Time To Talk About Mental Health in The Black Community; 12 Books By Black Authors Follow

Black mental health is not taken seriously enough; it is very discouraging and very frustrating but I am hoping the more the community discusses it, the more people will realize that;

1) no, mental health doesn’t make you crazy
2) no, mental illnesss(es) are not for white people only
3) sadly, the denial to talk about emotions & the lack of discussing mental health in the community among Black adults and especially children, is continuing to let suicide run rampant -especially among those whom are not adults.

All Black lives matter, regardless of age, but when we have children as young as 5 and older attempting -succeeding- in taking their lives due to the trauma of racism in America, and bullying at school more often than not. Here is but one story, that of a beautiful 9 year old Black little girl.

Or what about all the missing Black women and girls? Why is there no outrage over that?

It is hard to talk about, but we have legal killings by capital punishment killing the Black community, or stealing fathers from families, much of the time due to self defense, drugs (which the white community is not absent of, so no one has any right to look down on anyone) -drug offenders do not need prison but that is another article- and a multitude of other ‘crimes’ later -far too often too much later- found to be innocent of said crime by DNA testing, but it’s took late because they’ve already been executed by the government. Or released after 60 years of serving a sentence they were innocent for.

And it is as though it’s become so common place everyone just looks the other way. FUCK THAT!

Or the police, who are here to not serve and protect, who are feared by most and how can anyone question why? They do not just murder, I would like to add. The beatings and other cases I have worked on in the past, that I want to update regarding both the victim and the killer(s) or abuser(s), are far more sick than I think anyone understands. Working nationally over 10 years as legal aid and as a counselor to victims I have a lot of confidential incidents I cannot share but there are also no shortage of ones I can share, sadly.

We have gang crime, which, I believe in just another form of suicide, and will go into those details at another time. But it’s taken kids lives, along with the drugs implemented by the government, as they admit or you can dig deep enough yourself to find these truths, if you are willing…

Suicide and self destructive of any sort, be it drugs, alcohol, knives, guns, wreckless behaviors that would get most white teens therapy are ending the lives of those in the Black community.

I focus on the children a lot; but we need the adults to step up initially, I believe, and show these children it is okay to speak about their emotions; show them it is okay to be upset and hurt. We need to educate them more and prepare them… We also need to ensure Black women and men know that they can call on a friend or a family member and reach out when feeling depressed, suicidal or just “off” and know they won’t be judged.

Below are from BlackMentalHealth.com which I hope you will check out as well. For now, here are a few, 12 to be exact… I’ve read many of them, especially Black Pain, number 12 on the list, and highly suggest it…

It’s gonna take Black men and women to first accept mental illness, especially understand how NORMAL it is for the trauma that the American government, school systems and society has caused for hundreds of years! Racism is trauma; and children are being more and more traumatized with Black children under the age of 11 and suicide still steadily rising since the early 1990s.

Black children aren’t going to talk about their problems if they see the adults can’t talk about theirs or if no one tells them it’s okay. Suicide is preventable; mental health is vital and it also impacts the physical but that’s for another article.

Please, consider reading and learning for yourself, for your loved ones and for the kids… For the COMMUNITY. There are far too many methods of legal murder in this country; taking a life by ones own hand should be the easiest one to put an end to as much as possible, if only we are open about it…

Link to books HERE.

Black 72 yr Old Woman Found Hanging; Then Swept Under Rug… Please See Video(s)!!!!

I am outraged that this woman has been murdered; that they say there was no foul play, that they pretend a 72 year old woman would do something like this! And yes, elderly people do take their lives, too, sadly. But statistically speaking:

There is research showing PUBLIC suicides are a very extreme rarity and almost always the suicide is committed by jumping off of a tall building or such. The most common method of suicide for women in the over 50 age range is overdose, shooting themselves is second but overdose has a drastically higher number.

They now are stating she died due to ‘unattended death.’ In the video I explain what that means and how they can say it is that, despite right after they state this, they express a situation that doesn’t meet the criteria of an unattended death.

There is racism going on in even deeper and more sinister ways; this is proof, the two men in the video that follows is proof, statistics are proof…

Please share…

Black, Missing, Ignored- The Current Situation

For anyone wanting to help in any way the Black women and children missing in America, going unnoticed by the media and government, there is an organization called Black & Missing. You can find this site by clicking here. It has profiles of the missing women, as well as a place to donate, offer anonymous tips, report a missing persons, get updates and more…

Additionally, coming up May 22, 2022 is a run/walk fundraiser to help this extremely important organisation. That website is here.

Please see below for links and details…

The ‘Hope Without Boundaries’ 5K Run/Walk is a fundraiser for the Black & Missing Foundation, Inc whose mission is to bring awareness to missing persons of color, provide vital resources and tools to missing person’s families and friends and to educate the minority community on personal safety. Proceeds from the event will go towards: funding for families of the missing, flyer distribution, financial support, victim recovery, and burial service assistance.

“The number of persons of color missing here in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area and around the country is alarming. We are holding this inspiring, family-friendly 5K to bring more attention to the countless number of missing children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and friends who might otherwise be overlooked.”  – Co-Founders, Natalie Wilson & Derrica Wilson

Senate bill 825 in Wisconsin courts there is a proposed bill regarding these missing women. That we are just now seeing a bill come out for this issue is atrocious. That it isn’t even a federal bill,…. leaves me so enraged I am speechless. You can read the proposed bill here from the Wisconsin government website.

There is another organization that actively tweets missing Black men, women and children. Please follow them at https://twitter.com/Black_Missing

Anyone with other resources please comment and I’ll approve it, and add to this list… Thank you guys.

I also hope my video made sense. I am trying to make them more focused and not let my emotions get the best of me. I hope I am doing that.

!TODAY Black Leaders & Liberators Virtual Children Workshop on MALCOLM X

Children’s Online Workshops

Black Power: Great Black Leaders & Liberators (1) Virtual Children Workshops

Starting Sunday 9 January 2022

Today!!!

What a wonderful man Malcolm X is; and in this time when kids are being so brain washed truth and knowledge are even more powerful.

I hope this will be packed; and I hope the content good, it should be as it is with no other than x

As noted on the above link:

Make History come to life with these Sankofa Sunday ‘Black Power: Great Black Leaders & Liberators’ children workshops led by Charmaine Simpson of Black History Studies.

With its emphasis on Black racial identity, pride and self-determination, Black Power influenced everything from popular culture to education to politics. These workshops will inspire young people to learn about great leaders and liberators who contributed to world history.

Each workshop will last 1.5 hours from 12:00 to 13:30 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

The workshops are aimed at young people aged 8 – 16 years old.

These workshops will be online using Zoom webinar. Please ensure that your device can support Zoom.

We like to keep the workshops interactive so ask if you can put your camera on.

The Zoom link will be provided upon registration.

Tickets for each workshop cost £5.00.

The zoom link will be sent to you for each session.

To book via bank transfer, please contact us on info@blackhistorystudies.com

All workshops are non-refundable and non-transferable. Non attendance does not entitle you to a refund.

Spaces are limited. Book today, don’t delay.

To book all six workshops, click on the button below:

Video-Black Mental Health Matters- Black Male Speaks Out & Talks About Mental Illness Project

This is a VERY IMPORTANT video…. I hope you will watch it; this Black man tells his story, he was diagnosed with Major Depression, Trauma, …. please, please help stop the stigma in the Black community…and please listen to this man who is so brave to get up and share his story…

There is no shame in mental illness. It usually stems from trauma, and it can lead to physical illnesses that can and do kill like heart disease, high blood pressure and more.

For now, please listen… Or check out his program, HERE, where he is teaching barbers to be mental health advocates as well as helping them to connect with therapists to assist these Black men who need some help, even further, he is seeking and working to help Black children and women; the family system, in the Black community… His projects and ideas are so on point; I hope you will listen…

And there is nothing but PRIDE in that.

Please, check him out.

Short Video Regarding a Racist White Woman & White Privilege

I am absolutely enraged…. I made this video for twitter, it is what I think will be the intro to a longer video in the very near future, given I don’t think anyone is going to learn from what I say, but let’s hope I am wrong.

If you are a white person and truly are trying to understand, respect to you. If you are a white person who doesn’t understand because you aren’t racist (which by default, um, means, yeah.. you are) then I hope you will open you’re mind and try to better yourself, so you can help stop this horror.

The Tragic Disappearance & Murder Gabby Petito Is An Opportunity To Improve Lives…

First, to those who will try to contact me disputing this, for one send me factual evidence that is reliable and I’ll look at it and share that I did not know what was going on in regards to racism in America. I’m serious; if you think you got something, I’d love to disprove you.

But before I begin, let me hopefully deter a few of the defensive white people, victims are only us, crowd, with disclaimer:
In no way am I sayiNG the murder of Gabby Petito is acceptable or that she doesn’t matter. No one deserves what she received. HOWEVER, it does piss me off GREATLY to know if she were not white, blonde and blue eyed, she would not have gotten the attention her case is receiving. No. She would have received at best local media attention.

Fact. Don’t agree? Let’s move on from her case and focus on stats real fast, then I’ll be posting a video that is 4 years old which I made on this very same topic.

What’s distressing is it sounds like I could have very easily recorded this video today, based on the meaning of the video -which is- why is nothing being done about Black women, girls, CHILDREN who are going missing at alarming rates? And, nothing of real change has happened despite empty promises. ?

Four years later, here I am…still. And now, here is the video which sadly, is still applicable today.

Video Link

Four years later, I post that video to see before the post continues, as she all of this is critical…, especially with evidence to support lack of … any racism or treatment, that I’m aware of.

If you are saying what I have to say is untrue, think about this….This was a first to me; they speak on this issue and it’s a recent video of the racism involved.

When was the last time you have seen on national television, especially for months let alone years, a Black missing persons case; male or female; adult or child?

To try and make this even more clear. Think about the very sad and horrific murder of Laci Peterson. It took over a year to find her body and after that Scott Peterson went on trial in 2004; still just as big of in the media and news. Hell, recently I saw an article regarding him and his legal status.

I learned about the current woman found murdered from someone I know talking about it . Suddenly, I began seeing it everywhere; and it upset me, no, upsets me. All women deserve equality but it’s clearly not given when they bring on television these cases… common sense speaks as to why.

Any missing persons case is tragic to read, it has to be, as does the murder and rape reports that conclude too many cases. Those that are found; and that sounds so heartless to word it like that, I’m choking on tears as I type, but I am wording it that way because it DOES hurt to hear, THAT is reality.

As of this writing, 64,000-75,000 Black women and girls are missing. Do you think they all are getting the same help that we see in other cases? Numbers and women, men, families also confirm, that no; that is absurd thinking.

Being even more real, you may think I’m cold, I’m not; again, I do feel sad for anyone in these situations… ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT ARE SILENCED AND UNSEEN. If that makes me cold, if hating the abuse of white privilege that exists even in missing persons cases, murders, rapes, etc… Then I’m proud to be ANYTHING other than who the people are that read this & don’t care.

It is even more outrageous that race is such a decisive factor in who it is that gets a national podium for loved ones to speak on and for citizens to try and assist in locating and helping bring these women home, one way or another.

Disagree? Please comment and show me where these cases are if these women are getting equal treatment by anyone; the media, police, the COMMUNITY, civil rights activists I am sure do speak on it but that poses another question; why haven’t people made this a national problem?

I know I’ll get a white person commenting to tell me that thousands of white women don’t get the same attention.

So, let me answer the questions I have heard over and over again when I am comparing the privileges of white people with the horrific reality of people who do not have white skin ( it seriously makes my blood race; no one should have any privileges, until we ALL DO!!😡 not to mention the STUPIDITY in skin color being a determining factor in treatment of daily life, treatment all kinds!

Even the simple equal treatment towards, help and attention to, that whites get is ignored!? These people … if that is what they are, truly cause a disgustingly sick energy of hate; they are the bane to society & equality, among much more.

These advantages should be a a basic human right, to all, not a privilege!

BUT IT IS NOT FOR ALL and denying this sick fact makes it’s existence grow. Sadly it seems most of white people not only deny this privilege to be real but abuse it. I’ll move on or I’ll never have this finished, perhaps a post for another time.

So again: white people are going to say to me:

I’m being racist or crazy to say this especially when the case is going on because white people are treated badly and losing ‘their rights’ *eyes roll* so the main comment I’m going to hear about this is:

Well, thousands of white women don’t get the same attention, either, so how can it be racist? Durrrr.

I normally reply with a “no shit,” and shake my head, then proceed to answer in the following way.

You are right, yes, that is true. Most women AS A GROUP do not get the attention like the ones that have and are right now or in the past.

There are many ways we could go with the answer as to why racism is at hand here, but to keep it simple for now….

When you look at total population of women in America, then, look at how many of these women are of the skin tone “Black” and how many women in America are white…

Statistically, this is astounding. Look at (image) the numbers for Black and “non Hispanic white”.

How can racism be denied at all in this, especially given the numbers make no sense. The number of how many missing are white, and how many missing are Black matched with each groups overall percentage in America, it’s so obvious I am not sure why it hasn’t changed…. No, I do know why. Sadly I am sure most of you do too.

Keeping those numbers for what they are, not letting people try and twist it around and say it only looks this way, but do the math and…

If white people currently were missing at the rate Black women are missing it would be national news itself. But it’s not the white people being ignored. I also don’t get the “white people must be victim” bs I get from white people on serious issues and sometimes even on NOT big issues. WTF?

But yes, most likely the vast majority if not all missing will not grant any one of them the same attention through sheer volume in the numbers of missing persons, for one.

Oh, I must add, however. IF hypothetically they did start doing this for more women… It’d be white women. And I have done too much research into American history, I have far more research that is evidence which would prove this tragic fact to be true than anyone needs. I have yet to see a shred for those who are against what I say.

Before I end this this, let me break this down in to bullet points & the latest statistics available.

1. 1) Missing, white women do not always or even close to always get the media, nation or etc attention as we have seen with just the 2 examples, those being Laci Peterson & Gabby Peti.
   
2. As it is put, “people of color” represent 45% of missing persons cases as of 2019, according to government stats.
   
3. Black women, as of 2021, represent 12.9% of women in America. Hispanic women are 18.0% of the women in America. White women are at 60% of women in America. ALL TOGETHER as of 2019 women of color represented 20.3% total, of American women.
   
4. I’d like to know how almost half of non-white missing women or girls makes up almost half, 45%, of women in America despite women of color in this country only account for 20.3% of America’s women….
   as opposed to the 60% population of women with white, “non Hispanic” skin.

Please keep your eyes and ears open; these numbers will get twisted by racists, as they twist them and try to confuse people regarding why Black and Hispanic men represent such a high prison population, despite Black men making up only 14% of the U.S. population as of 2021.

Tony Soto’s Story’s Horrible; Love & Respect To Him, Everyone Should Know What He Was Put Through

First, I wonder how many know or remember of Tony Soto, secondly, in case you don’t know, his story is one that must be told, he is well, so he has a lot more to do y is an amazing activist, locked up without any legal reason as to why on almost a $900,000.00 bail for two years. I’ve been asked to update people on his story and I have wanted to; he’s ready.

As I prepare to start being a consistent writer & YouTuber, I am also updating my YouTube page; removing older, irrelevant; especially ones I can do better.

I found these videos as I sort through YouTube getting prepared for my “return”- and Tony Soto’s story is one that should never be forgotten. Tony Soto is a man all should aspire to be like, in my opinion.

No matter what, the story of this educated Black man from Philly tells what we already know about racism & police. But Tony’s story is a bit different.

We have full evidence that Tony was harassed by the cops for the work he does, peacefully. He was harassed because his evidence lead to a cop being fired and having more knowledge than the ones who are “superior” due to their little “badge” was obviously just too much. This law abiding citizen who protested with the people, who fought for the people & who could out smart them- virtually always recorded- is the familiar tale that

The videos and blog posts are all in order… For the interested.

https://truthfultragedy.wordpress.com/2017/01/09/theyre-trying-to-silence-this-very-brilliant-black-male-from-speaking-part-1/

If you go to the above link, I believe it is the first in a series of posts I wrote regarding Tony Soto. I am also unsure of the links will work, I am going to redesign that site and remove the broken, add new stuff, and more than likely will document racism with the police brutality and American legal system, education system, etc. SO if you want that content please do feel free to follow or have an email sent to you when I have the site updated and am posting again; finally! 🙂

Thank you guys ❤

Purpose Of This Page

I have to begin this by saying this will be a page for people to reference anytime they desire, simply by clicking “purpose of this page” which is located at the top right and also in the left side panel. I am posting it as a blog because I began this page in 2018 and after too many traumatic events happened, I had to withdraw from almost all aspects of the internet, in consistency anyway.

Now I am back and confident I am ready to begin what I’ve spent so many years working on. Below is the ‘mission’ of this page… Thank all of you who have stayed and been patient as I got lost and found myself once again.

There are so many issues to address I’ve decided to make separate websites for each main topic… The purpose of  this page is to, hopefully, alert people to the urgency of mental illness and mental health in the Black community, speak on different types of trauma, including why racism is trauma and what  poor mental health does to the body physically.

It is not anyone’s fault if they are struggling with mental illness. Racism in the Black community is a cause of a lot of other severe mental health and physical health related issues, too many of them fatal.

There is a great importance in not only accepting mental health but understanding it, and the genuine risk in increasing numbers of suicides, for example… And I want to make this clear, suicide at any age is horrific, but the number of Black children between the ages of 4-12 that are taking their own lives and/or attempting to take their own lives is unprecedented.

It’s no surprise medical research doesn’t have much on this growing problem. This is something I really want to focus on and expose. This number has been increasing over the past two decades silently. Children in this age group are usually not ones to consider suicide let alone act out on it. But they are.

We need to make it a priority to learn about mental illnesses, what causes it, what is sparking these children and what sparks adults, what role does racism play when you have additional stressors such as poverty or abuse or other in ones life and most importantly; what can we do about it.

The point of these posts is to share facts and stories of what is going on right now among adults and children as young as 5 years old. It is to take the worst situations going on with mental health, that which is scarcely spoken on. I hope it will open dialogue among people, help parents, teachers and other caregivers notice signs and symptoms in children and adolescents, but also in grown men and women, too.

Mental health is just as real as any physical ailment, and in too many situations it is proving to be just as fatal. In fact, mental illnesses have physical symptoms more often than not; sadly, most of them lead to dying to early.

The risk is real and the reality of lose of loved ones by their own hand is real. This is another reason  I believe the community needs to get that village mentality as well as we need to see more Black men and women rising up as professional psychologists and psychiatrists. Even if it is just someone in the community who is willing to be open about their struggle; someone for others to go to, someone people know they won’t be judged by…

I have was verbally ‘attacked’ by a white man when I previously said we need more Black therapists. He accused me of separatism. I am not a separatist at all, but as a survivor of many forms of abuse, I do not want a male therapist. It only makes sense to hear people within the community speak of not feeling comfortable with a white therapist.

If you cannot understand this that is your problem; and so let me state it again. The reasons many in the Black community don’t feel comfortable going to a more than likely white psychologist is understandable. One of these reasons;  white people do not typically understand, especially on a personal level, what it is to be Black in America. We need more Black psychologists and psychiatrists. I will be compiling a list for people to access of Black professionals to look into and/or contact. 

Finally, because this topic is very heavy with sadness, obviously, I want to make sure to balance it out with fact and real history. This will be posted originally on another blog which I will post a link to *here* when it is up and running, and I will reblog from it from time to time.

Learning and remembering true history outside of the negative is vital, especially for children. As a warning I will share the horrors of the past and the hidden glory of the past on my other page, for both need to be known. However, I will only be posting positive stories in history here, as I said, this is a very heavy topic.

MENTAL ILLNESS IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE ASHAMED OF; IT DOES NOT MAKE A PERSON CRAZY OR STUPID. Mental health has nothing to do with intelligence, just for the record.

I truly hope this website will serve to help even one person. Coming up soon I will have many resources and information I hope to aid in this current, silent crisis.

And because it is silent, let’s work at changing that and make it off the charts until self love and self acceptance has been achieved, along with the reality of Mental Health.

Where’s The Attention For Beautiful Black 8 Yr Old Girl Killed By Police 6 Days Ago?!

[THERE IS A COMMUNITY MEETING BEING HELP SEPT 9TH, 2021, SEE THE END OF POST FOR DETAILS]

The silence surrounding the fatal police shooting of an 8 year old Black girl on the 3rd of this month reminds me of how hopeless I used to feel before social media. *Stops to inhale.* With that, I’m going to delete the rant I typed up. Let’s get this tragic information shared…That which we know of it so far.

Last Friday, on the 3rd of September in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, a beautiful little Black girl by the name of Fanta Bility, pictured above, was at a local football game with her mom and her 12 year old sister.

Apparently gun shots came out of no where, followed by the police blindly shooting back in the direction I assume they assumed the gun fire came from. In the process of this, little 8 year old Fanta Bility was shot in the chest; her sister wounded. Tragically, at the hospital beautiful Fanta Bility passed away.

Immediately the cops tried to say it was a drive by and those responsible were in custody. They had taken people into custody, but there were no charges pressed upon them. The District Attorney began investigating and very quickly after came back to report that there was a “high probability” it was indeed police bullets that killed her little girl and injured another (at least 4 were injured).

State Senator Anthony Williams and State Representative Regina Young, both residing over the districts in Philadelphia and Delaware counties, had planned a community meeting but to my understanding Hurricane Ida has caused them to rescheduled it.

As of right now, the public is invited to the school THIS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2021. Below is the information on the community meeting, I hope any and all of you in this area or who can get to the area will attend and demand answers. Here is the information on the upcoming meeting for FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, STARTING AT 6PM!

If you go, please feel free to message or email me, I would love to hear from any and everyone that attends and wants to discuss what this meeting is like.

From 6-8 p.m. Friday, the public is invited to the Academy Park High School at 300 Calcon Hook Road in Sharon Hill for a community meeting. U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5, of Swarthmore, the Southeast Delco Superintendent Dr. Brenda Wynder and members of the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, the Sharon Hill Police Department and Sharon Hill municipal leaders are expected to attend.

Disrupting the Miseducation of African American Youth

“Teach them about their marvelous history and watch what happens… Teach them and tell them, I tell them, your people have done wonderful things and that you too can do wonderful things. The moment they realize that their people have done something is the moment they realize that they can do something.”

This is a powerful, strong talk on the a tragic truth that can change the future. . . That can change and help the mental health of the children… Everyone needs to see this video. It’s amazing how obvious so much of what he says is yet, the lack of how often this happens is heart breaking.

Be part of the change. This is not “by chance” that these children can barely read, let alone want to learn… We need Black pride; we need a revolution even in the educational system…

We can all change the world, if we all try. The level of deprivation of knowledge, the lack of funding given to predominately Black communities school. This isn’t equality. It’s time to change; it’s time to make Black children proud of where they come from, just as they should be, and children of all color should be learning this as well because learning lies is brainwashing and heartbreaking.

We can all do something. What are you doing?

Mental Health: The Black Church — Mental Wealth

“So we accept and hide our emotional mental turmoil and go to church where it gets worse. We follow the rules of some self serving overbearing power hungry undercover sexual deviant. I speak flippantly and no not all of them are money hungry sexual de aunts but many are.  Church is big business these days, pastors have private jets, hareems of women, wear only designer.  The church in Jamaica has a congregation filled to the brim with designer clothes, I went to use th bath room, realized I should have taken a short plumbing course to use the facilities as the water tank was not filled up and it would not flush so I had to pour water in the toilet to flush it.  Yet the congregation look well and in their Prada, Gucci, Armani, even the tags hanging outside the clothes to demonstrate that they bought it new. “

 

Church, the Christian faith the black version of Christianity. I am talking about the clap hand dancing, singing pastor jumping church. Church was not a time to sit and listen, it is entertainment, audience participation, shouting, jumping. Followed close by with the chastisement the judgments the process of individuality No point in pretending I am […]

via Mental Health: The Black Church — Mental Wealth

Book Review: Between the World & Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of those rare books that grab you by the core of your soul, refusing to let go. So I will start our with…

Wow. Simply wow.

This book was so powerful I had to put it down at times, to let this reality sink in. This book is eloquently written in the fashion of a letter; preparing him for life as a Black man in the country his ancestors built, the slavery and racism still felt today, the history and culture denied, along with justice in the legal system. What is it like to live your life in fear?

I challenge everyone to read this book; but above all I call on anyone who is not Black to read and let the reality so foreign come over you. Walk in his shoes through his childhood and his lessons, his fears, his love and pains. But this book doesn’t stop with racism against Blacks by non-Blacks, but being also part memoir, he delves into his childhood. Gangs, fear, thick fear, trying to act fearless; looking back and seeing who was the most afraid of all. He takes us to Howard University, where he for the first time gets to experience what he calls, “Black Mecca” for all the different nationalities and cultures among the beautiful Black men and women he saw around him. Police brutality hits him personally, and the tone is felt through out all of the book. Fatherless and/or broken homes, drug dealers and those lurking with guns -be it the local gangs or the police- the death and trauma he had experienced he doesn’t want for his son. That much is clear and no good father would; so he speaks of all different memories, and the moments behind each where, despite the good and joy, the weight of “his body” was ever present.

By that same note, however, he also doesn’t want to give his son false hope or false comfort. So, like his grandparents did to him, during more recent and actually televised police brutalities and murders, he describes what it feels like to be a father that cannot make the world safe for his son, and his son, indeed will grow up in, and already lives in, a dangerous world where he has to consider things, at times life or death choices, simple choices; choices he is only being tested on due to the color of his skin… These burdens fall down upon the Black youth as well as Mr. Coates son, and though cynical with the world he wants so painfully badly to believe things will be okay; so painfully it made me cry.

At times his pain, the pain he felt for his child, the realities they both face -along with my loved ones and friends, along with countless people alive right now I don’t know and never will, they all have the same fear… And it’s not one that spreads itself equally among the people. This is a fear that has locked on, for damn well good reasons, to so many.

This heartbreaking reality of being at a ‘privilege’ was never something I didn’t both see and hate growing up; but hearing a man speak out on how it is to live the side my friends and others live, cuts me deep and the guilt I feel for having pigmentation I don’t even want is very painful. But what would be worse would be to turn away; to pretend it isn’t there. To not fight it but abuse it.

I do not believe a white person who has compassion and wants to understand can ever again deny the fact of double standards- I saw these growing up and hated it then as I do now. It hurts realizing because you have light skin you’re likely not to be shot, beat, harassed, have the cops called on you for your dog playfully runs up to a white woman (that was in the news today)- Blacks and whites have different social worries; I’m not sure what whites have to fear nor why they are in denial of white privilege; especially after reading this book. 

HIGHLY recommended!

All I can say is beyond mind blowing. Everyone needs to be required to read this.. I will write a better review later, I must go now, but please, GO GET THIS BOOK!

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