Violence is not the answer.
Violence is not the answer.
Violence is not the answer.
Imani repeated the phrase in her head as she made her way down the block to the market on Vernon Avenue. George Washington Carver Middle School seemed to have bi-weekly seminars about how their bodies were going to change. How they needed to check themselves before letting their emotions get the best of them. Blaming gun violence on raging hormones.
Everybody in her class knew what was going on. They didn’t need some lady from the LAUSD in a non-threatening blouse to tell them so. Imani had breasts by the end of fifth grade and had spent two years trying to hide them from the world. Having someone come in and give an assembly about how growing pubic hair would lead to more violence was bullshit. Especia
