The suicide death of my son

Losing my first born son was only half the painful experience on June 19th, knowing it was preventable made it even worse. I celebrate my son's birthdate, June 1st and death date 2 weeks apart. After his death I could've went off and stayed under the radar and kept quiet but the story of June 19th 2015 didn't start with the death of my son or officer Kim. The story of June 19th is the story of millions of African American children nationwide. It was my story and many of you reading this right now.  I tried to save my son from the same abusive and abandoned life that I experienced. I learned of his abuse after visiting his school and finding bruises all over his back at the age of 9 years old. I took immediate actions as his father and filed for an emergency custody. With all the success I had in  the city of Cincinnati I really thought this would be a cakewalk, especially since his mom was under investigation for child abuse, unemployed, drug addict, and over 20 CPS (Child Protective Cases) ranging from neglect, abuse, and abandonedment. The judge immediately ordered a court ordered DNA test in which the mom didn't show up twice and instead of the mom facing consequences the judge punishes the my son and I by dismissing the petition for custody and visitation. Now the mom feeling empowered prevented me from seeing my son. I tried again for custody 2 years later but the judge decided to leave my son in an abusive, violent, drug infested environment. He was diagnosed with PTSD and depression and on Father's Day committed suicide by cop that also took the life of an officer. There are millions of Black and Brown babies being forced to live in toxic, unstable, abusive environments but have no voice. My son's death fueled me to start the State of Emergency on Childhood Trauma movement. We've passed legislation in 3 cities in Ohio and currently working to get hcr.14, Emergency declaration for childhood passed on a state level. For more information on our initiative visit www.childhoodtraumaemergency.org