Our Little Word

My 8 year old brother still plays with action figures. He knows who’s the good guy and bad guy. He’s typically the good guy. Coming in to save the LEGO town or rescue one of my sisters barbies from getting hit on a race track.but what he doesn’t know is that outside his own little world there is a bigger one that fears him.

 

One we’re color defines whether you are bad or good. And I don’t know how to tell him that no matter how good he is he will always be a a target.

 

That cops aren’t always the good guys. That what he learned in school today could either make him into a lawyer or be in need of one.

 

My brother still likes to play games. When we play freeze tag I make sure to tell him that he has to be still. To never move. Because outside our little world he will more than just out of a game. I can’t tell him that even if his arms get tired he can’t move or he could die because that’s too much for a 8 year old to handle

Even though that’s his reality.

 

My brother likes to dress himself he says his favorite outfit is a grey hoodie with a dinosaur and his black joggers. He calls it his comfy wear. He doesn’t know that this comfy outfit can make others uncomfortable. I always make sure my brother has comfortable sneakers because I don’t know when or if he has to run.

Because outside our little world running is s key component to being a black boy.

 

I have tell my brother that his name isn’t just Isa it’s black boy. And that my name is just sister or MyRee my name is black girl sometimes angry black girl and that our little world will be destroyed once he becomes a black man. But until then I keep my fears hidden in a smile and we play good guys and bad guys because e deserves his short time of innocence.