A lot has happened since last July when I wrote about walking Luke and being confronted by a woman in her car.  A woman angry because I dared not to pick up the Luke’s stool in the bushes where he had so cleverly deposited it.   I still remember how entitled and angry the woman was that I had run out of bags to clean it up. Now, I think how luck it was that I was the one walking him not my best friend.

Would the police have been called because he isn’t white?  Sounds insane right, but that is the reality of the world we are living in at the moment.  Police are called in for matters that could be solved with civility or just ignored.  So many people are calling the police when no laws have been broken and no one is endangered.

We suspect our neighbors because they have become other.  There is a real danger in labeling people in our communities as other. It allows some of us to come entrenched in the idea that change is not a constant, but a danger.

The last year of my own life has cemented my belief that change is the only constant and that we must embrace change for ourselves and our communities.  If we don’t embrace it, we allow others to make those decisions for us.  We allow them to steer our communities away from the ideals which we belief shape us towards the ones that have led to the darkest moments in our history.

It has been too long since I sat down, was honest and just wrote. The last year has been filled with so much fear and change that I don’t know how to express myself. Fear of being judged or ostracized for my opinions has led me to be silent.  Silence is the real killer.

Living in Florida has never been a dream come true.  The Sunshine State and all its sunshine laws are all misnomers. The first year I lived here, there was the election debacle and things have not improved since then.  Americans scream for justice and do little to work for it.  Floridians are much the same, although I have some friends who put us all to shame with social justice work.

If you want justice work for and that means more than just talking about it on Facebook.  Write and call your representatives and let them know what you as a voter wants.  Hey, maybe you can post it to their Facebook page, if they have one.

Support Education… Don’t just tell a teacher how grateful you are that they are around to do a job you won’t want, but read to your kids at night, make sure that they do their homework and know that getting an education is not just about going to school when they feel like it.  When you write your representatives let them know that you think teachers deserve more pay and your kids need their teachers to be awake not exhausted from working three jobs. 

If you doubt that education played a factor in this trial look at how Rachel Jeantel was ridiculed for her speech and mannerisms.  She reacted the way her life has taught her to react. She is a product of her surroundings, education and experiences and she did the best for her friend. My heart goes out to her as well as the family of Trayvon.

Get an education yourself. Read and learn the difference between facts and opinions.  Propaganda isn’t just something for history.

Justice isn’t given. It has to be demanded and knowledge helps you navigate the tangled system we have.

I cussed and pounded the steering wheel when I heard the news.  Then I made the decision not to carry my outrage to Facebook until I could do something constructive.  So time this week spent on other writing projects will be split writing letters and working for something better for the next young man confronted on the streets.

It may not be much, but it is what I know I can do.  It will be easy for some people to call for us to let things be and let the jury’s verdict stand, but it isn’t the verdict we are protesting. It is the host of other issues that this case brought to the surface.  Those issues need to be address and worked on.

As a woman of mixed descent I can tell you that racism is still very much real. There are times when I feel like a spy since racists and bigots feel free to talk in front of me.  They take my pale skin as a sign that I am comfortable with privileges given to me because of it and agree with it. And yes, I do acknowledge that White Privilege exists and I have benefited from it. This isn’t to say that I haven’t worked hard, because I have and will continue to do so, but I cannot ignore that society attaches benefits to those with lighter skin.  There is nothing I can do about it beyond working for justice for everyone.  Less than a month ago, a woman I work with told me that she “hates black people.” Her words stung and I didn’t react other than to stare.   Would she hate me, too? Six years ago, a close friend of mine walked out of my life because he found out about my heritage.

It still exists and really has only become more cunning.  Justice is always pictured blind for a reason, but she is not deaf.  Criminal Defense Lawyers have very smooth tongues and sometimes she is wooed by pretty words.   We also have to remember that the Justice is only as good as the laws which bind her. If the law is injustice than we bind her hands as well as her eyes.