Val Rubin-RaShaad, Executive Director for a non-profit, at home with her fiancée Howard Crutcher, her children Briana Jackson, Nick Burns and Xavior Brown, and her grandchildren Brendon and Takoda. Additional family includes bonus children Delaney and Preston Brown and Miriam Sharpless (girlfriend of Nick)
"I am more intentional with relationships (since the murder of George Floyd). I am truly thankful for those whom I have in my life. As a black mother to black sons I have not changed, as these are conversations I have had my whole life. My mother was in the Watts Riots in the 1960s. I had just left California when Rodney King happened. I myself have been pulled over by the police while they had their guns trained on myself and my partner while sitting in the gas station in Minnetonka. My older son has faced violence. I could go on."Â
"I will continue to have 'the talk' with my young son and grandsons. I hope we can get to a world where we won't have to do that anymore. But. I worry every day for the safety of my children. Before the death of Mr. Floyd I had my grown children share their GPS location at all times so I knew they were alive."
"This is truly The Time for change. It has been wonderful seeing the young people come together to make a change. I have never seen so much giving from our community. It gives me hope that things will change. I also want to thank all who have given to the community during this time. I want to thank all the people who still went and continue to go work and put their lives at risk so the rest of us could, and can, live."Â