I’m not the early bird I once used to be, so I have alarms set just to wake me out of my REM sleep before the “real” alarm goes off. Yesterday morning, I turned off my first alarm then turned on the news as usual. But, before I could roll over and close my eyes again, I heard the breaking news of another mass shooting. Of course, I sat straight up in disbelief to see the footage of the deadliest massacre in our “great” country’s history.
Growing up, I didn’t have to worry about all the things that plague this country, hell, that plague this world. Maybe I was wearing blinders of innocence and naivetés, but I know it was never this bad. Continued senseless violence causing children to grow up without fathers, terrorism, police brutality on the Black community, this joke of a president, mass shootings, racism and the fact that so many people believe White supremacy doesn’t exist…I can go and on. There is so much hatred in the world that makes me so fearful of what I’m leaving behind for my children. It makes me sick to my stomach to know that I have to raise my children in this cruel world.
Recently, I created a vision board and in black and white, right in the middle, it says “Have a Fucking Opinion.” I made it my screensaver as a reminder to myself of how I want to live my life and the reason I started this blog. I usually don’t speak on the craziness of this world on my social media page. At first, I told myself I wouldn’t address the current issues that affect us because I didn’t want to offend anyone. As a human resources professional, I always feel the need to be unbiased and neutral even on my social media pages. It’s also very important for me to know the facts before I post, repost, share, or like anything. But, because I’ve been so quiet, I had to ask myself, “Do I have an opinion?” I had to ask myself this question because what would I be teaching my children as woman and mother if I had nothing say. I’m teaching my sons and daughter to stand for something or fall for anything.
On the other hand, there are so many people with an opinion about everything. They have so much to say. They hide behind computer screens and cellphones trolling the internet just to pick a fight. Then, you have this heartless gunman that took so many lives yesterday before cowardly taking his own. I’m so angry that demons like him can take it upon himself to decide if someone lives or dies. What if that was me or my husband at the festival? What would happen to my children? What if that was you? I don’t want my children to live in fear, but I worry for them everyday. As Americans, we rally together in these horrific situations, but we are also conditioned to allow “isolated” incidents stop us from living our lives, but this is just heartbreaking. Whether it’s a foreigner or someone born and bred on our own soil holding the gun, the body count just keeps rising, and it begs to me question, What will our children have to look forward to? Will we even get to see them grow up?
So let’s talk. Where do we go from here? As sad, afraid, and frustrated as we all are, as a country, we are still so numb to what’s happening. Although we never forget, we move right along on until the next horrific event occurs. Will we ever be able to prevent these massacres from happening? How do we protect the innocence of our children but still teach them about the hatred that exists in the world?
I’m praying for Vegas and all of the families affected by the mass shooting. I’m also praying for the future of our children.
💜 Tiarra
tiarratalks.com 