We have all lost...

It has been several months since I have written a blog post.  I have been a very busy lady the past few months.  My hopes was to start my blog writing again with the start of the NFL season, but when I have a lot to say, I come here.  I posted the following statement on Facebook tonight, and I want to share it with you.

I am disappointed in the verdict to the George Zimmerman trial. I am also disappointed with those people who are celebrating. There are no real winners here. The problem with many posting is that you have never in your life had to walk in the shoes of Trayvon Martin. I'm a 38 year old woman with two degrees. I have never been suspended from school. I have never smoked. I don't drink. I don...'t steal. Yet, I have been followed around stores being watched like I was going to steal something. I have been questioned about my presence in a place I had every right to be. Forgive me, if I have a problem with a child losing his life for walking home. I teach teenagers. I would expect most of them black or white to react the way Trayvon Martin did on that night. I, myself, might have questioned this person who is following me for no apparent reason in the dark. It was raining, and he had his hood up for that reason. He was not being a thug. No one but God, Trayvon Martin, and George Zimmerman knows what actually happened in that courtyard that night. Regardless, of the verdict, Zimmerman will have to live with the fact that rightly or wrongly, he killed an unarmed child. The Martin Family will have to live with the knowledge that they will not see their son graduate, marry, or have a family. We as a society have to live with the fact that we are so blinded by our own prejudices and stereotypes that we cannot learn to accept each other and live without fear of those who are different from us. There are no winners here. We all have lost.

We have to come together as a country.  There is too much divisiveness in our country.  Men vs. Women, Black vs. White, Republican vs. Democrat, Conservative vs. Liberal, and every day the division becomes deeper as there are those people who will exploit those differences and fears to make a dollar.  Thomas Jefferson wrote "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  All men...Although when that was written, women and black people were not considered part of that equation, but as an American citizen I would like to rephrase that by saying ALL HUMANS are created equal, and we all have those rights, and until we all recognize those rights for each American citizen we are all losers.  Rest in peace, Trayvon...

Until next time...“Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
- I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
- I shall fear only God.
- I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
- I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
- I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.”
― Mahatma Gandhi