“Is love enough? Is it enough that I love them more than life? I’ve so desperately wanted the answer to be yes. As much as I can tell them it’s going to be okay, it’s not the same.”
‘I asked, ‘Do you trust me to raise our children?’ Loving them isn’t enough. It’s not the same as their dad’s understanding.’: Mom discusses challenges with mixed family, ‘I am their ally’
‘My little girl asked, ‘Daddy, what’s a wawwy?’ ‘A rally?’ She nodded. I knew I wouldn’t be that kind of father.’: Gay dad of 3 multi-racial children teaches ‘our differences make us beautiful’
“Growing up in south Mississippi, I was able to easily see how my own father was the most racist and hateful person I had ever met. As I got older, he would call me sissy, mama’s boy, and queer. That was bad enough, but the things I can recall him saying towards black Americans were just as bad, if not worse.”
‘Black women are resilient because we have to be, not because we are stronger than you.’: Woman urges ‘our pain is real, physical and emotional’
“The Strong Black woman stereotype implies we are strong, which should be a good thing, but it often isn’t so.”
‘They see only your Black friend. They may take matters into their own hands. I’m trusting you.’: Mom to black son pens open letter to white friends
“He is still the kind-hearted boy who ate at their kitchen table, sat next to them at church, and came to your Spiderman birthday party. Don’t ignore it just because you can. In the wrong hands, his consequences could be far worse than yours.”
‘I want brown people to think I’m nice so they like me, and white people to think I’m nice so they don’t kill me.’: Photographer captures how young black boys see themselves vs. how society sees them
“I would like others to know I’m not a threat to society.”
‘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.”
‘My oldest son has said, ‘The school officer treats the black kids meaner. It gives me anxiety.’ I’d never tell you that at the ripe age of 14, my son ‘fits the description.’: Mom says ‘my mama heart breaks for reasons you’ll never fully grasp’
“I don’t tell you that even though we are careful not to watch these awful videos of unarmed people getting shot, your children are showing them at school. That my son has said the words ‘I can’t breathe’ when seeing a police car. I need you to love them like you love your own sons, because my mama heart cannot handle another man being shot that looks like my brothers, cousins, uncles, and sons.”
‘I ignored my trembling. ‘It’s rare and mainly ends in heart failure.’ I lost count of ‘friends’ who vanished.’: Woman with Friedreich’s Ataxia graduates law school despite prejudice, ‘I’m no longer ashamed’
“When I was a teenager, I noticed balance issues that worsened over time and left me confused. I knew it was more than clumsiness. I wasn’t able to walk in a straight line, wear high heels, or dance without falling. I was told, ‘There is no treatment in sight.’ I isolated myself, ashamed of what was happening. I started to give up hope. It took FIVE years to get answers.”
‘During our photo shoot, a man screamed, ‘Dirty terrorists! Leave my country!’ He was an older gentleman, and looked absolutely disheveled, pointing at us. We were caught off guard.’
“He pulled out his privates while giving us the middle finger. We were shocked, mortified, and disgusted by what we had seen. But we are professionals at what we do. We continued on with our shoot. The man started approaching closer and closer.”
‘I was fat shamed by a complete stranger on a plane.’
“As I looked back to confirm he moved, 4 rows back, I overheard him tell his new neighbor in row 15, ‘That girl up there is so huge, I…’”
