Dear Ellie: 

I usually don’t write you about the same topic back to back but I really want to make sure I don’t slack in talking to you about what your heritage means especially in the country you are being raised in. I also want to make sure that I document for you just how certain events make me feel so that when your time comes to learn about it you get the fullest effect possible. You are a beautiful brown baby girl which means you will grow up to be a gorgeous black woman with a host of other great qualities like intelligence, compassion, and strength. Yes definitely strength my baby. I’ve never met a weak black woman in my life; though I have met many who didn’t know how strong they were just yet. The type of strength you will grow to posses is the kind you only get after you work through the fear you experience after your Father is called a nigger by a white man in your presence and you know the only thing stopping him from lashing out is the strength of being a good Father. Its the kind of strength you get when you learn to hold your head high when you walk into a room full of people who don’t look like you and who are staring at you in amazement as if you arrived through some kind of magic trick simply because that’s what Mommy raised you to do. These are the types of experiences that brought me strength and yes my baby you will definitely be strong too. I just hope you remember to use your strength in a positive way because your strength isn’t just meant to benefit you my baby. You see black women in America are apart of this dynamic duo with black men and when we put our strength together and support each other the world can change. You were born to be the Coretta, Betty, Myrlie, Camille, or Ruby to someone’s Martin, Malcolm, Medgar, Bill, or Osie. And I don’t mean that to say you were born to marry a black man, love comes in all forms. But regardless of your spouse never stop supporting your black brothers blood or otherwise. Those women I named and countless others supported and fought along side their counterparts. You can do the same. Another young black man named Ezell was gunned down by law enforcement early this morning on the other side of the country but it hurt my heart like it was at my front door step just like it does anytime I hear of a young black man dying far to young in an unnecessary manner. I’m not psychic so I don’t know how your generation will encourage change but I pray that you find a way, or make one, that works. Its common practice for my generation to take to social media to express social outrage and while some people consider it to be passive I’m not mad about it one bit. Everyone is not a gun toting Black Panther militant anymore than those who are can be the type to sit idly by. But my baby everyone can do something. The power of a determined collective group focused on changed is beyond measure. But don’t wait for something terrible to happen to uplift your counterpart, they need it every day. And honestly if you need a tragedy for inspiration they unfortunately happen every day. To be a black man in America far to often means waking up to the reality that today I may be doubted, mistreated, discriminated against, put down and it has absolutely nothing to do with who I am or how I perform as an individual. I don’t say this to create a sense of pity in you because pressure overtime creates diamonds and over the centuries in this country have turned that experience into a source of strength and sheer will power. In essence I say it because if you’re going to be judged as a group why not encourage those you are grouped with to be great and support them in your collective fight. Be strong my baby & share your strength after all what are superheroes for if they don’t help save the day. 

Love You Always, 

Mommy

P.S. To any little girl reading this…black, white, or any other color…respect the struggle of the person next to you. If this is not your reality that does not give you the right to say it isn’t someone else’s. It is my sincere wish that every little girl reading this grows up with all the privileges she is deserving of and it is the honest truth to say that each will not. However, what NO ONE can keep from you is the ability to believe in a cause or a person. Fight for what you believe in however you see fit duo or not you are dynamic!