Time for Radical Change

For many days now I have been trying to find words. Words that may heal and give hope. Words that bring a sense of peace and a clearer future. For days I have been educating myself on what #BlackLivesMatters is really all about and why #AllLivesMatter doesn't help. 

Yes, ALL lives do MATTER, every single one, that being said, it’s so important now that we understand why #BlackLivesMatters is so important at this time in history! I have found some resources that have been very helpful in gaining understanding and clarity about why we are where we are in this time in history.

We are on the precipice for great and lasting change with peace knocking on the door. 

Though that may be hard to believe or accept given the current climate not only here in the US, but now with many other countries joining in to push change to happen. As our current leader has called out the military. As we have seen peaceful protestors and churches gassed and people shot at. As we watch our city’s burn, there will come a time of peace. 

How do we get there? We get there by coming together. We get there by showing compassion and coming to the table for healthy dialog. We get there by understanding what it means to when we hear “White Privilege”. We get there by seeing we may be doing harm unconsciously. We get there by once and for all get back to what the country of the US was built on “Liberty and Justice for All” 

Big change is never easy and as we have seen through history, it can take an uprising for the change society wants to happen. We are in one of those times. 

​I can’t pretend to be an expert of any sort on the subject of race and won’t pretend. I do know how it feels to be labeled and categorized by being a born a girl, growing up in a primarily all boy neighborhood. And a neighborhood that was look down on from the rest of the community, because it’s where the “poor” people lived. I wasn’t good enough to be a cheerleader. I wasn’t good enough for a fancy college, despite having all my high school credits completed in my junior year with the exception of 1 senior gym class. Much to my guidance counselors surprise, when I pointed it out in my “what are you going to do with your life meeting as a junior” Still it wasn’t enough to make any difference in her mind, as to me not being college material! Even in my own family, I wasn’t good enough in my Grandfather’s eyes (my mother’s father) because I wasn’t a boy! 
I can’t claim to know what it’s like walking in any one else’s shoes, but from my own difficulties small and seemingly insignificant experiences compared to others. I know it’s hard coming from the poor side of town, not having the right clothes, shoes, car etc. Being looked down on and bullied and so I stand! 
I stand for equality! I stand for peace! I stand with compassion! I stand for change in our great country and in the world! The time is now! The time to stand up and be counted! The time to be at peace with our brothers and sisters! Time to walk hand in hand, knowing with every step, it will bring a better world.