Love Letter to Cooper Ravenstahl

This letter is written to Cooper Ravenstahl after Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl responded to local media that members of Pittsburgh for Trayvon had frightened his son when delivering posters of demands for justice to his house on the morning of July 18, 2013.  He said that they did not have the right to frighten his young child.  I have been comparing this right with George Zimmerman's legal murder of Trayvon Martin in my brain and wrote Cooper Ravenstahl a letter.  

Dear Cooper,

This is a love letter.  Love is something given or shared between people that helps them learn and grow. I might not ever meet you, but I want you and all other children to be loved.  I want you to be well.  I want you and all other children to be healthy, fed, safe, and strong.  I want you to be safe where you live and at school and when you are outside.  Many children are not safe right now because of white supremacy. White supremacy is very big and complicated.  It is something we have to think about and work on.  It's all the ways in which people, neighborhoods, governments, and history overlap to make it better and easier for white people to be successful and safe.  As you grow up, you be allowed to make many choices. You will be able to choose if you want to uphold white supremacy or work for justice.  You will be able to choose if you want to create and spread fear or create and spread love.  

My friends came to your house last week asking your dad to help make Pittsburgh safe for all people and children.  They are spreading love and working for justice.  Your dad said in the paper that you were afraid of them.  I am sorry that you were made afraid.  You are not alone. Here are some things that I am afraid of:

I am afraid that your dad will never tell you why my friends came to your house that morning and that he will never tell you why he didn't talk to us at his office.  That your dad will not understand or try because he doesn't have the language to talk about racism.   I'm afraid that you will not hear the word racism until you are 20 years old. That you will grow up and think it is okay for a young black person like Trayvon Martin to be killed.  That you will be like so many others, and think that Trayvon Martin's life is less than precious because he is black. I am afraid that you will be on a jury, with people who do not look like Trayvon Martin, who have never loved anyone who looks like him, and you will decide that Trayvon Martin's life is not precious.  That you will be a judge and you will believe that what is the law is correct, and that you are a steward of justice.  That you will be George Zimmerman, and that you will kill Trayvon Martin because you do not know that his life is precious.  I am afraid that you will be full of fear and that you will let it rule your life.  That you will be afraid of everyone who is not the same as you.  That you will grow up and not know who Trayvon Martin was.  

My fear is that you will perpetuate white supremacy by being a white person living in a multiracial world with our history.  I am afraid that you will not acknowledge racism.  That your job will employ you to kill black and brown people.  That your job will pay you to treat people unfairly. That your job will separate you from anyone who does not think like you.  That you will think that people who do not have a job are less then you.  Not working as hard as you.  That they aren't as precious as you. That they don't deserve all of the things that you have.  I am afraid that you will think that you do deserve all of the things that you have.  That you won't know who was here before you. That you will think that you are free and that is enough. That you won't work for justice.      

The people who came to your house are educators.  They are dancers, teachers, poets, farmers, parents and children.  They are spreading love and working for justice.  They make me believe that the future will be good for us.  That we can work together to make something happen.  Something better than this.  Something better than being afraid of each other.   

I want you to believe too.  It will be hard for you because their aren't a lot of hand holders for this journey.  It will be hard for you because many people will try to hold you back.  It will be hard for you because once you start, you have to commit for your whole life.  But I will root for you Cooper. I do not want us to be afraid.  I want us to be full of love and for that love to rule our lives.

Standing By,

Amanda