Black Parenting in a Time of Crisis

As the Baltimore Uprising consumes hearts, minds, and souls, I could only imagine what it’s like to be a Black parent in this time of chaos and Revolution.

Black traditions are rooted in protecting the innocence and safety of our children. Our culture — in some ways — encourages a type of subservience to white racial hierarchy as a means for survival and familial longevity. While some Black families push back against this racist caste system, others reinforce it through choices motivated by fear — fear of retaliation and ultimate extermination.

That’s what I’m seeing now.

When Allen Bullock’s mother Bobbi Smallwood, and stepfather Maurice Hawkins, encouraged their 18-year-old son to turn himself in after the front page of the local Baltimore Sun showed him attacking a police vehicle with a traffic cone, they did so out of fear.

“Hawkins, 44, said Bullock had agreed to surrender to the police after…