Farsighted Fly Girl

Some people think of this time as a major inconvenience. The protests, the petitions, the painful hashtags.  I see the averted eyes when marches stream through neighborhoods filled with comfort and gentrification. I notice the glazed expressions when accounts of microaggressions and blatant racism are detailed. I recognize the lip service for humane treatment, fair opportunities and cultural awareness. But I have not seen any real action. There have been lots of posting, friending and sharing of outrage on social media. I am sure it helps some people feel better. But I don't feel better. This is not a passing phase for Black people. We are fighting for our lives. Lives that have never been valued in this country and still aren't. It appears that a lot of people are just waiting for all of this to magically go away. It is not going away, we are just getting started. So if you're waiting for things to go back to the way they were, you are in for major disappointments. We...

I have been haunted for months. Everywhere I turn, there is a reminder of this country's deeply embedded racism, injustice and violence. It follows me like a wispy shadow that you can't quite see but you know is there. I have barely been able to write because I have felt emotionally blocked. The pain I feel witnessing the violence, injustice and media manipulations concerning the Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice cases has been unbearable. When the news first broke I spent days crying and feeling paralyzed. It's not like it hasn't happened before. It's not like I don't know that I live in a country where racism is embedded within its very foundation. It's that I unconsciously expected the American justice system to suddenly become just with the world watching. Well, it didn't and these issues are not going away. I don't believe it's a coincidence that just as Chicago and the rest of the country erupted in protests...

I debated about writing this post. The topic has been covered many times by my travel blogging peeps, most eloquently by Fly Brother  and Lola at Geotraveler's Niche .It's an issue that always comes with being a person of color in a society filled with stereotypes and narrow expectations. But two days ago, I was moved to speak out about this reality because I was stopped and searched by TSA along with my daughter. Were we smuggling explosives in our socks or trying to sneak bottles of  mercury? Hardly. We were apparently guilty of something much more sinister. We dared to walk through airport security with long hair. Now I must explain that we are of African descent so our long hair is very curly and sectioned into pieces often called dreadlocks but we prefer to just call them locs. I'm well aware of the negative connotations associated with wearing your hair this way. Lots of ill-informed people think that wearing locs is a sign that you ar...