We Need to Do Better.

I am SO enraged. 

I am enraged that we have 545 parentless children sitting at our border. Innocent BABIES who are scared of the dark and unable to hug their own mothers and fathers. And don’t you DARE pull the “well, their parents are criminals” card with me, don’t you DARE, because I have an entire degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies and know PLENTY about the socioeconomic and political landscape of many of the countries within South America and WHY people seek asylum here and HOW the United States has played a significant role in creating MANY of the problems now faced by these poor people. 

I am horrified and outraged that during a PANDEMIC we have BABIES without their PARENTS.

NO NO NO NO.

Do you have language skills?  Do you have legal skills? Are you in Maine?  Seek out an organization like the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project and use those skills for good. Right now. Go do it. 

Donate to the ACLU. Donate to RAICES.  Write and call your representatives and let them know how appalled you are. Share NEWS from reputable sources and make others aware. Because enough is ENOUGH.

You know what else?  Wear a goddamn mask. Stop putting yourself and others at risk of this Coronavirus which by the way?? We’re all pretty pissed off about. You’re not the only one whose life has been turned upside down by it so GET OVER IT.  You know those doctors and nurses and other health care professionals out there who are running around in masks and shields trying to keep people from dying?  Ya, they’re over it too. But they have to toe tag bodies, not you. 

Are you unsure about whether or not systemic racism exists because you have a black friend and all the people in your community seem nice and you “don’t see color?” Read a book. Preferably a history book, but even those can be full of crap.  How about a book by a black attorney who has years of experience handling civil rights cases? Sounds like she might know what she’s talking about, eh?  The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is an awesome start. It may shed some light as to how, from pre-civil war times, poor whites and enslaved blacks have been pitted against each other to serve the rich and powerful. It’s a cycle that has been perpetuated for hundreds of years and masked as countless other things like the War on Drugs and Segregation and Mass Incarceration. 

Are you frustrated about how our teachers are treated and the pressure they are under during a pandemic? You should be. They’re struggling and many are moms and dads too. Imagine all the stress they are under. Write to your representatives, stop freaking out about pay raises, etc.  Let them know their worth because hey, are you homeschooling like me right now?  IT’S NOT EASY.

I know this isn’t a warm touchy-feely blog post, but I’m not feeling very warm, touchy and feely right now. I am feeling so incredibly frustrated by the flagrant disregard of the rights, well-being, health, and care of all these people we deem as “others.” They are not OTHERS.  They are US.  They are human beings, they have hearts beating in their chests, they are hurting, they are sick, they are scared, they are poor, they are DYING.  

WAKE UP AND HELP! PLEASE!  Because this country should be so much better and stronger and more kind and loving than it is.  This is NOT OK. 

Confused as to why a post like this wound up on a site like The Mama Love Movement? Because there’s no greater love than a mother’s. And this post is written out of LOVE AND ANGER at wrongdoings. We need to think more about others and not just ourselves. That’s what a mother does best.