Black Lives Matter

We are all born without asking, into a body and with a mind we did not choose. We are handed the cards we are dealt and then tasked with absorbing and translating the world around us. Our minds and body start out so fresh and soft, molded continuously by the smells, sounds and sights around us. 

Our caretakers guide us through our first years, their perspective and actions influencing our world view. Shifting and shaping who we are and how we see the world. As we start school and make friends, new people enter our lives and bombard us with new perspectives and ideas of how the world works.

Our opinions continue to evolve and we become the ever-changing adult, responsible for our own actions and choices. We begin to form our own opinions of right and wrong, find ways of coping with pain, and learn to survive and thrive. All the while, continuing to process the daily bombardment of our diverse world. 

Your birth rite, however blessed or burdened it may be, is not something you earned. The color of your skin, or the social class of your parents, is not an accomplishment or failure - it is what was given to you. It is time for people to stop feeling superior simply because of how they were born. And it is time to admit that there have been decades of injustice that created the unequal system that spurred the Black Lives Matter movement. 

We are all born without asking. Our black brothers and sisters enter a different world simply because of the color of their skin. They are different, a minority, whose history is rich with slavery and segregation.  Less than 60 years ago, black people were not allowed to vote. "Blockbusting" is a vocabulary word on the real estate exam which points directly to the systematic segregation of neighborhoods due to race. A black person is 5x more likely to go to jail than a white person. What I find the most disheartening is that racial bias is present in the everyday lives of most black Americans, most notably (at this time) between police officers and black men. And I admit that, at times, I exhibit racial bias toward black people without wanting to or knowing it is happening. This white girl (from a predominately white suburb in San Diego) has some pre-programming that needs to be erased. 

Yes, it is true all lives matter. That is not the point of this movement. The Black Lives Matter movement is here to provide a unified voice and define a message that black people need our help delivering - there is injustice here! The struggle they have experienced is something white people cannot understand, and that is OK. What we can understand is that something must be done to stop the unnecessary killings. We must do something to correct the inequality that manifested a black community with high crime rates, poor test scores and low income levels.  Let's start by recognizing that there needs to be a change in our fundamental mindset toward diversity and equality, and by voicing our support for the movement. 

We are all born without asking, into a body and with a mind we did not choose. We are one and we are many. Let's band together to make the world bright for everyone in it. #BlackLivesMatter