Ms. Toya Graham is receiving her days of fame amidst tha riots in Baltimore City. Many news reporters and media sources are referring to her as “Supermom” but, is she? As a Parent I completely understand Graham’s concern about her 16 year old son being among rioters who are in tha streets of Baltimore protesting tha death of #FreddieGray who died in police custody on April 19th. Baltimore has been plagued with crime for many years now and is often referred to as ‘Bodymore, Murder-land” ranking number 7 of the top 10 most dangerous places to live… Toya Graham made her way to CBS on Wednesday where she stated, “My intention was just to get my son and have him be safe”. Toya admits to “losing it” when she saw her son among rioters. In tha video, which has gone viral and made its way to local news stations, Graham can be seen slapping her son in tha face as well as on tha head. As tha 16 year old walks off without saying a word, Graham begins to run behind him yelling obscenities and proceeding to slap him just a bit more. No doubt, she “lost it”! My question is: When is it acceptable for our youth to “lose it” in order defend themselves against social justices? I’ve heard many African Americans referring to tha youth who are rioting as ‘YG rioter’ yet when asked what they’ve done within tha African American community to assist in rearing these youth, you can hear crickets. We sat idle after tha murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida hoping that tha judicial system would do what we deem right. We saw riots erupt after tha Mike Brown verdict in St. Louis just months ago and here we are yet again watching, commenting and whining about tha aftermath of tha #FreddieGray murder. It’s obvious tha younger generation is in a state of unrest. Not only are they restless, they no longer trust us as adults and current leaders of today to do what is right, what is just. We can’t continue to toss their voices and day-to-day reality aside under tha false pretenses that we have “paved tha way” for them to have a better lyfe. What exactly have we paved to? Tha opportunity to hold hands with little white children? Tha opportunity to sit in classrooms and read from textbooks that constantly show their ancestors as worthless beings that were sold into slavery? Tha opportunity to find a job, pay taxes before they see their wages and hopefully live to retire? Tha opportunity to accept tha rewards that white supremacy is offering in exchange for good behavior? What have we led them to that’s worth living for, that’s worth allowing their broken down neighborhoods to stand yet another day? I can’t understand why so many adults feel these youth have nothing to be angry or upset about. I can’t understand why we don’t see tha warrior spirit of our ancestors such as Nat Turner, Malcom X and Marcus Garvey within them. Our youth have tha heart we lack; our hearts have been tainted by tha luxuries of lyfe, tha comforts that those before us were unable to enjoy, tha luxuries that keep us in a state of compliance and submission. Our youth, on tha other hand, are more familiar with tha luxuries and comforts of lyfe so they thrive for something more soul felt: Justice and Equality.Where do we go from here? How do we move forward when our youth are rebelling and we as parents are beating them down in Tha Street for their oppressors to see? How do we begin to redirect tha anger and frustration of our youth into projects similar to tha Black Power Movement, tha Stop tha Violence Movement or Tha Harlem Renaissance? Why are we, as black people, more obsessed with lyfe than we are with equality? It is as if we would rather live decades in oppression than fight for our birthrights. I recall reading a statement in tha #WillieLynch letter that states, “If you break tha female mother, she will break tha offspring in its early years of development and when tha offspring is old enough to work, she will deliver it up to you”. That very statement explains why Ms. Graham, who in her own fears and frustration unleashed a thrashing on her son, is being applauded by media outlets throughout tha country…. I can assure you that “losing it” on your offspring will not prevent them from being Freddie Gray, Mike Brown or Trayvon Martin, however, it will limit their capacity to be a #FredHampton, #DesmondTutu, #BobbySeale, #StokelyCarmicheal ......
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