Let's stop being silent.

The Washington Post has collected data on all people who have been killed by police officers since January 1, 2015. According to that data, in 134 of those police killings between January 1, 2015 and September 20, 2016 the victim was unarmed. The following commentary is based on the data related to those 134 unarmed victims.

According to Census Bureau’s March 2016 Current Population Survey, 61% of the United States population is White, 12% is Black, and 18% is Hispanic. Therefore, would mathematically estimate that approximately 61% of those victims were White, 12% of those victims were Black, and 18% of those victims were Hispanic. This would result in 81 White victims, 16 Black victims, and 24 Hispanic victims. However, according to the data collected by The Washington Post, there have been 51 White victims, 53 Black victims, and 23 Hispanic victims. Here is a chart displaying the data:

Race	Census Bureau’s March 2016 Current Population Survey	Mathematical estimate of number of police killings of unarmed victims by race out of 134 based on population percentages	Actual number of police killings of unarmed victims by race out of 134 based on data collected by The Washington Post
Black	12% of the USA population	16	53 (40% of all victims)
White	61% of the USA population	81	51 (38% of all victims)
Hispanic	18% of the USA population	24	23 (17% of all victims)

That is, while White people make up 61% of the USA population, they make up only 38% of the unarmed victims, and while Black people make up only 12% of the USA population, they make up 40% of the unarmed victims.

The disproportional police killings of unarmed Black and White individuals is a very serious problem. Police brutality is a terrible problem, but it is not even the real issue here. Police brutality towards Black individuals is a fatal symptom of an even more deadly disease, which is the systemic racism that gives privilege to people with White skin while demeaning everyone else. There has been conflict and bloodshed over racial lines in our country since its birth, and all non-White groups in the USA have been marginalized and disregarded ever since White people set food in the USA. Systemic racism has to do with White people who claim that they are not racist not realizing that they are privileged, it has to do with White silence in the face of non-White pain.

To my White brothers and sisters: All of our thoughts and opinions are shaped by our experiences, and as White people, our experiences do not match the experiences of non-White people in our country that we have thoughts and opinions about.  We cannot understand what it is like for non-White people in our country, but we can see that they are hurting. The media can twist things, but the data indicates that unarmed Black people are being killed at a faster rate than any other group in our nation. Silence never really was an option for us, but we have a history of being silent anyway. Let’s ask questions and be willing to listen, let’s loosen our grip on our views so that we can begin to sympathize with what our neighbors are going through, let’s recognize that there are ugly things happening in our country and we have not done much about it, let’s stop hiding, stop ignoring, stop blaming, and start accepting responsibility. Let’s stop being silent.

To my Black brothers and sisters: Though I cannot truly understand your pain, I see you hurting and I hurt with you. I care, though I don’t always know how to express that. Thank you for your patience and grace with me thus far and in the future, because I know I will continue to need it.

A Teacher's Thoughts After Another Graduation

Thornton Fractional South High School's class of 2016 graduated last night, and as I walked to my car afterwards, my mind was doing somersaults to process new (and yet, becoming more familiar every year) emotions.

•  I felt happy and excited for the class of 2016! I saw their smiles and heard their shouts of joy. I witnessed their celebrations with family and friends in front of the school, giving hugs and taking pictures and being happy. And amid such celebrations, I cannot help but share the joy! I am excited for what will come for them and proud of their accomplishments and happy for them!
• But as I saw the celebrations, it was evident to me that there were additional emotions that I was feeling. Yes, I was excited for them and happy. But there was something else, almost like a slight sense of mourning. I spent 5 hours a day, 5 days a week with Rebels since mid-August. They have played a big part in my life for the past nine months, and graduation represented not only a transition out of high school for the class of 2016, but an end to the 2015-2016 school year. Lots of sweat and a few tears have gone into the last nine months, and now it is over. Teaching is like that, though. Teaching involves giving your heart to class after class, year after year... and then bidding them farewell at the end of the year, praying that your time with them has somehow better equipped them for the journey ahead, and remembering everything that they have taught you.
• I feel grateful for the time I had with the class of 2016 and with the underclassmen of TF South. It has been an honor for me to spend these last nine months with them.

So, class of 2016... I thank you all for sharing a bit of your senior year with me!! Congratulations!! And best of luck in whatever you do next!!

A Valentine's Day Poem Because Christ is Sufficient

I remember Valentine’s Day in 10^thgrade, sitting in English class thinking:

I can’t see the board because there’s a giant teddy bear sitting in front of me.

Of course… even if I could see the board, my senses are too overwhelmed by all of the chocolate and flowers to consider focusing on Shakespeare.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Every year, Valentine’s Day came with a little shard of hope:

7^thgrade: Maybe today I'll find out that someone likes me.
8^th grade: Maybe today someone will decorate my locker.
9^th grade: Maybe today I'll get a valentine from someone who thinks I'm just wonderful.
10^th grade: Maybe today I will get one of those secret Valentine Gram things being sold in the cafeteria.

10^thgrade Hannah never would  have admitted it, but I wanted to feel loved.

I wanted a teddy bear.

I wanted a flower.

I wanted chocolate.

I wanted a Valentine Gram.

Because receiving a Valentine Gram meant that someone thinks I am special.

That was the bottom line.

It wasn’t actually about the chocolates,

Or the flowers,

Or the teddy bears.

It was about proof that I’m special.

I wanted to be someone’s most important person.

I wanted that attention.

I wanted to be valued by someone else, other than my parents.

I wanted affirmation.

I wanted to have worth.

I wanted to feel loved.

I wanted to feel loved and I thought that a teddy bear would do it.

But it’s not enough.

A teddy bear is not enough.

A dozen roses won’t satisfy.

The desire that I have, that desire to be loved and valued, cannot be met by a heart shaped box of chocolates or even by the special someone who gives them to me.

That desire to be loved and valued can only be satisfied, completely satisfied, in Jesus Christ.

Because His love for me is constant.

It doesn’t depend on me and on what I say and what I do.

He loves me unconditionally.

He loves me just because He wants to! And I can’t do anything about it!

This is the love that I long for!!

But instead of realizing that, I’ve been looking for it in teddy bears and love poems on Valentine’s Day.

I don’t have to keep looking. Love is here.

Teddy Bears are cute. But they aren’t unconditional.

Roses smell good. But they don’t last.

Christ’s love for me is greater.

It tells me that I am valued.

It reminds me that I belong to Him.

When I feel lonely, unimportant, and unspecial, His love whispers to me that I am His, that He is mine.

[Sidenote: Resting in the sufficiency of Christ’s love for me isn’t just something that I resort to until Prince Charming comes along.

No relationship can survive with the pressure to wholly satisfy.

Regardless of relationship status, Christ’s unchanging love is not only sufficient, but also necessary. Not only is He enoughto satisfy, He is also the onlyone who actually can satisfy my desperately longing heart.]

Now… am I completely satisfied in Christ? Do I always find my comfort in His perfect and unconditional love for me?

No.

There are moments when I forget that I already am loved with the greatest love that the world has ever known.

There are times when I fail to remember that Christ’s love for me is so great that He literally died for me, so that I can spend eternity with Him, starting now.

There are days when I still want a heart shaped box of chocolates.

And on those days, the God of the whole universe continues to pursue me with unshakable love that never fails.

“Hannah,” He says. “I love you.”