Those Beautiful Eyes Have Seen... Some Bullshit!
These beautiful eyes have now been tainted; traumatized with the visual of seeing her 15-year-old classmates (black boys, of course) be chased, tackled to the ground, handcuffed and hauled away by the Arlington County, Virginia police. My beautiful baby AKA #TheSydSyd, has received her official welcome into what it means to be an African American human being, living in the United States of Amerika.
Just a few hours before, I was excited to watch her busily select change 10x just the perfect outfit, coordinate with her friends on ETA and anticipate the memories that would be made during this official rite of passage, the Arlington County Fair, the last hoo-rah, before heading back to school. What should have been a beautiful, summer memory turned into a fucking nightmare!
#TheSydSyd called me not too long after I dropped her to explain the horror that was unfolding in front of her. No one really knows why her classmate was kidnapped arrested and taken by the police, in front of all of his friends. Another classmate was chastised, after being accused of creating fake tickets to the rides. When his mother and 8-year old sister came to his defense, the police called her a “stupid bitch”, in FRONT OF EVERYONE! #TheSydSyd recalls the quivering lips of the little sister as she watched her big brother and mother being attacked by people sworn to protect and serve her.
A quick follow-up call confirmed the worst and I hauled-ass, doing 90 MPH thru the quiet, dark, side-streets to get my child, for fear that anything could happen because - hell, Virginia, #45, Amerika, normal life!
Before she could even get all the way in the car she started to weave this tale of disrespect by the police, that frankly could have come from any decade. She was angry, scared, traumatized after having seen her friends being mistreated by the gang members dressed in blue.
Obvi, I didn’t drop her off for that shit but to hang with her friends, ride the rides, look at the cute boys, eat crap and create memories. This was supposed to be fun, a safe space! I began taking her to The Arlington County Fair since she was in a stroller. This particular year, I was downgraded to Uber status, only allowed to drop off/pick-up.
I knew she wouldn’t escape this but was hoping her indoctrination into this bullshit would be pushed out a little further. I mean hell she was only 9-years old and when she watched my mom and me being racially profiled, accused of assault and burglary, then kidnapped - handcuffed, without being read our Miranda Rights and hauled straight to jail, right in good ole’ Middletown, NJ, without question. That little baby wasn’t even allowed to ride with us, being brought to the station where my mom and I had been finger-printed and had our mugshots taken, freaking 45-minutes later, in tears. I was hoping the sting and stress of the events of that day would have subsided and she wouldn’t have the trauma living inside of her body + coiled around the DNA, like most African Americans in the US do.
Yoooooo! See the notice below, I can’t make this shit up!
I got her home, listened to her, encouraged her to breathe and rest. By 2:30 a.m., I heard some movement and went to check on her, only to find her wide-awake, all of the lights on, staring into space, blinking like an owl. I called her name 2x before she even answered. She said she couldn’t get those images out of her mind. Repeating that she couldn’t believe it actually unfolded as it did. She noted that all of the kids were crying, trying to understand why and how this could have happened to them at THEIR fair. They were keenly aware that the fools in blue were only targeting kids that looked like them and that the white kids were just chillen, eating cotton candy, fries, and hot dogs, squealing at the top of their lungs on the rides...not a care in the world.
Honestly, I don’t know what to tell her as the things I think, cause folks who look like us to go to jail or worse. So, for now, I’m gonna breaaaaathe, hug, kiss, encourage, and remind her she is the worthy, beautiful, smart, safe Goddess that she was born to be. I want to make sure she is able to process, and get that trauma of the day UP and OUT of her body, her cells, memory, ears, eyes, and heart. I refuse to allow it to sit and fester, causing disease, inflammation and stress on her long-term. Any suggestions to help us process this are appreciated.
