Category: Parenting

Courage, George Zimmerman, Justice, Legal justice, Morality, Parenting, Social Justice, Stand Your Ground law, Trayvon Martin, Values

Legal Justice and Morality

Mona Alvarado Frazier
gettyimages.com


The reality of being a parent guarantees there will be fearful moments in our life. The verdict in the Zimmerman trial brought out intense feelings from thousands of people. It’s heartbreaking that a young man is dead, and one goes free, without being charged with any crime. Legal justice and morality are different. You cannot equate the two. One is a system, one a value.


If you’re a parent of color or have children of color, you already know about racial bias. There’s no need to spell out the statistics. I’m a parent of three kids, of varying shades of brown. My college education, socio-economic status, and career in law enforcement haven’t shielded my children, or myself, from racial or gender injustice.

As mothers, we want to protect our kids from the kind of situation Trayvon Martin experienced. As a community, we are sick of situations like this occurring. 

We may think we can offer little protection to the realities of life. That is a very scary thought and makes some people fearful.

We can’t succumb to fear. This is not an option. Fear hides, courage doesn’t. And this is what we can offer our children, the courage to take action and do something positive to ensure moral justice is served.

Individuals around the nation have signed petitions for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Zimmerman case. Some bloggers started a “We Are Not Trayvon Martin” blog, encouraging dialogue:

 “It’s not enough to know you aren’t Trayvon. What will you do to change our country?” 


A call to scrutinize the 2005 “Stand Your Ground,” Florida law was initiated.

Hundreds of community leaders have called for peaceful protests on this case. With the exception of a few, the numerous protests have been peaceful. 

Stevie Wonder said he won’t perform in certain states, “I decided today that until the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again…As a matter of fact, wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that state or in that part of the world.”

All of these peaceful actions take courage. This is what helps our community; this is what helps our children. This is what can help the legal system, criminal justice and morality to come closer together. 


" Strenght, Art, Children, College, Inocente, Kahlil Gibran "On Children, Mothers, Parenting, Single Parents, Wisdom

Mommy Angst

Mona Alvarado Frazier
inocenteart.com

Yesterday I scrolled through my Facebook and stopped at a painting of a purple tree. A tree with lines and thick branches, reminding me of strength. Pink and blue limbs embraced tiny red hearts, while others unfurled their branches. These delicate curving lines seemed soft, almost frilly against the stoutness of the tree trunk.


Hearts tumbled from the limbs, cascading against a background of warmth. Other hearts lie under the branches. They seemed happy, perky, ready to bring forth their own seedlings. 

The drawing resonated with me at that particular moment. Yesterday was my youngest child’s birthday, and he will be leaving for college out of state in late August. 

These two life markers coupled with the image of the strong tree and delicate hearts hit me in the solar plexus. I am that tree. The mommy tree. The hearts are my children, held close, then released into the world. 

Although I haven’t been called mommy since my three kids turned eight or so, I felt transported back to ‘mommy’ status. My being filled with angst, a single mommy angst.  None of my other children left out of state for college and are still in my home.  

To further push me out of my comfort zone, today, my middle child, my daughter, wants to go with the youngest to Colorado to look for a job. Who knew that phlebotomists and medical assistants were oversaturated in our county. Well, they are and she can’t find a job here. 

Two of my three leaving. A double whammy of angst. I know this is something every parent goes through whenever one of their children leaves the home. Knowing that doesn’t make it easier. I’ve been a single parent for so long that I may not know what to do with my feelings, except to write. 

So it was serendipitous that I came upon this poem quite by chance. The words gave me another perspective. I felt understood. 




The wisdom of the poem helped me through the day. I hope to find more ways to help me go through the mommy angst as the weeks go by.