States was literally built on the backs of slaves stolen from their homelands in Africa. European settlers pillaged a land were native and indigenous groups lived long before white faces ever arrived and have subsequently been killed, horribly mistreated or marginalized since. It was even unlawful to marry between races up until 1967 in this country. America has a long way to go my boy and it needs to reckon with its ugly past. Please remember to say the names of those killed, learn from what’s happening and join the fight for change.
I write to you this letter to share with you today that you are so incredibly loved. Not because of the color of your skin or what you “represent”. You are loved for you in this family and for just being yourself. But please don’t forget that many people will see you differently. They will judge you. They will make dangerous assumptions. And I pray that you will grow older in a world that can continue to change and evolve for the better, and perhaps that even live one day you can live in a country called America were all people, no matter their skin tone, are respected and given the dignity every human deserves.
Love,
Mama
PS. I was of course inspired by the Ta Nehisi Coates book written in the style of a letter to his own son, Between the World and Me. I read this book to you when you were a tiny baby and will do so again someday. I love you pas al ting.
K Space 