If everyone took an eye for an eye, the whole world would be blind...

Trayvon Martin...another young black life shot down too early. And yet, all too much of a common occurrence...

How many people remember Yummi Sandifer? Ramarley Graham? Cynteria Phillips? Sherrice Iverson?...

How many of those names do you know? How many more are there? What's my point? My point is that this is going on all the time. And no, not everyone of these kid's lives were cut short in the same way, but they did have some similar details. Black youths killed by white people in horrible ways. My point is IT HAS TO STOP. Has to. Stop. Now.

Being a Native American woman that passes for white on a daily basis, I am privy to the conversations of people who dont understand the culture (white) in a way that most people may not be. Being married to black man and having children of mixed race my senses are even more heightened, more alert, more protective.

Let me tell you something that we all think but no one will officially confirm or say out loud. Most people who don't understand the culture don't like us. At all. They smile in our face and stab us in the back at the same time. "I have black friends, I know black people" What a racist statement. EVERYONE knows a black person you know why? Cuz we are everywhere! You probably work with one of us! (yes I am including myself in the black people pool) But are you really a friend of black & interracial people? That is the question. I'll tell you a story...I worked for a prominent retail store that makes billions of dollars per year. I was an assistant manager. My coworker and I were standing at the registers one day when a group of black teenagers walked into the store. They seemed normal enough for me especially in the inner city of Chicago. My coworker turns to me and says "man, I HATE black people". O_o Really? This is the same coworker who has met my husband and children, showering them with compliments on their hair, skin, and features. I tried to give her my most calm unfazed poker face, and then it must have hit her. "Oh, well not all of them, uhh, you know what I mean, just the bad ones." O_o Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't we all show a dislike for all things bad, regardless of color?

Something I have noticed throughout my life is the grave misunderstanding that white people have for the black culture. Things that might seem threatening to a white person are normal and commonplace for a black person. The culture is so different that most white poeple who are not in contact with black poeple on a regular basis cannot even understand what black people say. It's sad, and what is even sadder is that this type of cutural difference is what leads to senseless deaths like this. Trayvon was carrying candy and tea while he walked home from the store. His crime was having black skin and having his hoodie up.

Last month my husband and I took a trip to New Orleans. On the way down we stopped at a small gas station in Mississippi. My husband walked in the store in a rush because he had to use the bathroom. He had his hoodie up because it was very cold in the van we were driving in and cold ouside as well. In Mississippi regular citizens can carry weapons on their person. This white man (security for the station) who was wearing a pistol on his side, approached my husband and got in his face. He told my husband to take his hood off. My husband, while doing the peepee dance, asked why. The white man said "it's bosses rules, we have to see your face". My husband said "you're looking at my face right now and that white boy in line has his hoodie up AND a baseball cap on". O_o By this time the peepee dance was making the white man nervous and I saw him put his hand on his pistol. I walked up to my husband and said "baby, just take it off ok?" To think I could have lost him that night, over misunderstanding, brings tears to my eyes. It would have been another senseless killing over the color of my husband's skin and his hoodie and the peepee dance.

I will not pose the question of why are we all getting up in arms over another death when in 3 weeks the story will be less sensationalized by the media and Trayvon Martin will be another name in history. I choose not to pose that question because we DO need to be getting upset. We need to get so upset that we effect a change. One that has never happened before. Facebook pics of people in hoodies is not enough. Marches are a start and so are rallies.

My children are of mixed race and if they were senselessly killed because of their skin color, or any other reason for that matter, I would be beside myself. I don't know what I would do. Would I be mad? YES. Would I want to exact revenge? YES. Would I want the killer brought to justice and hung from his toenails in a public square while he was killed slowly and methodically? YES. But we cannot do that, nor should we.

Right now we must take the MLK Jr path and exact change with our minds. We must out think this formidable foe, the white man and his violence. In our ancient tribes, both African and Native American, there were no senseless killings. Every death had a purpose. This is the work and teachings of the white man. To kill someone you don't like for whatever particular reason.

WE must effect change by any civil means necessary. And we cannot let this story be forgotten in 2 or 3 weeks. We must wear Trayvon on our sleeves, carry him in our hearts, and live his legacy through our own.

As the old saying goes, the best revenge is a life well lived.

What can you do in your community to effect change?...You can...

Live, Love, Laugh, and TEACH our youth the right way. Be a mentor to all youths you come in contact with. Teach them that every person they meet on their journey through life is a teacher to them regardless of race or class. There is a lesson to be learned in everything. Take a young child under your wing and prepare our future to be better, one child at a time. Violence will not solve this issue.

If everyone took an eye for an eye, the whole world would be blind.~Ghandi

Live, Love, Laugh, and Teach...