Scenes From Gulf Shores, Alabama

I walk down the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama and I see black boys and white boys playing football together.

Further down the shore, a man is taking pictures of a woman in a sari, the colors of her clothing as vibrant as the light of the setting sun.

The next morning as I stroll the sands I watch women wearing hijabs and capris playing with their children in the sand and I see interracial couples walking hand in hand.

These are things I never saw when I came here in my youth. Back then there was only a sea of people who looked like me. The news shows me scenes of darkness and hatred, but when I walk down the beach in the state where a governor once stood blocking a school room door from those he deemed different, I see something else: hope.