Choices

We all have them and make them every day. I have a few I regret, but mostly I am grateful for the choices I have made because I wouldn't have had the experiences and be who I am today if I made different ones. Even the wrong ones.

For the last couple of years, I have been boycotting football which has bled over to pretty much all sports. It’s crazy as I used to be the biggest 12th woman fan, working my way to visit all 32 to of the football stadiums (made it to 17). As I watched how the whole Colin Kaepernick story played out that was the final straw for me. I was already at my wit's end with the violence and physical damage (particularly Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE) that mostly impacts many African American males, I said no more. Then I picked up books like "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander, "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome" by Dr. Joy DeGruy, and watched "Time: The Kalief Browder Story" Produced by Jay Z.

Then "13th" documentary on Netflix, that was it. After wiping my tears, I said to myself, "I am soooo tired of crying and not doing anything about the injustices that are happening every single day." Right then, I made a choice even though I didn't know how I was going to go about it. A couple of weeks later, at a little celebration I threw for my 50th birthday, standing in my kitchen, the newly elected president of the Seattle King County Branch of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) asked me to become a board member. The committee she wanted me to chair (drum roll please)… Prisons. Not Membership or Education or WIN (Women In NAACP) but Prisons. I didn't say "let me think about it" or take time to figure out some critical questions to ask like, "what does a role like this entail?" "Who will be my mentor?" NO, I just said YES! That was in December, and it is now May. There have been some days I feel like a deer standing in front of a speeding Mack truck with the bright lights on, most days I wake up humble, encouraged, and excited for this new journey.

We have an obligation to those who sacrificed their lives for the "comforts" and "freedom" we have today. We have a responsibility to those generations that follow us, and we aren't doing well by them at all. If you are at that place where you can't deny that inner voice anymore and know you need to do something about the realities of our justice system, mass incarceration, prison industrial complex, do something. The needs are massive, and the extent is so deep, I don't have a clue. The days I feel overwhelmed by it all, I think of this phrase, "how does one eat an elephant, one bite at a time."

"Pick a lane and run with it," I tell myself. Some of the lanes consist of the currently incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, breaking the system that puts young people on the horrific yet successful trajectory of filling that persuasive school to prison pipeline. In our society overall, we are not protecting our children, and that's a shame on us all.

All my experiences and skills gained from my 18 years in HR, selling Real Estate, Event Planning, travel, and now Life & Career Coaching all come in handy with navigating this new landscape.

We ALL have choices to make and I choose LOVE!

If you would like more information on The NAACP overall, please visit the website Seattle King County NAACP.  Become a member and come to one of our monthly meetings to learn about the many committees that need you.  
I need help!  If you are ready to jump in and serve at whatever level you have to give, please reach out to me.  Prisons@seattlekingcountynaacp.org
"Justice delayed is justice denied." William E. Gladstone

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” Steve Jobs