At any given moment, anything and everything can be taken away. I feel my kids acknowledge this and even though they can get carried away with asking for more than they need, they know that there is someone out there who needs more than they do.
In a country of such abundance, the most powerful influence I have upon my children is to teach them to be humble and to appreciate everything that they have.
I also want my children to be aware of their civil liberties. There are racial issues that have undeniably increased with the new administration, and my children need to be knowledgable of their rights. During this emotional time of police brutality and considering the fact that some do not have compassion toward those who have lost their lives at the hands of men and women who are supposed to protect us all, I need my kids to know that they have protections.
My children are constantly told and shown that they have the resources to be all they can be in this country, but need to be as assured that the law does and is promised to, in fact, protect them, too.
The American flag to me, is a symbol of this country’s freedom and independence. We cannot have that without the needed security guided by policy to be free and act independently. Lately, the flag is being used as a form of protest to bring awareness to injustice; and as a way to create divisiveness, proclaiming one group as more patriotic and the other as unAmerican. If I were to use it, it would be to represent my father who fought for this country, a United States Air Force veteran, now resting in peace. The flag should unify us under our shared American ideals, one of which being the freedom of speech; and to pay respect to servicemen.
Not to fight amongst each other, using it to prove patriotism over another, nor to protest superior degrees of national pride.
I feel frustrated and disappointed with certain messaging that is coming from our current administration that is not representative of my family and I.
You Raise. We Rise.
Interviewed on 1.21.18
What do you think?