The Courage to Do Something — Cynthia Reyes

I wasn’t planning on posting anything on Mother’s Day, but when I read Cynthia Reyes’ post yesterday, The Courage to Do Something, I knew I had to reblog her message. Cynthia is a Canadian author, journalist, and human rights activist with a message important to us all. (Some of you may know her as the author of Myrtle the Purple Turtle or A Good Home.) We humans have done a very poor job of overcoming racism to date, despite laws to the contrary. In the end, it may be up to mothers – mothers of every colour of the rainbow – to overcome this shameful failing. White mothers especially, please don’t let the status quo survive, leaving mothers of colour to have to teach their children to be careful of white people and white law officials. Help make that be a childhood lesson that is no longer needed at all. We are all one.  Racism and hatred must have no place in our societies. May that be the main take-away for us all on Mother’s Day.

Before I give you Cynthia’s post I’m going to reprint her final section, since I know from past experience that people don’t always click on the link to read the rest of a reblogged post and I don’t want this part of her message to be lost.

“I see so many tweets saying that we Black people are on our own: that “White people” cannot be trusted to do what’s right to help us achieve justice and equal human rights for all.  I don’t believe that.

I believe we each have a role to play. That the big brave acts may overwhelm us, but each of us is capable of a small act of courage.  Even after we have failed to “make a statement on the bus”, we can rally and make a difference to someone’s life.

We can attend protest marches, walks or runs, vote for our beliefs, join initiatives to bring about change, or take one of many other steps.   We can commit to acting as allies for a more just society. And sometimes, we can step across that invisible line and write an article (or even a book) that challenges people like ourselves to find a bit of courage, to do something that could make a difference to others.

Our small acts of courage can ripple across the pond and create big waves that could help more mothers to have a happy Mother’s Day.”

And now, Cynthia’s post from the top:

I had planned a lovely post about Mother’s Day. Then I read a moving post by Liz Gauffreau. Her post included a review of the book Queenie’s Place and comments by author Toni Morgan. Morgan reveals that the book was inspired by her own (American) experiences in the 60’s and 70’s. Segregation of public washrooms, […]

via The Courage to Do Something — Cynthia Reyes

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!