Dear Black Son

Dear black son, welcome to the world. Many sweet days here await you. You will learn in them and find a million beautiful things, teaching you the primary purpose of the heart you’ve been given. You’ll observe and you will grow. You’ll learn and you will discover. You will happen upon moments of awe and wonder. You will form a universe of truth and brilliance behind those beautiful dark eyes.
But son, there must always be some shadow near where there is light. And in this world you will see horrors and confusing injustices and the outlay of hearts filled with gall. And because man’s heart is what it is and doesn’t always care for sense, there may be times you are subject to its basest malice.
Your beautiful dark eyes will see in history books, on screens and in papers the evils of an earth that cannot fully understand mercy. You will wonder why your beautiful dark veil provokes the ruptures in hearts that leak poison. I won’t be able to explain to you. But I will tell you that fools used to throw rocks up at stars and bright lights irritate those used to cold shadow and hatred is always born from fear and God allows persecution because he wants you to become like Him and powerful men’s treatment of you has no power to affect your value.
And I will tell you that you belong to a royal priesthood and paupers are too glad to attempt to pull you from your throne and you are stronger than you’d ever believed and ever known and the rough grounds of this maze-like life are necessary to prove that to you. I will tell you that love is a force great enough to change even the sickest of those shadowy hearts, so use its power, wrap it around those closest to you and protect yourself with it too.
Dear beautiful black son, welcome to the world, attempt to change what is in it, but do not let it change what is in you.