“Saving the Babies” Isn’t Enough

While driving home from work, I read a flashing billboard on the highway alerting me to look out for a “Black Male 5’9”.  The sign was ambiguous and didn’t really make sense.  I realized that it was just a flash of hope that Relisha Rudd is somewhere safe and alive.

Relisha  Rudd is a cute, doe-eyed, brown skin girl who went missing in DC last month. Relisha’s mom somehow placed the little in the hands of a stranger. Today that stranger is dead and Relisha is still missing. The confusion, anger and pain over the details of Relisha’s disappearance makes for a good news story, but it doesn’t help us find a missing child. Her disappearance made me very angry at the adults who were chosen to love and care for her. Instead, the child was a pawn in a confusing game of adult self-gratification.

 

Whenever I hear people talk about Relisha, I hear them say,  “We need to save the babies”.

It is an empty slogan that holds no one accountable except an imaginary hero. “Saving the babies” does the world no good if the adults are not equally stable.  As the east African saying goes, “As the within, so the without.” As I grow deeper into my understanding of the mind, the body and social justice, I realize that we don’t exist in a bubble. We need balance.

Mind Body Justice is about balance.

Adults who are seeking balance must be honest. Many adults are afraid to admit that we are stressed, tired, hurt and afraid to ask for help.  Most adults have never tried consistent counseling, yoga, meditation and breathing to heal from tragedy.

Now is the time that those of us in the social justice world admit that  “saving the babies” just isn’t enough. We cannot continue dumping services, money, and resources into children’s mental health if we won’t offer the adults the same opportunities to heal.

Stop trying to save babies.

Start supporting families.

Take off the fake super human capes. Turn on  real life community intervention. Learn more about “Mind Body Justice Training” this Saturday April 5, 2014 at The Gateway Pavilion in Congress Heights.

DROP IN $15  https://squareup.com/market/anacostiayogi/gateway-pavilion-drop-in-yoga-class

Six Week Yoga Series

$70 https://squareup.com/market/anacostiayogi/spring-soulful-flow-yoga-course

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