In light of the killing of the police officers in Dallas, I want to state that this letter must still be pushed forward. Though violence is not the solution for violence, we can not forget that Black and Brown people are being killed every single day at the hands of the police. The government is going to do all it can to find and prosecute those responsible for the shootings in Dallas, but cops who kill our fathers and sons will continue to walk free. #BlackLivesMatter

To the police officers who kill our fathers and sons:

I do not write this in order for you to engage in a game of empathy or sympathy for the families impacted by your insane acts of violence.

"We are truly sorry a life has been taken," is a statement usually made by your superiors- your chief of police or lawyer. It is like I tell the children in my life: an empty apology, without action to support it, means nothing.

So please, tell your superiors to hold their apologies and to stop insulting our intelligence by attempting to align you with the reality of being a working class, poor person of color in the United States.

You can not.

In reality your son, of middle to upper class, white skin son, will most likely never experience even a small fraction of the great injustice felt by the families of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Alex Nieto, Amilcar Perez-Lopez or Antonio Zambrano-Montes, to name a few.

He will most likely never know what it is to lose a father at the hands of the state. You will most likely never know what it is to lose a son at the hands of the state.

This I can assume because the majority of individuals killed by police officers are Black and Brown people, not those of the middle to upper class, or those of white skin.

And although your son will most likely never lay dying in front of a liquor store or in the driver's seat of his car, as a police officer continues to point his gun at his girlfriend, understand this: your actions are being passed onto your children as their legacy.

When you kill our fathers and sons you are building for your children a legacy based on hate, fear, dehumanization, chaos and suffering.

I am sure you are taught in the police academy and in your private community to justify your actions.

You are taught to say: "He deserved it!" or "I thought he had a gun!" or "I was only doing my job!"

I am certain that you hear: "No, it was not your fault!" and "You have to forget about it," and "Yes, you were only doing your job."

Maybe for awhile these words soothe your nerves; you believe in them because you have to. Some of you are successful in contracting this selective amnesia. You push the memories so deep into your mind that in due time, they've disappeared and you are able and encouraged to go back to work, to go on vacation with your families and to live as all people deserve to live.

Your children watch you go through this process. They try to understand why daddy is on T.V. When they discover it's because you killed someone, they too attempt to justify the action.

Some of them are successful in contracting the selective amnesia you've suddenly caught. They push the memories deep into their minds and in due time, the memories have disappeared. They're able to go back to school, enjoy their vacations with their families and they live, as all children deserve to live.

Now, let us imagine the children on the other side.

They are 2, 4 and fifteen years old. They are innocent Black and Brown children, children of the earth and sun, who like to eat popsicles when it's hot outside, play at the park with their siblings, who go on drives with their parents, never suspecting their lives or the lives of their fathers are in danger.

One day or night, your path crosses the path of their fathers. Sometimes, the children are there too. But you don't always see them, do you? Their big brown eyes wondering why you're yelling, why you've tackled their fathers to the ground, pulled your gun out and pulled the trigger-- penetrating skin and air with the heavy sound of death.

If the babies didn't see it with their own eyes, they will. Videos will replay on the T.V. screen, the story retold in their communities where the pleasure of selective amnesia is not an option because a Black person is killed every 28 hours.

We relive the pain again and again.

Your act is an act based on hate, fear, dehumanization, chaos and suffering.

This is your legacy and consequently, the legacy of your children.

I do not doubt that our Black and Brown children will triumph over the hate you've put out into the world.

We are resilient; as can be seen in the 4-year-old child who sat in the back of a police car with her mother after witnessing the killing of Philando Castile, shot four times, and who says "It's okay, I'm right here with you."

You cannot permanently break us, but I wonder: can you say the same for your own children? Are you teaching them to live a lie? Who will they grow up to be when at their very foundation dehumanization of certain people is not only accepted, but encouraged for the sake of their own sanity?

I do not write this letter to make you feel sorry for your actions.

I write in order for you to understand the severe damage you are doing not only on Black and Brown communities, but on your very own.

Consider this letter, thus, sobering words of warning.

Sincerely,

Brenda Montaño Aguilar