I was 6 when I first read this book. It was always available during reading time and I always got it to read. It was just a book for me then. As of today, with everything going on in the world, it speaks in so many different ways that I couldn't imagine any kid to understand without giving up their innocence. However, books like these I find to be very educational in ways that might not make sense now, but later they will think back on. I had an Armenian friend named Sos. It was in the 5th grade, I remember clearly. The kids made fun of him because he was an obese kid. The food his mom made him, it either looked "ugly" or smelled "nasty." "How do you eat that shit?" One day I asked to go to the bathroom and did so. As I'm walking there, I found Sos crying in the lunch area. A classmate of our kicked his lunch box and caused his food to fly all over the place. I hugged him and gave him my 85 cents to get lunch at break. During the lunch break I made sure he got his food. I then proceeded to go to the Kid that did it and basically bullied him so bad he cried to the teacher and got his mom involved. Sos and I became best friends that year. 19, me and my closest friends went to Vegas for the fuck of it. While out there some cops with tiny cocks hemmed us up. Had guns and tasers drawn on us. I was so vocal I'm surprised we walked away. Idk how many times I told them to fuck off. It was so bad my friends were irate with me. I knew why this was happening, but at 19 I didn't fully understand anything further past the skin color. Fast forward, 19 again, same group of friends, we get pulled over. They pull us out of the car and cuff us. Where and why shotguns drawn even happened still makes no sense to me. Again, 19. Let's go to 16, me and my friend are walking home from basketball practice. Both have braided hair at the time. Cop rolls by and makes a U Turn. Gets out, gems us up. I had a little string from the price tag on my jeans that had plastic on the tip. He literally snatched me up by the front of my jeans questioning what is was and had me explain to him that it wasn't a weapon. I've had a cop tell me to my face before that life is a mistake and that he could ruin me right now if I said one more word. That was at 17. 16 again, my cousin married some white woman that had a bigot as a father. We went over for dinner and I had just got my hair braided so I kept my Durag on. He refused to eat dinner at the table with some spick. I recently at 27 went to the courthouse downtown Phoenix with a sign that read, "It's legal to kill Black People. Only in AmeriKKKa." On the other side I quoted 2pac, "Cops give a damn about a negro, pull the trigger kill the nigga he's a hero." I refuse to explain what was said to me by not only civilians, but cops as well. The security guard at the court tried to say I couldn't stand on the sidewalk out front of the house. Try again, this is public property idiot. Oh yeah! Before I forget, I can't tell you how many times I've been called poison. The fact that I'm multiracially mixed, I guess that's poison. Hence the One Drop Rule back in the slavery days. So, out of the little bit that I am sharing today, I want my friends and family to know why I flood you folks with these devastating stories and posts. It's because slavery happened and we are told to get over it. It's because they brutally murdered black kids for playing with white kids, because Rodney King got lucky some random person had a video camera in the nineties, because Colin Kapernick taking a knee infuriates one so much that his hair is made fun of, because the One Drop Rule even exists, Jim Crow had to take place, because how many families couldn't go on any summer trips because their sons at 15,16,17 were killed by cops that took their families on boat rides and camping trips this summer. This is because lil ol mixed Neko has seen everything the darkest of the skin has encountered. I'm sad. I'm fed up. I'm disgusted. To even acknowledge these folks as human beings is absolutely absurd. And those of you who do not understand or agree with any of this, would you be okay if my stories happened to any of your children? If Virginia was taking place in your neighborhood and they beat the shit out of your son, would a knee at a football game be that detrimental? Me sitting at the game last night felt so good. I felt my bloodline giving me praise. From my immigrant Europeans down to my slaves. It felt good. Simply because you all are blind to what's taken place in not only my life time, but centuries worth of other folks lives. All lives do matter, but that's not a statement you use as a crutch to cover up your bigotry. Practice what you preach and take a step towards change. All colors and religions are human beings. He said my price tag was a weapon. Smh non traditional items to wear for the maid of the brides