“I live in white suburbia. There will come a day when I have to explain to my kids why they are being treated differently than their friends or even each other. When they grow up and ask me what I did to effect change, I hope they’ll be proud of my response.”
‘They don’t look like they’re brothers. My boys have the same mom and dad. They are not the same.’: Mom urges us to take action against racism, ‘Show your kids there’s beauty in their differences’
‘I tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Jay, wake up. Can you turn on the light? I have something to say.’ A single tear ran down his cheek.’: Young mom urges ‘this is the greatest job I’ve ever had’
“I chalked it up to eating spicy Cajun food. 5 a.m. the following morning, I jerked myself awake with the sudden urge to throw up. I immediately called my mom, sobbing. ‘What’s wrong?!’ Without hesitation, my sweet angel of a mother got in her car and drove 2 hours to see me. My boyfriend was sleeping so peacefully, not knowing what was about to hit him.”
‘You used to wear makeup. Now you’re wearing spit up. Laundry day is now laundry life. That first baby will have you questioning your sanity.’: Woman pens letter to new mommas, ‘You’re going to be just fine’
“You’re wandering around delirious, hoping someday you’ll sleep a full night again. You’re digging for pacifiers in the most unthinkable spaces. Sweet girl, the beginning is a doozy.”
‘I said to my husband, ‘I think something is wrong with the baby.’ There was fluid in the back of his neck. ‘We need to admit you. Today.’: Mom says ‘Down syndrome is the best thing to ever happen to our family’
“‘It could be something, it could be nothing.’ My blood pressure spiked dangerously high. The doctor said, ‘We need to admit you. Today.’ I was hooked to an IV in a massive, darkened birthing room in the middle of the night. When it came time for his arrival, there were 20 people in the room. All I remember saying was, ‘Oh, he’s so cute,’ and then he was gone.”
‘I saw panic in her eyes. ‘I can’t find your cervix.’ I thought it was just a UTI. ‘You’re not allowed to leave.’ I waited 4.5 hours while medical staff conversed about me.’: Couple pregnant with twins after 7 miscarriages, incarcerated uterus
“Within 24 hours, I was being prepped for emergency surgery. My uterus was growing up and outwards and had completely cut off my uretha and bladder. ‘This is life-threatening to you and your twins.’ We were told to brace ourselves for the loss of both babies. I woke up to a large incision from my breast to my pelvis.”
‘She was uninvited because she is ‘not pretty enough, skinny enough.’ At 9 years old, her heart has already been broken by unkindness.’: Mom urges ‘love yourself the way you want her to love herself’
“At 9, they’ve already commented on her body, her face, her clothes, her family. Those words don’t hurt me because I know they’re not true. I know she’s enough. What kills me is how she believes the naysayers of the world instead of her mama, the person who knows her best.”
‘When are you going to have kids?’ I cringe any time I hear that question.’: Woman urges ‘PLEASE think before asking’ after 2-year battle with infertility
“When people asked me that when I was first married, I thought nothing of it. I would respond, ‘Oh we are just going to enjoy married life for a while, maybe in a couple of years.’ They don’t realize the heartache. The feelings and sense of failure behind that question.”
‘She got personal. ‘Grow up! The world doesn’t revolve around you.’ That comment sparked something in me again.’: Woman advocates for social media kindness ‘I realized I’m not alone in these feelings’
“I could stop myself from reading there it was, staring back at me with sharp daggers…a mean comment. The super ‘controversial’ title of the piece they were commenting on? ‘A woman in Walmart made me cry.’ It weighed me down like heavy rocks.”
‘I tried to break up with him. 2 days later, he was curled up with my daughter watching Disney movies. He wanted to destroy me.’: Woman says ‘I’m taking my power back’ after dating narcissist
“I would tell him I was in for the night, he would call and insist I meet him out somewhere. I would say no more drinks, he would order me another one. Every bartender in town knew to pour half my drink out when he wasn’t looking. I was scared to tell him no.”
‘My son was gone a little too long on his bike, and I worried about his life. My husband walked out to protect and serve during riots, and I worried about his too.’: Police wife, mom to bi-racial family urges ‘advocate for them both’
“Two of the humans who I love more than they could ever fathom, I have to worry about them dying for no reason other than the color of their skin or the badge on their shirt. My heart is in pieces.”
‘This morning I got some horrible news: ‘Models who aren’t a size 0 are called plus size.’ My body isn’t risky or brave, it’s normal.’: Woman learns lesson on body positivity, ‘I realized it’ll take more than 30 days to do’
“Even skin conditions you have no control over will have people asking you questions about your ability to ‘keep yourself.’ I said I would make it my mission to spend 30 days working on body acceptance. When the 30 days were up, I got some horrible news. I realized, it’ll take more than 30 days to do.”
‘Foolishly we thought, ‘Maybe if we ignore it, it might go away.’ There was an eerie feeling.’: Mom celebrates daughter’s extra chromosome, ‘She’s our little world changer’
“I never had the chance to ask myself, ‘Why me?’ I knew EXACTLY why me from the moment I hung up the phone that day. I feel like I have been preparing for this my entire life.”
‘I didn’t get to say goodbye. We had 127 days together, but they just weren’t enough.’: Teacher encourages students, ‘I am still your teacher, always here to support you’
“I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know when our lives will get back to normal. I don’t know what our next school year will look like and when I will get to see you again. But what I do know is you are worth facing any challenge.”
‘Because of autism, my daughter doesn’t know her beautiful brown skin is a threat in this world.’: Mom to daughter with autism says ‘I must worry about protecting her’
“Because of autism, I don’t have to explain the growing list of hashtags. Because of autism, I must worry about protecting my nonverbal child from authorities who don’t understand she will not comprehend or obey verbal orders.”
‘The doctor came into the waiting room. ‘Something has gone terribly wrong.’ His temperature skyrocketed.’: Mom recounts son’s experience with Malignant Hyperthermia, ‘It was a day I will NEVER forget’
“He would be so confused as to why he was restrained and had a tube down his throat. I stood bedside, looking at my strong boy who was now lifeless. My world came crashing down. I reflected on how I was going to help my strong dude recover.”
‘I wish it was as simple as LOVE ONE ANOTHER. It is time to say enough is enough.’: Mom to bi-racial family urges for ‘peace and protection for all’
“When she was put into my arms almost 23 years ago, the only thing I saw was a beautiful baby with huge eyes and the longest eyelashes I’d ever seen. In these times of sadness and heartbreak, I am reminded my daughter’s skin isn’t just a beautiful color of brown, but the reason she may not be as safe as I am.”
‘I was threatened, ‘Go back to your country.’ You would offer to sit on these bullies. You taught me to be proud.’: Woman shares beautiful memorial after mother’s passing
“As a child, you always told me, ‘While I gave birth to your three brothers, it was you I picked.’ You loved me just as much as the three sons you birthed from your own body.”
‘I couldn’t explain to my boyfriend why he HAD to keep the light off, why I couldn’t come out of the bathroom.’: Woman embraces acne after hiding it for 10 years, ‘This is the REAL me’
“I waited nervously for the audible gasps. ‘Have you tried washing your face?’ I was the class guinea pig. I always assumed people were laughing at me.’’
‘What’s up little man?’ I rolled down my window. I’ll never forget his big smile. ‘Can I take a picture with you?’: Police officer and little boy share touching moment
“He knocked on my patrol car window. I responded, ‘With ME?’ He again said, ‘Can I take a picture with you?’ His mother shed a tear as she held the camera. He is too young to see hate or racism, too young to see that Police can be bad and dishonor their badge.”
‘I received an email from my apartment manager. ‘We’re revoking your right to live here due to your criminal record.’ I pleaded, ‘You have the wrong person!’: Hispanic man from Colorado says ‘this is my America, walk with me’
“I frantically called. ‘What are you talking about?!’ The receptionist said, ‘According to the background check, you’ve committed several felonies in the state of Texas.’ I’d lived in Colorado for 40 years. The more agitated and defensive I got, the more guilty I sounded. You see, I fit the description.”
‘I could not do what you do. I’d get too attached.’ That’s the point. Their need for love and protection is far greater than my need to be protected.’: Foster dad urges ‘if you have the ability, you have the responsibility’
“I grew up in a dysfunctional home of drug addiction and verbal abuse. My parents got a divorce when I was 7 because my father had been having several affairs. When my wife approached me with the desire to foster, I felt unprepared. I’d experienced so much trauma in childhood, I only had examples of what not to do as a father. God had others plans.”
‘I always said, ‘He had sex with me while I was passed out.’ That is what I told myself it was.’: Rape survivor says ‘everyday I choose love and forgiveness’
“Like 19-year-old me. The girl who wore diamonds in her hair to the party that night. The night. The night it happened. He was my friend I took to the party. He knew I was falling for his friend.”
‘Some may ask why this bothers me, why it affects me because I’m not black.’: Biracial couple call for open conversation, ‘Rather than raising your guns, help us raise our voices’
“I half expect people to say I’m being too sensitive, or paranoid. Only to be met with, ‘If you want me to say your name correctly, you should have a more American name.’ WE fear for our children as they get older, and I fear for him always.”
‘Chemical imbalances didn’t cease to exist because COVID-19 stole the spotlight.’: Woman battling anxiety disorder reminds us ‘help is out there’
“In fact, quarantine has stripped us of most of the support systems and coping mechanisms we’ve always used to manage our anxiety in the past. And it’s placed us exactly where a person who struggles with anxiety least wants to be – alone with their thoughts.”
How To Talk To Your Kids About Racism: A Guide
“Starting the conversation will be the most difficult part of this entire thing. But once you do, it gets easier.”