This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in the National Action Network conference in Washington, DC. Reverend Al Sharpton founded National Action Network and the organization promotes a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, national origin and gender. I sat on the young professional’s and entrepreneur’s panel. It was inspiring to be around other minorities that are building their own businesses. Talking to young men and women who strive to do better professionally and in their community just reinsured me that I need to lead by example for the youth.
I also had the honor of spending some time with Cathy Hughes; she is the owner of TV1. Talking with her was so uplifting and to know an African American woman achieved such a great accomplishment was reassurance there is no goals I cant attain. Some of her childhood friends were there to celebrate with her. It was great to see them supporting her with no hate or jealousy.
With that being said, I do not condone violence or bullying. It is especially sad when as a race we can’t come together and uplift one another but rather insult each other and fight, etc. The crazy thing is if it was a man that was violent towards a woman everyone would be in an uproar. I don’t believe in violence period! Man vs. man, woman vs. man, or woman vs. woman. I am not a fighter and I don’t intend to start at this age let alone on TV. There are tons of young adults that watch “Basketball Wives” and I feel like I owe a responsibility to society to stay true to my morals and principals that were instilled in me.
I never imagined as an adult I would be experiencing such things as bullying. There are many forms of bullying.
*Physical- involves harmful actions against another person’s body or any form of violence or intimidation
*Verbal- involves speaking to a person or about a person in an unkind or hurtful way and can also include spreading rumors or hurtful gossip
*Emotional- Involves behaviors that upset, exclude or embarrass a person
*Sexual- singles out a person because of gender and demonstrates unwarranted or unwelcomed sexual behavior
*Racial- Involves rejection or isolation of a person because of ethnicity
*Cyber- The use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people in a deliberate, repeated and hostile manner
If anyone reading this is experiencing bullying please go to www.bullying.org for help. Children as well as adults are victims of bullying and people are taking their lives because of it. This is a serious issue and must be stopped.
Being around civil rights leaders, entrepreneurs and young professionals the past few days and with issues such as Trayvon Martin made me realize as a race we have to take a stronger stance to stop the violence. I know many have their reservations about the effectiveness of the justice system but in numbers there is power. Ask yourself, are you committed to making this world a safer place?
Yours truly,
Jennifer
Cathy Hughes and I..
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