‘Reach out to a black friend and make sure they are doing okay.’: Woman urges ‘love hard and listen’ amid global protests

“My heart has been so heavy the past few days. I have legitimately had a tight feeling in my chest and a pit in my stomach.

My husband IS black.

My daughters ARE half black.

My nieces and nephews ARE half black.

My brother-in-laws ARE black.

My friends ARE black.

My family IS black.

I know a lot of people aren’t sure what they can do and feel racism is a heavy topic, but here are a few ideas:

Parents listen up, start at home.

Have a conversation with your kids.

Encourage interracial friendships, explain interracial relationships, have positive conversations about people of color.

If this makes you uncomfortable, reach out to me. I’m happy to help spark up a positive conservation.

My girls are well aware of skin color and differences so we have healthy conversations frequently.

What I don’t want is for people to sit back and do nothing.

I don’t want my daughter to go to kindergarten and other kids fear her for the color of her beautiful skin.

If praying is what you need to do, please pray and pray hard.

Another easy thing to do is to smile.

The hard part is that a simple smile may be difficult if it’s hidden behind a mask due to our current pandemic.

Be aware that people of color are scared to even wear a mask into a store because of how people may judge them and fear them.

Smile with your eyes, it’s still possible.

Reach out to a black friend and make sure they are doing okay and LISTEN. LISTEN TO THEM. Better yet, make a new friend.

Racism isn’t a new topic. It’s been brought to light a lot more often recently due to videos.

Understand that racism isn’t only occurring in these brutal videos. It happens all around us daily.

White privilege IS REAL. Understand it, accept it, and help fix it!

Be kind.

Love hard.

And listen.”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Mellany McGurk. Submit your own story here and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.

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