FEAR OF TARGET by Alyscia Cunningham

Because of the dynamics of my family life from a very young age I became an advocate...

It's not something I think about doing, its a natural reaction. When I was young advocacy wasn't a term I was aware. As I've grown I've come to realize that it is innate characteristic that I couldn't ignore even if I wanted to.

As a black woman and mother, I bear the unfortunate truth of being in a space in which I must advocate for the fair treatment of my children. I have to consistently remind them of their worth and fight for their birthright to be treated just as equal as their white counterpart.

As I fight for rights of my children along, with hundreds of other children of color, it's mind baffling when parents turn away as if the issue does not exist for fear that their children will be targeted at school. In my view, doing nothing not only enforces a negative self-perception but also puts your child in a space of being accepting of unjustly treatment.

We must show our children that silence is not the way to create the necessary change for equality. Standing firm in our truth will.

Photography by the author, Alyscia Cunningham 

Fear of Target

by Alyscia Cunningham

I will never understand the fear of Target, leaving generations open for Market.

Maintaining silence to keep the peace, quieting your own cowardly disbelief.

Protecting only your own uncovers the herd,

While outside influences inject a purge.

Hoping and praying it will soon cease,

when all hope is lost you fled the scene.

Creating a social mock,

too scared to rise up so you flock.

Determination seals the deal,

sometimes lives lost,

but if that's the cost of our children's freedom,

let them be the reason,
for a firm stance in due season.

Photography by the author, Alyscia Cunningham

Alyscia Cunningham is an author, photographer, entrepreneur, speaker, wife, mother of three children and a creative soul. Through her lens, Cunningham captures and celebrates raw beauty, as she believes the media not only does a good job of focusing on our insecurities but also profiting from it. Her previously published book, Feminine Transitions, and upcoming books and documentaries are social-change projects challenging the "idea" of beauty. Alyscia started journaling as well as writing poems and short stories at the age of 10, and has has kept all of it all in her memory box. She says one days she'll have the pleasure to sit with her children and read to them some of her childhood writing. Connect with her on Facebook here, or visit her website. 

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