DESTINY CALL TO ACTION :::

 :::   TEACH YOUR FAMILY SAFETY OVER COMFORT 

                by Rev. Linda J. Ivey, MSW & Founder of YDH

Today’s families understand how we are living in challenging times, and not everyone has Christian morals and values. As Christians, we understand how we must stay connected to God. Yet, even though we are Believers and follow God’s tenets, not all our family members and friends live by the same standards and values.

Recently, my pastor and I taught a series of conflict resolution workshops at LaSalle University. Our goals for the educators and the teen counselors were to teach them how to identify and safely intervene with students who were in potentially unsafe situations. However, our goals for the preteens were slightly different. We taught them how to identify when their safe situations became unsafe and what they should do to keep themselves protected to avoid being victimized. 

This workshop’s information could have helped the students in the Columbine High School, or Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, or Trayvon Martin, Nolan Wells, Cyrus Carmack-Belton or some of the other hundreds of other children who were victims of violence when their safe situations became unsafe. 

Our premise is that conflict starts in the mind. Many young people misinterpret conflict because they misread the signs. When an action occurs, the person must decide if the action was positive or negative, safe or unsafe, intentional or an accident. It’s in these situations that we want our young people to be surrounded by peers who have the mind of Christ. Unfortunately, many neutral actions or situations are misinterpreted mentally as negative, which escalates into conflict. It also works in reverse, that often, negative dangerous actions or situations are minimized or ignored and result in conflict and innocent people being hurt. 

Years ago, we were raised by parents and grandparents who had faith, but who also believed that we as children were sheep being sent outside to interact with wolves.  Consequently, we could only interact with identified family members and neighbors who had been designated as safe. They had safety rules for us: “don’t leave from in front of the door”, and “come in the house when the streetlights come on” and “if you leave as a group, you better come back as a group”. In fact, our elders knew the heart was the real indicator of a person’s true thoughts and intentions. They were wise and would caution that the bible says man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart because some hearts have evil thoughts that turn into evil actions. 

This call to action goes out to everyone who interacts with young people. Teach them how to identify and avoid conflict, and that safety is more important than their comfort and the familiarity of friends. Teaching young people how to protect themselves when their safe situations become unsafe is why we work hard to offer our conflict resolution curriculum to schools, churches, and community centers .

...by Ashanti Raysor

                     ::: REFUSE TO ACCEPT INJUSTICE AS ORDINARY :::

What is the American Dream to you? Has it been forgotten, a lie, or a facade used to make those who have searched far and wide believe that America is a place of overflowing opportunities, wealth, and resources? As America celebrates its 250th birthday, many Black Americans reflect on centuries of slavery, decades of Jim Crow, and the thousands of men, women, and children lost at the hands of what many would deem as fear, hatred, and injustice. My question is, ‘Is America Great Yet?’

American culture has been built on the backs of those subjected to deplorable, indescribable actions, all in the name of the American Dream. Perhaps the American Dream is just that—a dream, carefully constructed by those who shaped history to serve their own interests. History is often told by the victors, but never by the victims. Victims who have been beaten, scarred, forced to take their last breaths under the boots of those who have signed up to protect and serve.

Who gets to define history?

Who benefits from the American Dream?

Who gets to decide whose humanity matters?

Protect and serve who? Protect the wealthy, the skillfully unskillful, the people who have placed us in opposing categories for years. To believe that you are better than the next is to have an inflated ego. To see that you are but the same sides of one coin placed on the same Earth, breathing the same air, fighting to understand oneself is to be human.

In the wake of yet another miscarriage of justice, may we remember Nolan Wells, a young man gone too soon. While we cannot rewrite history, we can shape the future through how we respond today. One of the many things we can do as those who care is to connect, rebuild, and speak out. Our voices are the most powerful tools we have in a world that turns a blind eye. Instead of being a bystander, you can be the change. Rebellion is often seen as a negative; however, those who behave rarely make history. Kindness is one of the virtues God extended, and as we are of his body and of his blood, we should make an effort to be of his serenity. 

Kindness is not extinct, nor does it cost us anything. Silence and complacency, however, come at an immeasurable cost. Come with an open mind—ready to learn, to listen, and to challenge what you've always believed. Real change begins when we refuse to accept injustice as ordinary.