‘I’m due to give birth today and all I can think about is George Floyd’

At its core, HuffPost Relationships is about how we relate to one another — how we relate to our partners and significant others, our families, our friends and children. This week, I’d be remiss if I didn’t focus on how we relate to one another when it comes to race.

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This personal story spoke to me: I’m Due To Give Birth Today And All I Can Think About Is George Floyd. Guest writer Latona Giwa says so poignantly, “I try to sigh away the painful knowledge that this society is constructed around the assertion that my baby’s life — like Arbery, Taylor and Floyd’s — already matters less than its white counterparts before it has even left the womb.” She continues: “Black mothers in America have always known what it is like to carry a life that the world has already decided will not matter. I think of George Floyd’s pregnant mother and I wonder, when he slid from her warm body, how acutely could she feel his mortality? Or did she choose to believe that things would be better for her son, that they must be?”

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Reading her words — and thinking about my son’s birth just over a year ago — I’m struck by how different our experiences are. I have so much to learn — and so much to teach my son. This primer on how white people can talk to their kids about race is a good start (here are some recs for multiracial families). For parents of older kids, this story on how to talk to your kids about George Floyd and the anti-racism protests is good too.

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There is so much work to be done. Keep checking Huffpost for protest coverage and helpful advice and journalism to navigate these difficult times.

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Xo, Ashley Rockman

In her own words

In case you missed it:

With everything going on in the world (remember we’re also in a pandemic?!), it may have eluded you that June is Pride month. Though parades around the country have been cancelled, Pride certainly isn’t — and there are ways to celebrate the LGBTQ community while also championing Black Lives Matter. HuffPost’s Guide To Pride Reimagined is an amazing list of events you can participate in virtually around the country (panels! Dance parties!), with some in-person options too, like a Black Lives Matter solidarity protest in Los Angeles on June 14 organized by LA Pride.

Show your pride — even at home

FYI:

Senior reporter Brittany Wong wrote an important story this week about Martin Luther King Jr. — specifically, white people using MLK’s words to criticize the current protests. Here’s a striking example: Martin Luther King III, the oldest living son of MLK, responded to the protests around the country with a quote from his father: “As my father explained during his lifetime, a riot is the language of the unheard,” he tweeted. White people jumped in right away to correct him: “This is disrespectful to the ideas that your father lived for,” one man said. The truth is, people often use the slain civil rights leader’s words to quiet minority voices pushing for change. And there is a lot they get wrong.