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A CLARION CALL: We Simply Must Heed A Call To Action Now!

We simply cannot go back as we were for we are forever changed. If the eyes are the window to the soul, then our souls ache from our reality as Americans, whether we are victims of injustice, or insulated by our privilege of skin color. We have gone back and forth about issues that are not new, but that all came to a head a week or so ago. We have agreed and we have respectfully disagreed, we have protested and we have been guilty of inaction, all of it, is a necessary part of any discourse of the present and future state of affairs in this land we call home, the land of the free and the brave.

Now, it is time for a call to action. A call to choose to remain uncomfortable with the status quo, a call to challenge our daily interaction, our inaction, our passive acceptance of what is. It is time to reflect on our civic duty to a commitment to heed the visceral disgust we all felt at the reality that is the injustice faced by Black people in America for far too long.

Take a long hard look in the mirror, and CHOOSE to add your small ripple to turn the tide of this ocean of maltreatment, brutality, inequity, inequality, injustice overall, until our movement creates a tidal wave of change one ripple at a time. WE CAN DO IT. No longer can we, in good conscience, keep our heads buried in the sands of complacency. It is not for someone else to do, for the next generation, for the next administration, or for the next person, it is up to each of us daily in even our smallest most insignificant interactions.

Let us be accountable for just our small ripple, our small daily contribution, to change this landscape of ignorance, hate, prejudice, racism. We have power. There is power in our voices, power is our choices, power in our alliances, power in our associations and non-associations, power in our volunteerism, power in our spending, power in our mending, power in our charity, power in mentorship, power in kindness, power in daring to speak when rooms are silent, power in asking why, and power in our asking how.

THERE IS UNTAPPED POWER IN EACH OF US THAT CAN TOPPLE THIS INSTITUTIONAL, SYSTEMATIC RACISM THAT IS KILLING, STYMYING THE DEVELOPMENT AND LIVES, THE VERY AND FUTURES OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, COLLEAGUES, FELLOW AMERICANS, OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS. Let’s mobilize that power today, tomorrow, always, henceforth.

Published by: Local Lives, Global Voices

I, Chandra Young, ‘the moon that outshines the stars, was born in Kingston Jamaica to an Indian Father whose family migrated from India, and a mulatto mother, whose family, paternally and maternally, trace their history on the island to the 17th century sale of slaves, and slaves themselves. We migrated to the United States while I was a youngster. I later went on to graduate from The City College of New York, with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science; then Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, with a Jurisdoctor degree; and I am currently on hiatus from my doctoral studies in Law and Policy at Northeastern University. After graduating from law school, I successfully sat for both the Florida and New York Bars, and worked in both the Private and Public Sectors. Simultaneously, my role as mother and my passion for education pushed me into Academia, where I have lectured at colleges in the areas of Political Science, History, Business Law, Sociology, Pluralism and Diversity, Critical Thinking, Critical Academic Reading and English Composition. In these capacities, I have mentored inner city/urban college students, and have also served as Guardian Ad Litem to the Seminole County Courts, where I advocated on behalf of children of families in crisis. Being a scholar of Political Science in my collegiate years, I contributed my talents and passions towards championing of the rights of my fellow students, many of whom, like myself, were of Immigrant families. I was instrumental in a student movement that spearheaded a University-wide student boycott protesting tuition hikes in the City University system. The successful protest led to the shutdown of all the University’s colleges in every Borough, and got the attention of the media and politicians of the day. The result of the successful protest was a halt of any tuition increase for several fiscal terms. Today, the City University and State University systems are free to families earning less that $125,000.00, which include most urban, inner-city and immigrant students. While at City College, I was selected as a student ambassador contestant in the Ms. Jamaica-USA pageant, sponsored by the Jamaica Progressive League and the Honorable Una Clarke, the first Caribbean and Jamaican born woman to be elected to the legislature of the City of New York, and mother of United States Congresswoman Yvette Clark. A diligent advocate of affordable housing for New Yorkers, I was committed to the mission of realizing the American dream of home ownership for New Yorkers and I am the recipient of a Proclamation by the City Council of the City of New York, for my efforts in that regard. My dedication to the City of New York and immigrant communities, particularly those of Caribbean heritage, have been unwavering, and I was presented with the Marcus Garvey Award of Recognition by the New York based Jamaica National Movement, for service to Jamaicans and Caribbean people in the City of New York. I continued my passion of being a part of a mission to champion the rights of underprivileged and underrepresented persons in my recent milestone, the United States Peace Corps, where I dedicated 18 months of my life, away from home and family, to the people of Jamaica, as a Literacy Adviser and Community Developer. I am the mother of two children, a writer, blogger and poet. I always loved writing. As a child, I remember finding privacy and solace to write in my garage, where I could hide the written pages amongst the plethora of books our family stored there. I began blogging on my Facebook page and was encouraged by friends who enjoyed by posts, to start a blog. I officially started this blog during my Peace Corps Service, but it is certainly not limited to my service. In fact, it represents an amalgamation of thoughts expressed and lived through the direct and vicarious experiences that being a global citizen can provide. This blog is my way of building a bridge that connects our local lives experienced in our specific localities, with the global voices that unites us in the similar experiences, concerns, pains, passions, etc that joins us together as human beings in spite of geography. You there.......Me here. We....together in one world....one humanity.

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