Dear Jordyn,
I sit here writing this with a heavy heart because in the past 48 hours I have watched 2 black men murdered in cold blood. I watched as our community cried in outrage, again...because this isn't the first time tragedies like this have happened and sadly it won't be the last.
In the past 48 hours i've felt the piercing pain and sadness of every mother or wife of young black children and strong black men. Their cries have pierced my soul so deeply i'm not sure i'll ever recover. Their tears have permanently stained my skin. I carry their hurt in my heart. I wear their pain on my sleeve.
Sweet girl, you're too young to understand and too innocent to have the weight of this hurt put on you. So for now I shield you from it. I smile and I shield you from it. I hold you and I shield you from it. I do my part in protecting your innocent view of the world. I do my part to make sure you stay believing in all the good and magic that this world has to offer.
I refuse to let you see the world as this cruel, nasty, hateful place....because you are too young, too innocent, too precious.
The ugly truth is, there will be at time when you aren't too young. A time when you will be shown the worlds true colors and stand face to face with prejudice.
You'll stand face to face with people will judge you, not based on reason or actual experience with you, but because of the color of your skin. You'll face people who will discriminate against you because of the kink and curl of your hair, because of the richness of your melanin. You'll come across people who will view you as less than because you are both black and a woman. You'll stand face to face with people who are determined to snuff out that fire within you, who will be relentless in trying to dim your light. People that will try to convince you that your life doesn't matter.
But you won't let them.
You won't let them because I have worked tirelessly to build you up and arm you with layers of self confidence and self love so thick that the evils of the world will have a hell of a time trying to break through. You won't let them because I have raised you to always stand your ground. We know you're going to fall.....you'll probably fall a lot but you won't stay down. You won't stay down because I raised you to always get back up. You'll go through things....as everyone does. You'll get hurt...as everyone does. And, you'll succumb to your emotions...as everyone does and you'll fall into dark places. But, you won't stay there because I have raised you to allow yourself to be in your emotions, to feel all the feelings, to see the beauty in the struggle and the magic in the pain, but also to know your limits and always pull yourself out of those dark places.....because sweet girl, nothing good comes from staying in dark places.
I promise you that I will put my heart and soul into raising you into a young woman who knows that her life matters. A young woman who will be confident in knowing that she can accomplish every single thing she sets her mind to. A strong, proud young woman of color who will laugh in the face of anyone who tells her she's " pretty for a black girl." I promise to continue to work on myself so that I can always be a shining example of what a strong woman should be and continue to expose you to women like Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Mae Jemison, strong black women who came before you, so that you will always stay inspired.
But for now, it starts with raising you to believe in yourself.
Everything starts with believing in yourself. It ends with believing in yourself. Believing that while having others believe in you is great, you don't need validation from anyone....not even me. Believing that despite the " angry black girl" narrative, your voice matters and it's ok to have opinions, ok to voice them, and ok to never back down when you feel passionately about something. Believing that it's ok to admire someone else's beauty without questioning your own, and for that matter, believing that smart is beautiful so never downplay those smarts for anyone.
It starts with raising you to believe that your life matters. Believing that because you are both black and a woman, you are one of the worlds most precious assets, an unshakeable force of nature.
It starts with raising you to believe that you can do hard things, that you are worth it, that your life matters.....because it does.
Baby girl; never forget...never doubt...never question....Your life matters.
Xo, mommy.
I promise you that I will put my heart and soul into raising you into a young woman who knows that her life matters. A young woman who will be confident in knowing that she can accomplish every single thing she sets her mind to. A strong, proud young woman of color who will laugh in the face of anyone who tells her she's " pretty for a black girl." I promise to continue to work on myself so that I can always be a shining example of what a strong woman should be and continue to expose you to women like Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Mae Jemison, strong black women who came before you, so that you will always stay inspired.
But for now, it starts with raising you to believe in yourself.
Everything starts with believing in yourself. It ends with believing in yourself. Believing that while having others believe in you is great, you don't need validation from anyone....not even me. Believing that despite the " angry black girl" narrative, your voice matters and it's ok to have opinions, ok to voice them, and ok to never back down when you feel passionately about something. Believing that it's ok to admire someone else's beauty without questioning your own, and for that matter, believing that smart is beautiful so never downplay those smarts for anyone.
It starts with raising you to believe that your life matters. Believing that because you are both black and a woman, you are one of the worlds most precious assets, an unshakeable force of nature.
It starts with raising you to believe that you can do hard things, that you are worth it, that your life matters.....because it does.
Baby girl; never forget...never doubt...never question....Your life matters.
Xo, mommy.