As a woman, I am in shock. As a black woman, I am in shock. As the wife of a black man, I am in shock. As the bonus mom to 4 black men, I am in shock. As a human, I am in shock and I am saddened and a little afraid. I am wondering, where will we go from here. As a human race, are we resilient enough to bounce back from what we witnessed on the 7-minute video of an officer of the law slowly killing another human by place his knee on his neck? It is extremely hard to even type this because I am just in shock that another person, a person that vowed to protect and serve others, watched a mine right before his eyes, while he was handcuffed. How could he do that, with his hands in his pockets, ignoring his cries to breathe?! I have concluded that there is no clean, concrete answer. But is clear that this was wrong on many levels. Many people are responsible for George Floyd’s death, including me. I ask myself, have I used my voice to stress equality? Have I used my voice to improve access to services that cross racial and socioeconomic boundaries? I am committed to ensuring that going forward, I take steps to ensure I am using my voice on an individual and collective front. I stand with George Floyd and all others that have lost their life based on their color of skin instead of their potential behaviors.
I can’t leave the blog like this. I am a glad half full person…I revel in positivity. Change is coming, slowly but surely. Voices are being heard, slowly but surely. People are listening, slowly but surely. I believe and I am hopeful that positive changes are coming on multi-levels, including individually, collectively, within our hearts, our homes, and within our laws on a local, state, and national level.
Be encouraged!
TKW