I feel at a standstill, always struggling to find the right words to say in the middle of the divide in our society. Black lives matter. Equality is a basic human right. It breaks my heart that prejudice is such a rampant disease, and that those infected are not even the ones who suffer. I cannot understand how we have gotten to this point.
I wish change could come without violence. I have never supported violence; this is both why police brutality should have never existed, and why rioters are out of line. I do however, understand the violence on the side of the rioters. I can only imagine the anger some feel. The anger that some are unable to contain. I, too, have to wonder how much change would come about without the existence of violence in the protests.
These times of uncertainty are terrifying, but change is happening, and I am so hopeful that a permanent ripple has spread across our country, and the world.
The Black community, our people, deserve what we have had access to our entire lives. I will not rest comfortably until reform is in order.
Is this everything I want to say? No. But this is what I know how to say, and what I can put into words right now. It is difficult to express exactly how one feels at a time like this, but please do not remain silent out of fear of saying something wrong, or because you do not typically speak up. We are in the midst of a time where your voice is a necessity, because when all of us use ours, we cannot be ignored. You are as important as the next in the change.
Your absence is felt, so find your presence. Seize it, and be the difference.