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Toya Graham is in the running for Mom of the Year with good reason. The Baltimore riots were heating up, she knew her son was at the mall when he was supposed to be home, and wanted him out of there ASAP.
As you can see from the video above, when she realized that he was participating in the riot, she rightfully blew her top. She wants her son to aspire higher, and make good choices about the company he keeps. When he made the very bad mistake of deciding to participate in those protests, she took immediate corrective action. GO MOM!!
Yet there are those who don’t believe that what Toya did to yank her son out of an ever escalating bad situation was the right choice to make. WaPo’s Stacey Patton attempts to explain:
In other words, Graham’s message to America is: I will teach my black son not to resist white supremacy so he can live.
Think on that for a moment and then see if Salon’s Joan Walsh makes sense:
The debate over the moment Graham says she “lost it” is complex. There’s a parallel black debate going on that, as always when it comes to racial issues, is richer and more nuanced. But anyone white who’s applauding Graham’s moment of desperation, along with the white media figures who are hyping her “heroism,” is essentially justifying police brutality, and saying the only way to control black kids is to beat the shit out of them.
Excuse me while I recover from the concussion I gave myself due to multiple Head/Desk moments after reading Joan & Stacey’s convoluted reasoning. You see, they Don’t. Get. It. Toya wasn’t thinking about crap like white supremacy or that her actions would supposedly justify police brutality. Toya was in true Momma Grizzly mode. She acted on instinct. She wasn’t beating her son, Michael Singleton, for no reason. She was getting his attention and removing him from a situation that he never should’ve been in in the first place. Toya was forcibly showing her son and all those around him that actions have consequences.
“I did. You know, once he threw that rock down I said, ‘You weren’t brought up like this,’ ” Graham told CNN.
You know what? Her son gets it. In fact, he understood that from the very instance he looked up and saw his mother heading toward him with steam coming out of her ears. He KNEW he was wrong and was in serious trouble.
https://youtu.be/CKz5LRQHUuk
Toya Graham wants the very best for her children. She them off the streets, wants them to stay away from gangs, and never touch drugs. She wants them to aspire high in life and expect the very best for themselves. Well, there are many Moms, including myself who want the same thing for our children. In fact there are great people that the Graham kids can emulate and learn from who are far better than any of the thug protestors who’ve been destroying Baltimore. One such person issued an invitation to the Graham family yesterday.
Marcus Luttrell, a retired Navy Seal who authored the book Lone Survivor that depicts his and his teammates experiences in Afghanistan in 2005 posted the invite on his Facebook page:
Marcus Luttrell
Public Figure · 915,401 Likes · 17 hrs · Edited ·
Checking in, been on the road the last week or so. I just saw the video of Toya Graham handing out the attitude adjustment to her son brought back some memories of my own mother knocking fire from my body when I stepped out of line. If anyone can get this message to her I’ll be in Baltimore on sept 26 for Patriot Tour. Miss Graham please bring the family out as my guests would love to meet you and your son. Matter fact you can let your son spend the day w/ me and some of my teammates if he wants.
Txfrog
For details on Patriot Tour please visit: http://teamneverquit.com/patriot-tour/
Toya, you have high expectations for all your children. You love them and want the very best for them. Marcus, like myself and so many others, understands that completely. I sincerely hope that someone sees Marcus’s invitation, forwards it to you, and you decide to accept. Toya, Marcus and his teammates whom you’ll meet on September 26 during their Team Never Quit Patriot Tour are people who epitomize Honor, Service, Courage, Discipline, and so much more. It will be a meeting that none of you, especially your son Michael, will ever forget.
OC says: Marcus, as always, classy.
Toya’s son, if he hangs with Marcus and his buddies, will be the better for it.
OC
Jodi Giddings says: Agreed! THIS could very well be a life-changing opportunity for this young man.
Child Abuse/Neglect; Is Baltimore Mom Toya Graham Perpetuating Poverty & Prejudice?
Edward A. Flynn, Milwaukee’s chief of police, “These communities need police. And they need police not just to be present, but to be active in seeking out criminals.”
In his 2015 Grammy award winning Rap Performance titled “I”, Kendrick Lamar writes, “I’ve been dealing with depression ever since an adolescent.”
In the meantime, who is addressing why many people living in poor American communities are depressed, often venting their anger and frustrations by harming their peaceful neighbors?
Has anyone asked Baltimore resident and “Mom of The Year” Toya Graham if she believes she is partly responsible for the recurring cycle of poverty that harms so many children, including her son Michael who she observed committing a depraved act against peaceful people trying to protect the community from other abused or neglected children?
Will Baltimore mother Toya Graham and the hundreds of moms much like her who I met while providing police services to a Rap Hip Hop influenced Brooklyn, NY community, realize she was young and immature for acting irresponsibly and building a family of six depressed children who have to struggle, instead of having one or two relatively happy, peaceful kids she could more easily provide for, school and supervise?
Does Ms. Graham realize she is complicit in adding to the pain and poverty many Americans of all ages suffer?
Rejecting reality, Toya Graham informs CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “At no time is my son a thug.”
I understand a mother’s desire to protect her child as well as her rep as a good mom, though after this remark, how can anything Ms. Graham offers be viewed as truthful?
http://averyjarhman.tumblr.com/post/117813552737/black-child-abuse
#protect-kids-from-irresponsible-caregivers
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