HE FELL ASLEEP IN A POLICE OFFICER’S ARMS 😴 BUT THAT’S NOT WHY PEOPLE STARTED WHISPERING We were at the Juneteenth festival—music playing, food trucks everywhere, kids laughing and running through the streets. I looked away for just a second to pay for a funnel cake, and when I turned back, my nephew Zavi was gone. Panic hit me like a wave. I dropped everything and started yelling his name, checking every bounce house, every face I passed. I was seconds away from calling 911 when I finally saw him—fast asleep in a police officer’s arms. The officer stood off to the side, calm, like this was nothing new. When I ran over, breathless and scared, he just nodded and said Zavi had wandered off near the snow cone truck and got tired. “Didn’t want to leave him alone,” he said, like it was no big deal. I thanked him, scooped Zavi up, and tried to move on. But then I noticed people staring. Whispering. A few had their phones out. Some were smiling—but not all of them. One woman near the food stand shook her head and said, “Must be nice to get that kind of response.” At first, I didn’t get it. Then it hit me. They weren’t whispering because Zavi had fallen asleep. They were whispering because of who was holding him— And what it might have looked like if just one thing had been different. Now I can’t stop thinking… Would he still be safe if he didn’t look so small, so tired, so harmless? ⬇️ (Continue reading in the first comment)