I will not be silent, I will stand with my brothers and sisters.

WE matter. YOU matter. We are ONE! One voice, one sound, one symphony.  You are NOT alone.

Tonight we came together as a global community and shared our fears, our concerns, and our love for each other and our families. Together we can achieve so much greatness, we will rise and we will overcome!

Together we stand for equality, not for the color of our skin but for the LOVE we share!

Stand for what is right. So here I am to apologize for my white brothers and sisters, for their ignorance and prejudice. I see you, I hear you and I don’t accept what is happening. I will stand beside you, behind you, lift you up, or just sit by your side. And I will fight the fight with you. This is MY family and nobody f**ks with my family!

This past weekend, I got to have a real conversation with Amanda about children. Megan has 2 girls and we wanted to have a boy. Amanda swears she’d never be a good mom to boys, she only wants girls. I asked her why…

She looked at me and said Mom, it would break my heart to raise a black man in our world today.

I was silent, tears welling up in my eyes because I can see her world. Her world as a black woman, the daily experiences she has to go through just BEING… I am sad that we have to even think about those decisions.

As a white woman, I don’t. I just live. And sure, I experienced it being a blonde woman. People thinking I’m dumb and the polish jokes of being stupid. I have heard all the jokes, but I don’t worry about my safety on a daily basis.

Today I value you and stand with you to be the change we all need to see in the world!  We are one, I will stand beside you, in back of you, in front of you, whatever you need so we can finally join hands and BE!  

My children are black, I was raised in a racist home, unaccepting of any person that was not WHITE.  I married a black man. Neither of my parents didn’t come to the wedding, they didn’t come to the birth of my children. My dad didn’t meet my first daughter until she was 2. He never called and asked if I had a girl or a boy. They treated my children differently, favoring my white nieces and nephews. I was told I wasn’t welcome. I was lonely and alone looking for a community. My community disowned me because of the color of my husband’s skin. If clients knew I married a black man they quit coming to me.

You see, I see it all around. I feel it because I choose love. It’s hard to always be in a fight and it’s lonely trying to convince people that we are all ONE.  I want to say I see you, I hear you. You are not ALONE!

I remember going to a restaurant in Arizona. We were on a road trip. It was at a diner, it was bustling, the energy of the morning buzz.  We had been driving for hours. The kids were hungry, my husband was hungry, I should say starving.  We walked into the diner and it was as if the world stood still.  I looked around in bewilderment. What happened? Then I looked AGAIN and all eyes were on us.  I was wondering “What is wrong, my hair? My clothes? The Kids…” Oh, they were staring at the kids and my husband.

He sat down and looked at the menu, I sat down and got mad.  We have to leave, my husband said, “NO I am hungry, the kids are hungry, we are eating.  No, they are being rude… No, we are staying. It’s time you deal with the fact that the world isn’t rainbow and butterflies!”  From that day on, I saw the world as it was, judgmental, racist, and unfair.

For that, I apologize.

I apologize for all the times you have been stared at, and passed over and harassed because of the color of your skin. I stand for you, and beside you, for OUR future, and my children’s future.

Today you are enough, you are good enough, loved enough, and appreciated.

That’s all, I just love you!