Whose Little Brown Boys

When Michael Brown was killed by police in Ferguson, MO I was entering my third trimester with my first beloved brown little boy. 

Closer to home in Chicago, and only a couple months later, Laquan McDonald was shot in the back while walking away from police. Less than a month later, I would welcome my (first) sweet little one into the world.

Yesterday, footage was released of the police murder of Adam Toledo, a 13-year old boy who was turning around with his hands up when a Chicago police officer shot him in the chest. As with other moments of police murder and brutality, I am NOT going to watch the video that was released, but I believe that, as I heard someone comment on NPR today, Adam did everything he was told. And he was killed.

Adam Toledo was only 7 years older than my oldest child. 

My kids are learning about racism, but I have yet to have the conversation with either one of them that they might be the recipients of racism, of the engrained disparity created by white supremacy, of police brutality. 

They are cushioned, somewhat, by wealth. They will have more privilege and safety than many. But, I know I'm unable to fully protect them from micro aggressions, let alone larger repercussions of white supremacy. 

Right now, I am feeling more sadness than fear. More despair at our country and the racist systems that continue to perpetrate violence upon black and brown people than worry about what my children will experience. 

But the shadow of what my children might experience certainly weighs heavily.

Anti-Racist Communities, continued

I received a quick response from my kid's principal today, saying she wanted me to know she got my e-mail, and was taking some time to process it and talk with our district's curriculum coordinator (who I mentioned I had previously talked with). It took me 2 months to get an e-mail off to her and I appreciate that she's not just choosing to brush this off.

Before I got that response, I finally finished the letter to our town's Human Relations Commission that is looking at diversity and affordable housing in our community. They held conversation groups last November, but I wasn't able to make any of them. After some stalling, I started a letter on December 28th, and here we are January 13th and I finally sent it off. I raised both huge issues and little ones - not many in between. 

I have been frustrated by the ways our community collects responses. There was a 2030 plan our town put together and apparently in 2019 they had feedback sessions, but I was not aware of them. I have read every newsletter and follow the facebook pages I know of. Maybe I missed it, but it does feel like it's a symptom of suburbia - those who are in the know are a small group - and the rest of us just go along with it. Only, I've been trying to get in and I'm really not sure how to do that.

Anyway, my letter to the Human Relations Commission listed that I believe all employees, trustees and board members should go through anti-racism training and that, since we have a history of documented racist policies, we need a strong statement acknowledging our racist past and resolving to move into anti-racist policies. And then I named ways in which our community hasn't always provided opportunities for families with young kids well and ways in which we could better celebrate diverse cultures. 

If my previous correspondences with my town are any indication, I don't anticipate getting a response. But, I'm going to keep paying attention.