Writing has always been apart of my life as far back as I could remember. Sadly it wasn't until I became grown that I began to use a journal. Journal writing has helped me to make sense of the world. Along my journey I learned how to scrapbook. I have always loved taking photos of important moments so I have thousands of photos stacked. Over the years I have learned the value of downsizing and organizing my photos in meaningful ways. I had photos in really old albums and I own some poorly taken photos that are dear to me and I refuse to give up because they are my only link to my loved ones. I even have photos of people I don't know but what I do know is that they were dear to someone in my family.
The art of storytelling has been something that has been orally passed down for generations in families. Unfortunately in African American families due to the intense pain and trauma of slavery many stories were lost. Many former slaves didn't pass down the stories instead they clamp up and vital historical information was lost. We have current generations of people who are anchor-less and don't have real ties to our country other than the prison system. In teaching American History and African American History to my students and my children it gives them a sense of belonging which is needed by all. I find the complexities of teaching education perplexing in our current society. The inequality of one or more affluent communities given preference over another. This has happened to me over the course of my life. I have been the forgotten generation. I find this puzzling but at the same time astonished. This idea is sometimes hard to grasp. On the outside people may considered me having it all. But honestly there is deep seated pain from being forgotten or cast aside for another ethnic group, religious group, social economic group, gender, or age group that is considered more needy. Overtime this directly or indirectly tells a person that they aren't valued or wanted. Even though in my head that isn't what they mean but that is what gets conveyed to my heart over and over again.
You see I have always been a treasure hunter or a dreammaker for others. No matter who they are if they have a dream I would figure out a way to make that happen. Despite the covid crisis I didn't slow down I continue making dreams happen for others on a big or small scale.
Last year, with the help of an expert I learned to fight for myself and my dreams because they are worthwhile. That concept is foreign to me because I have spent my entire life advocating and fighting for others that even now I have to constantly remind myself to ask myself what are my heart projects for today or this week. I still find myself trying to juggle it all. Not to provide anything, but I don't ever want anyone to feel like I have felt on numerous occasions in life. I don't want others to feel unseen or to ever feel inadequate. That isn't a God complex that is a heart complex. When you have gone through so much pain in a lifetime it is hard to grasp how there are people in this world who are the opposite and causing unnecessary destruction either in the home front or on a world platform is a form of entertainment for them. I get the saying hurt people hurt people but we live in a society where that may be true but people like that need more than a slap on the wrist or accolades on social media no matter their age. It's hard to write these words but someone has to. We have to say No more to violence as a coping strategy for dealing with pain. In our country there are many ways to deal with pain and there are people waiting to assist. I believe the power of education is vital. Whether that education is at home, at a retail store, at a park, a museum, or in a religious or nonreligious setting. But overall I think we as a society are failing. We struggle to keep our children safe in public places and in the home.
We can continue to race full speed ahead off of a societal cliff or we can pause and look around the world to see best practices that are used in other developed countries to combat crime and other issues that we are facing. I know experts have been sent overseas officially or unofficially to collect data and experts have been collecting data and arguing points for decades but the end results are the same nothing seems to have changed.
The religious houses are still waiting and eager to assist with the growing crisis of juvenile crimes in urban centers by pushing in to assist in the classroom or pull out for services throughout the school day or assist with after school programs. We need to be proactive in educating our youth full-time. It takes a village of diverse community volunteers to educate juveniles and the classroom teacher can't do it alone. We must deal with the lack of lawlessness in our youth, illiteracy in our black and brown communities, the rising opid crisis, domestic violence, and etc using common sense strategies that have been used for centuries. New educational techniques and advancement are always on the horizon but tested and proven strategies are what's needed to avoid incarcerating our youth. What is more harsh administering a spanking or sending someone to prison in which they can't provide for themselves or their families after the end of their sentence and the cycle continues? What is more harsh educating the whole child or allowing them to crash and burn taking hundreds with them? As rational parents, citizens, leaders, law enforcement, news outlets, justice system, public, and etc it is the responsibility of all citizens including the government of developed nations to produce citizens that are law abiding. Responsible discipline is the responsiblilty of all people. You see when my momma was younger if a child acted up in the community the child was disciplined by the neighbor or the teacher or whoever was around. Then they called the parent and the parent also disciplined them as well. It was a community affair. This stopped juveniles from misbehaving. When I was younger my principal's were able to give out structured physical discipline as well. I know there are going to be some people who will disagree with me and that is your right to do so. But I challenge you to care for your own children 24/7 if this is extremely bothersome for you. To educate them and discipline them completely yourself. I'm sure you will find yourself and your family quickly implementing rules, procedures, prayer, and structured physical discipline that ranges on the spectrum. Do I support spankings? Yes, some people absolutely need it. It's there love language.
I support a society in which good people feel safe to live their lives free of the constant stress and mayhem of domestic and international terrorism. I support the means that it takes to do so. This is not the wild Wild West. This is the year of 2022. We have structures in place to help all of us solve crisis problems. We have the ability to solve real problems and stop focusing on problems that are none of our business. We need to focus on stopping crimes from overtaking our cities, our churches, our shopping centers, our schools, our communities, and our homes without more legislation and more red tape. We have the brightest minds of the free world in this country and someone needs to call a meeting or a series of meetings and get to work solving this huge big ticket real life problems ASAP.
I want a world that is better than the one that our forefathers had. I want a world where my children can grow up safe in their neighborhood and in their schools and be able to thrive and achieve their dreams. I want to stop living behind armed gates at schools, at sporting events, and in our homes and communities. I like Martin have a Dream! That my children can live in a nonviolent world where everyone is educated and taught how to solve problems peacefully and given ALL the tools to do so successfully. There is room enough in this world for everyone to pursue happiness if they are willing to do what is right and to go about it the right and legal way. This can be done without taking away the religious and civil liberties of others and without the constant over-monitoring or survillence of good people. By encouraging positive community involvement and not laziness we can activate positive change. To be a good citizen, to be a good parent, to be a good spouse, to be good at anything it takes involvement. Yes, the realities some people can't due to their physical and mental limitations but that don't allow others in leadership to infringe on the liberties of others in order to whip everyone else in-line. To make the world better we must all do our best everyday and when we fail we must allow others to make admends and to accept their consequences without over the top sentencing in the court of public opinion. As the old timers say, we must practice what we preach. We must be the world we want. That starts at our own dinner table and in our communities every day. The American public and the World stage has endured enough over the past several decades. NO MORE Hurting people for entertainment or sport! NO MORE! No more! NO MORE. Let's start learning and using the love strategies we have been taught to make our world a better and brighter place to live. Now let's get to Work Together because Teamwork makes the dream work.
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