Dear Readers,

My heart is torn to pieces. Tonight I attended the candlelight vigil held in solidarity for the brave people standing up against police brutality & racism in Ferguson, Missouri. I had planned on writing a post about the event to make sure that it was accurately recorded for the future.

BUT…

I experienced something very painful and heartbreaking. After listening to Jonathan Mitchell’s father discuss the pain of losing his child, I looked at my daughter with wonder. I could not imagine losing her.

After he spoke, my daughter ran down from the steps and sprinted towards me with a look of complete terror in her eyes. My wife and I were stunned and did not know what was happening.

She ran in between my wife and I and looked up at us with tears in her eyes. We asked her what was wrong. She said:

“The police are here and they have ambulances with them! Are they going to hurt us?”

I didn’t know what to say. I attempted to reassure her that we would be fine and that we had a right to be there. I said that she should never be intimidated by the police or anybody else. I told her that I would not take her somewhere dangerous.

She seemed to calm down and went back to playing and participating in some of the chants.

As we left the vigil, we noticed somebody standing outside of a car parked near ours on the corner of Roma & 5th. He was a dark haired gentleman with a goatee. He had a badge on his belt and was taking pictures of the vigil from afar.

My daughter noticed him and asked why the police wanted to take pictures of everybody. What do I say to that? It is just so difficult to give her answers that make sense.

While the police in Ferguson attack innocent people, the APD attempts to intimidate us. How do you tell your little girl that she should feel safe? Isn’t that what a daddy is supposed to say?

I cannot live in a world where we must fear those who are hired to protect & serve us. My daughter and everybody else deserves to live without fear. I stand in solidarity with Ferguson.

As the speakers at tonights vigil said, we cannot allow the momentum to fizzle away. We need to be loud and strong. Our children need a better future. That is our right! Stand up and fight back!