I’m meeting my little brother for the first time today. I knew the day of the week that it was, but until this morning you didn’t dawn on me that it was on election day for the primary races.

On my list of to-dos, this trumps voting.

I’m a little unsure on what to say on our first meeting. I feel like my inner child has long run away from home and is on the side of a proverbial milk carton. What do you communicate to a seven year old young black male in 2014?

Of course part of me wants to frame it as what I would tell a 7 year old version of myself, but a seven year old in the 1970s versus a child growing up today is a different individual.

I want to and warn him about the world he is inheriting, advise him on wise choices that well take him further in life, while at the same time telling him to enjoy his youth. I’m not going to stress about it too much. I’ll play it by ear and at the end of the day I hope that we can learn from each other.