CommunityGMA

Actions

Parenting: A mother's hope for the future

Posted at 7:19 AM, Jun 23, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-23 08:51:33-04

Candace Malveaux said the conversations started at an early age.

"The advice that I give my son is to remain calm in that situation," Malveaux said. "Be honest, make sure that the police officer can see your hands at all times, and don't make any sudden movements."

While this is all good advice for her teenage son, it is a heartbreaking conversation for Malveaux to have with him.

"Just knowing that you're not going to have the same opportunity like others," Malveaux started. "It's disheartening that the conversation that I have with my son is that your assumed guilty until proven innocent. Where as in the law that phrase is innocent until proven guilty."

With the current climate, Malveaux hopes that her words echo in her teenage son's mind every time he steps out the door.

"I definitely worry when my son leaves the house," Malveaux said. "I'm in constant prayer for my son. My worry is will he make it home safe? Will he be treated fairly if he encounters a police office or anybody? Someone that won't approach him in the same manner of someone of a different nationality or race."

While Malveaux said she has to have these conversations with her children, she hopes that one day, her children will not have to do the same.

It is a hope that is echoed by her 16-year-old daughter Sydney.

"I pray, as a society, that we can work together to make everything equal and better than how it was," Sydney said.

As Malveaux and her children watch recent events unfold, she said the best advice she can give to other parents is to talk to their children.

No matter how difficult that conversation may be to have with them.