The NBA Models for Parents Everywhere

The last time I read CBS sports was, well, never. 

But OMG, the number of proud mamas out there right now?  How many NBA and WNBA , MLB and more players are there?  That's how many proud mamas there are.

My heart bursts for the brave young men who are doing the right thing, joining together and setting boundaries in a way that every parent everywhere should pause and take note of. They said "No. That is unacceptable behavior." and a whole lotta white folks are suddenly paying attention in a different way. They are being true to themselves, taking responsibility for their own well being and the well being of their friends and family.  That is how one builds trust. 

Colin Kapernick took a knee four years ago!!!! Four years since he respectfully took a stand by taking a knee and was shamed and blamed and beyond!!   

Here is hope. Change takes time, but change does happen.  Apparently it takes a lot of time because a lot of black people have been shot in the back in the past four years. Enough is enough.  Thank you NBA., WNBA, Soccer League and all thee others who have a voice which when raises, rises up. 

Race in America.  It's a thing.  I have cried too many tears in the past four years.  I believe that we need a dramatic change in this country and that it needs to include reparations.  If we can pay reparations to the Japanese who we interned during WWII and to 

When I read this, I cried again.  No parent, no parent ever, should be afraid that their children will be hunted.  Yes.  Hunted.

"Troy Vincent, the N.F.L.’s head of football operations and the highest ranking Black person at the league office, spoke tearfully on ESPN Radio about his fears for his three sons and his support for the athletes who sat out games.

'I’ve got a 22-year-old and a 20-year-old and a 15-year-old that I’m trying to prevent from being hunted, and their teachable moment and I’m trusting my Lord, trusting him,” Vincent said. “I’m just — I’m proud of what the guys and the women are doing.”

Us too. Proud. And THANKFUL. 

I birthed two white children identified at birth as male, and I did my very best to raise them anti-racist.  One of them graduated this year, and wrote a paper, way back in Dec 2019 titled Liberated Children, Liberated Futures: Towards Critical and Anti-Oppressive Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education, volunteers weekly at a tenant rights organization, Casa Justa,  started doing volunteer work for the a white anti-racist organization, SF Catalyst, when he was 19, and is committed to changing the world.  This is not always an easy way to choose to live a life, and I support them as best I can, and sometimes given the state of things that is not easy.  The other is not as involved at a political level, but they do live with their girlfriend and best friend, both of whom are POC and they have participated in the past few months.  I could not be a prouder mother if I tried. 

As a small business person in a pandemic I could feel despairing right now. I choose hope. Thank you to all those brave souls who speak out against injustice, from LeBron James to my kids, from all the people across the US who keep showing up and are not stopping to all of the athletes. Thanks to all those who speak out and are kind and caring.