Explaining heritage in a tense world

Although the South is notorious for segregation, lynching, killing and hatred, I am proud to say that I am a product of South Carolina. I love mason jars, pearls and grits. I say “hey, y’all,” and eat boiled peanuts.

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My black pride starts with forbidden love. I would not be me if it were not for my Grandma Kitty, an ex-slave, marrying my white Grandpa Riley of Irish descent. By moving from North Carolina to Texas to Kansas, they secured our family legacy at the expense of losing children who chose to pass for white or died from disease.

I’m sure if he were alive today, Grandpa Riley would be wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt as he packed his family for the 100th time to move to a territory that was more tolerant of his Nigerian-American wife and his mulatto children. I imagine Grandma Kitty would be wearing an All Lives Matter wristband while she cooked dinner and watched out for trappers who were ready to kill her.

If Grandma Kitty and Grandpa Riley could overcome death threats for the sake of love, I’m sure we can work together on solutions that will affirm, protect and prosper the lives of people of color.

With all the racial tension in the world, I pray that I have been an instrument of love and light in the lives of all of my friends not of African descent. I pray that the pride I have in my culture has not polarized our relationships but whetted their curiosity for understanding and diversity. It is my hope that my actions and life have broken any negative stereotypes that were taught to them knowingly and unknowingly.

As a servant of Jesus Christ, my life’s purpose has been to show the love of God to everyone, regardless of race, nationality, creed or sexual orientation. I believe we were all created in God’s image of love, peace, kindness, mercy and grace.

I hope that we can continue our friendships in order to be a positive example of how to embrace our fellow man. Let’s actively work to make America look more like a mosaic rather than a melting pot. A melting pot mixes everything together, homogenizing it all into a new product of assimilation. A mosaic allows each part to maintain its individual identity, while coming together for a greater purpose; a big picture.

I look forward to our continued kinship as one ntion under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Explaining heritage in a tense world."