PUSH

Have you ever been uncomfortable? I mean really uncomfortable, like when you're in the car in rush hour traffic and you feel like your bladder should have burst ten minutes ago. Or when the indigestion from the third helping you had kicks in before the pepto bismal you downed. Pregnant women go through these and more symptoms, but they couldn't be happier. I'm sure they would rather go without the constipation, vomiting, swollen extremities, leg cramps, backaches, and insomnia, but it's the delivery day that keeps them from losing it on those sleepless nights. They know that their pain is preparation for the new life that they'll soon bring into the world. But what if the baby never came?

Over the past couple of weeks I've observed that most people in the world are like expecting mothers who never deliver. We each have a special vision inside of us that we were born with, our purpose and passion. We go through trials and tribulations, like the pregnant woman's discomforts, because we too have something inside of us that is not meant to be there permanently, something that is meant to come into the world.

So what happens when we ignore the baby (our vision, passion and purpose)? We decide that it is too big for us to birth alone, or not big enough, so we don't allow it entry into the world.

What happens when we lose the courage to deliver the baby because we are afraid or too lazy to raise it once we actually birth it into the world?

What happens when we don't take the time to notice that we have a baby of our own and we spend our whole lives nursing and growing a vision that was meant for someone else?

Well, you get the world that we live in now. Full of lack and poverty, more problems than solutions, and a whole lot of visions that are way past due.

What makes your baby leap? Find out what it is that you're passionate about, what it is that you'd do if you never got paid and never got credit. If you have discovered your purpose in life, stay strong, and have the courage to endure the pregnancy pains until it is time for your vision to be released. If you're one of those people who is way past due, find the courage to deliver that vision. You owe it to your Creator, to yourself, and to the world around you. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and PUSH!

Megan

Every part of me wants to try to go to sleep right now. But if I did, I'd be having nightmares. I'll be 19 at the end of this month, finally catching up to most of my friends. We're all just around the same age as Megan Williams. I don't know if Megan Williams likes to watch "The Hills" like me and my friends. I don't know if she shops at Forever 21, or if she's as afraid of bugs as we are. I don't even know if she worships the same God. What I do know for sure, is that she never imagined being shot at the way she was and that she could not have deserved it. No, Megan was not physically shot at with a gun (that we know of), but the warped souls that attacked her took their best shot at ruining her. Their intentions superseded the inhumanity of physical death. They wanted to decompose Megan's truest existence her spirit, and her soul.

My soul ails tonight because I am so painfully aware of the logistics of a situation like this. Soon, this case will no longer receive even the minuscule headline coverage it currently has. The mass media will continue to report the story below its worthiness. People will soon forget. The courts will be kind. Outrageous and irrelevant ideas that Megan was asking for her torture or in some way shares responsibility with her predators will come up again and again. The fact that the reaction would be absolutely different if Megan was a White woman assaulted by Blacks, or even a White woman assaulted by other Whites, will not bother most people. And people will not pause to think that Megan is only one case in so many like hers that have already been dismissed from our social phyche. In effect, the system will do the job it does so well. Because, in this reality, Megan, like me or one of my friends or classmates, is just another Black girl.

I will not allow this woman to be forgotten. I will remember her everyday because she is permanently etched into my heart. She could have been me.

I am confident that Megan is more than a conqueror and it is only a matter of time before the God in her will rise up in triumph over this audacious attempt. Her insuperable essence can already be seen rising in her decision to go public with her story and even be showed on camera. I salute her. I honor her. I pay tribute to her. Because in my reality, she is worth it, even if she's just another Black girl like me.