Take My Hand

by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

it was hard to know where the system ended and the man began.

I had never known that good intentions could be just as destructive as bad ones. Surely this was a family capable of making its own decisions.

Then he said, You smell that right there? That’s the scent of the Maker. And the Maker loves you and your beautiful brown self.

“Look, a woman ought to have the right to end a pregnancy if she wants to. The issue in our case has to do with whether the women wanted to.”

That part

Whether it was the Birmingham church bombing or Ruby Bridges, there wasn’t any justice for little Black girls, and never had been.