Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggetts's Blog, page 11

Is Today’s Black Activism Sustainable?

In the week since St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch’s announcement that a grand jury would not be indicting Darren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown, activists have been trying to extend the movement beyond the front lines in Ferguson. Last Friday, there was the Black Out/Black Friday boycott, which asked individuals to not…

Now or Never? Bearing Witness to the Complicated Relationship Between Truth and Time for Women Who Have Been Sexually Assaulted

16 years ago, I was raped. I told one “friend” (the cousin of the man who did it) right afterward and she told me it was my fault. It took me another seven years to tell my mom. I never told the police or anyone else for many, many years besides my husband. Does the…

Setting the Narrative Free: Bill Cosby Is NOT Cliff Huxtable

In my younger years, I was always the one down for a protest. I remember causing an uproar in my high school African American History class because I told my teacher I didn’t think she could teach me anything about the subject because she was white. I was wrong. She was one of the best…

Settling into Motherhood: Training Up A Child In The Way He Should Go

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. – Proverbs 22:6 NKJV *removes halo* I promise you, for the entire 38.2 weeks I was pregnant with K, anytime someone would mention this scripture in an effort to give me parenting advice,…

What Blazing Trails Feels Like and Other Revelations

This post was originally published at MyBrownBaby.com So I suppose this post might be just a wee bit too transparent; too revealing. My apologies, in advance. However, for my own sanity, I have to, once again, shed my halo and tell my whole, ugly truth. Here goes: Sometimes I’m incredibly envious of people. Not rolling-my-eyes-and-I-hate-their-guts…

A Better Way: Wrestling With All This “New Fangled” Discipline

(originally published on MyBrownBaby.com) Long before Adrian Peterson’s story hit the news, my hubby and I have been wrestling with the whole to spank or not to spank argument. Both of us grew up with parents who believed whole-heartedly in the doctrine of “spare the rod, spoil the child.” (Although some believe the use of…

#WhyIStayed – Teaching Our Children What Love Looks Like

I was stunned the first time it happened. We were driving and arguing about something that obviously wasn’t that important because I can’t, for the life of me, remember what it was. Arguments were our norm. I was always trying to find a way to not make him mad. To not send him off on…

It Could Have Been Me: When Stupidity Means Death and Other Fears of a Mother

(originally published on MyBrownBaby.com) I drank too much that night. I was nineteen years old, hanging out with friends in my dorm, listening to music, playing spades and sipping for the first time on something I’d never heard of until then: MD 20/20. Yep, I was nineteen. And dumb. Not dumb as in unintelligent or…

My Problem with (what some call) Forgiveness: A Heart Cracked Wide Open by Ferguson, MO

Do some deathshave a purpose? I have to believe they do. Even the senseless ones. Even the deaths that are the result of evil or hate or mistrust or the ignorant reliance on and belief in stereotypes. Deaths like Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Ezell Ford, Trayvon Martin,Renisha McBride, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Patric Dorismond, Amadou…

Not In My Shoes, Please!

“Put your shoes on, K!” “Okay, Mommy!” Even without looking, the sound of little brown feet pitter patting against the hardwood floor let’s me know that she’s headed to the mountain of shoes I can never stop from accumulating by the front door. Daddy’s “mowing the lawn” sneakers, two or three pairs of Mommy’s sandals,…