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This week, I was challenged to write how I feel about the color “black”.  I really didn’t know what I would write until this morning when I heard the sad news about Alton Sterling.  He was a 37 year old black man, father of five, who was shot to death by the police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for what seems to be an unjust cause.  Investigations are pending and details are still emerging even as I write.  However, I can’t stop but think how did this happen?  Why was another life lost?  Were the police justified in their actions?  Was Alton another victim of a senseless act?

I normally don’t voice my opinions on such subjects but I thought it fitting today as I reflect on this color–“black”.  I don’t play the race card or look for opportunities to be called the victim.  But when these and other acts happen several times in a year and seem to be creating a cycle, it forces you to think about what if Alton was my husband or son or friend?  How would I feel then?  What actions would I take?  See, it’s so easy to point the finger, look the other way, stay quiet for fear of ruffling feathers, ignore the conversation or a myriad of other actions that lead to no change.  But when you put yourself into THEIR shoes, and try to feel what they are feeling—the uncertainty, the grief, the fear, the confusion, the unanswered question of WHY–then you can begin to slightly understand the depth of their despair and outrage.

We all can play a part in making sure black lives matter and all lives matter by educating ourselves on our differences and similarities and accepting each other as God’s great creation.  No one life is better than any other.  No one should have the power to take another life.  No one skin color is better than any other.  No one color is better than any other.  Black, just like white, gray, blue, orange or green, were all made by the same God who used His vast imagination to create different people with unique talents, abilities, personalities, shapes, and colors with the intent that we would all get along.  When we don’t value these differences and the people who represent them, we have the sad stories of the Alton Sterling’s and the others who were unjustly killed.

What can YOU do to make sure black lives matter?  You can start by understanding our story which is one of struggle and victory, one of bondage and freedom, one of despair and hope.  You can educate yourself on our history and appreciate its place in the world.  You can teach our history to your children and grandchildren and pass down truth rather than rumors, assumptions and stereotypes.  You can have conversations with us to engage in our story you have a greater appreciation of who we are.  You can have conversations with your friends about our story and encourage them to have conversations with us.  You can talk to city officials, law enforcement and others who make decisions concerning the training of law enforcement officers.  You can get involved in the political process and allow your voice to be heard. You can be a bridge builder for change by eating, playing, camping and worshiping with families from a different ethnicity.  You can use whatever platform you have in the board room, mail room, store room, Sunday school room or classroom to affect change.  This is how change starts—one person at a time.

What can you do to make sure black lives don’t matter?  Continue doing nothing, listening to stereotypical jokes, blaming the victim’s misfortune because of their past, upholding law enforcement’s wrong decisions if they are found to be wrong and refusing to value all lives.

To my black (African American) brothers and sisters, we must also do our part to educate ourselves and not play the role of victim.  We must continue to fight for the victory which we’ve experienced in some ways and press on until we see victory for everyone.  We must continue to hold on to the hope we receive from the Lord and not give in to despair.  We must continue to free ourselves from the bondage of a victim mentality, apathy, unforgiveness, hatred and embrace the true meaning of America—‘united we stand and divided we fall’.   We must continue marching forward while we look back to help those who have fallen.  We must continue forging ahead and bring others along with us.  We must speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves and never give up.  How will Alton Sterling’s death (and the death of many others) change your life?  If you were Alton Sterling, how would you want America to respond?  This is our part in making sure all lives matter, and definitely that black lives matter.

~Coletta Jones Patterson