I start alot of threads like this b/c alot of you have followed me for a while, so:

As some of you know, I was a child welfare social worker for ~6 years. First as a preventive social worker (before removal) & then as a permanency social worker (post-removal).

My former boss

Hired me w/out a grad degree b/c I am an Afro-Latino who spoke spanish & our catchment area was in Harlem. I don't think I ever had a white kid on my caseload: instead, my caseload was filled with girls like #makhiabryant. Young Black girls w/ extensive trauma & bad ways to cope.

I say that to anecdotally highlight that the child welfare system is, generally, filled w/ kids that identify as BIPOC. And, believe me, they are angry & scared & in usually bad places. The one saving grace, generally, is school b/c it's the one thing they can control.

This doesn't mean they all do well, right, but I've gone on school visits where school staff didn't even know the kid was in foster care. They adjusted that well. They were in sports & had friends & made good grades. All the while hurting b/c they weren't home w/ their parents.

#mahkiabryant was an Honor Roll student who was in foster care.

She called the police b/c she was fearful for her life. She grabbed a knife b/c she was fearful for her life. In 22 seconds, a police officer shot her 4 times b/c he was "afraid" for his life.

Somehow that's ok.

I'm TAC-2 trained from when I worked in a Level 5 HS. 80 kids, all kids w/ a behavioral health or mental health or developmental concern.

Kids who had to fight everybody to even make it home. Kids who had been abandoned & assaulted & abused. Kids who had a hard time in school.

Our staff never called the police unless it was absolutely the last thing they had to & sometimes not even then. I've seen staff restrain two kids bigger than them while fighting & keep everybody safe.

I've taken knives away from kids & been able to de-escalate them safely.

#mahkiabryant should be alive. She shouldn't be dead b/c she feared for her life. She shouldn't be dead b/c her specific trauma made her grab a weapon in that moment.

That community, our community, shouldn't continue being traumatized b/c those who serve to protect can't.

I've seen white folks assault police officers & not a single shot be fired. There's always talk of the trauma white folks face & how they can overcome it whenever they're safely put in a squad car.

I wish our babies, like #mahkiabryant, got that same chance.