Christmas 2014

 

May 15, 2020 – I wrote this post on December 25, 2014.  Although it is past the Christmas season, It seems so fitting.  

In memory of Ahmaud Arbery

This particular year, we decided as a family that we would do very little for Christmas. It started with the three of us agreeing not to have a Christmas tree and to keep any materialistic endeavor associated with the holidays to a minimum. Apart from a monetary gift to each of the children ,a gift to my parents and to two of one of my best friend’s children, this Christmas would be spent in our new home in gratitude for the blessings, peace and quiet that followed the tumultuous years. In addition to the need to recollect and reflect on our many blessings, 2014 was the year that so much of the brutality that characterizes encounters between the police and black males came violently to the forefront with the unjustified killings of young black lives and the impunity with which the perpetrators of these acts were treated.  All these events and the protests that ensued everywhere in the country caused us to turn in in reflection and made Christmas more somber than usual.  

There was, therefore, no Christmas tree in our house: only poinsettias and a wreath from Eastern Market at our door to signify that we believed in Hope and Resurrection and that eventually, peace will reign on earth. In honor of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Gardner and so many others and in light of the fact that I was not walking and demonstrating like so many were, I made a $1000 donation to the Charles Wright Museum of African American History so that we can continue to tell our stories ourselves, reflect on and impress on future generations the true reality of black lives in our own voices. It is a history of pride, accomplishment and hope that says a lot about the resilience of the human spirit and its ability to accomplish the impossible even in the most dire circumstances. 

Christmas was somber, but so beautiful.  In this decision and in the way we spent Christmas, there was much peace, so much appreciation for the fact that we were a family and that we were all that mattered and that our affection for each other was all that was needed. The Christ in Christmas was alive in our home and that was all that mattered. JR, Christelle and Regine matter and so does the life of each of our brothers and sisters. May we understand this and understand the implications and importance of knowing that we all matter and that we are responsible each of us individually to continue the legacy of achieving the impossible even when the cards appear to be stacked against us. We matter, individually, collectively and we need to demonstrate this in order for others to bow to us in front of this self-resolve and self-respect.