I sit here as the daughter of a mom who protested at lunch counters and didn't tell her mom about it until she had me at 34 (if I recall correctly).

Growing up, she only told me about standing on sidewalks outside of places that would only serve "us" by going out back to order and eat outside (with no guarantee that the food would be hot) to encourage other black patrons they deserved better.

I only learned of her lunch counter protests after watching #selma with her. Had she told Clara about that, she wouldn't have lived to birth me or my older brother.

I post this to say that as a descendant of slaves freed on #juneteenth, having a mom who worked from her teenage years until getting laid off in 2007 who graduated college in her 60's to end up in a nursing home; I find it funny to live in a red state...

Yes, I know it's really purple. However, we live under a leadership that claims their party is led by God while championing for the economy to open up while failing to allow the folks in nursing homes that more than likely are on Medicaid to have any family visit.

Last I checked my bible, a man of means asked Jesus what he had to do to follow him. Jesus told him to get rid of his riches. I think Jesus would consider a state having a rainy day fund that also is in the richest country in the world would prioritize helping the "least of us"

Over opening bars. This is coming from a proud barfly by the way. People can go out and drink weak drinks while I can only drive by and wave at my mom next week. Meanwhile, the state is opening up to not only her nursing home staff but to the folks with whom they live.

Despite what the the Lt. governor or the restaurant that bears the name of one of my favorite UT QB's says, my mom's life or others with preexisting conditions aren't worth us not avoiding the primary route of exposure to #covid19.

Nor is it worth lessening the quality of life for those who contract and "recover" from the virus.

I started this with my mom and diverged with #covid when I meant to tell you the lessons she taught my brother and me to avoid getting in trouble with the police, or with a "Karen" while out and about...

When she protested on the sidewalk, she was lucky enough to encounter an officer who knew she was well within her right. Even then, she didn't tell my grandmother until after her 2nd grandchild cause she was that worried about what Clara would do to her.

It was that upbringing from which she taught me not to touch a damn thing in the store unless I was sure I was about to purchase it; that we could get into the same antics our white friends did, and if we didn't get blamed entirely we'd get punished twice as much...

I grew up trying to share these lessons with my friends only for them to question my experience. It took until 2020 for me to post this thread to tell you the death we've seen since phones allowed a new lens to see structural racism was what she was teaching me to avoid as a kid.

I turn 40 in January. Since our ancestors ran from their slave masters, to trying and "failing" to live free during Jim Crow, to the civil rights movement, to the present day protests, all we've been trying to say is. #BlackLivesMatter

Can you just hear our cries?