I think that the Black Eyed Peas said it best way back in the early 2000's.

Where is the love?

Why has rioting become what we see necessary to have our voices heard, rather than discussion and peaceful approaches to using our voices?

Why do we wound with our words rather than seek to understand?

Why don’t we seek perspectives other than our own?

Why have we lost sight of growth in diversity, and given into norms and standards to be met?

What if our way isn't the right way?

What if we can learn from others?

What if we humbled ourselves to the knowledge of others outside ourselves?

Why can’t we accept others for how they come, no matter how different they are from ourselves?

Why do we scoff at the homeless without giving thought to lending a hand?

Why do we divide by color, rather than seeing the beauty in diversity?

Why does religion divide us, rather than open our minds to understanding each person's values?

Why do we judge others on style or fashion preference rather than embracing than uplifting each person's unique choices?

Why do we fight between genders for superiority rather than celebrating the strengths of one another?

Let each of these things bring joy, bring conversation, bring a new level of understanding between us.

“We are all equal in the fact that we are all different. We are all the same in the fact that we will never be the same. We are united by the reality that all colours and all cultures are distinct & individual. We are harmonious in the reality that we are all held to this earth by the same gravity. We don't share blood, but we share the air that keeps us alive. I will not blind myself and say that my black brother is not different from me. I will not blind myself and say that my brown sister is not different from me. But my black brother is he as much as I am me. But my brown sister is she as much as I am me.”

These words were spoken By C. JoyBell C. a woman whom I hold in high regard for her writings on love, unity, and understanding others.

You are you, and you are not me.

I am me, and I am not you.

You will never be me, and I will never be you.

That is how we were designed.

The world is losing, we are losing, if we each conform to any standard or norm.

This is a truth we need to grasp, and we need to grasp now.

The truth that different is equality, different is best, different brings growth.

The truth that unity brings love, and love brings peace.

The truth that peace will bring us back together.

Crossing protest lines to grasp hands.

Crossing religious and cultural boundaries to be together.

Let us celebrate the differences that make us so wonderfully unique.

Let us celebrate the things we all bring to the table, that make us better .

Let us celebrate who we all are, encouraging each other to be ourselves.

To be authentic.

To be real.

To love and to be loved.

Lay down your protests, lay down your hate, lay down your need to be right, lay it all down.

Lay it down for the sake of love.

I speak as one who is still just on the start of learning to love better.

I speak as one who longs for unity and who longs for differences to be settled with understanding and growth.

I speak as one who holds this as a hope for our world.

Our generation.

Our nation.

We have let ourselves be bound by hate and to taking offense at the slightest questioning toward ourselves.

Offense is the thing holding us from this unification.

Let us undo what offense has taken from us.

We need to muster up the courage to ask questions.

We need to find the audacity to push through barriers.

We need to find the love again.

Let us not lean on our nation's leaders to find this love, in light of recent events, rather let us find our own strength to love and come alongside one another.

Let us sit around tables, genuinely seeking to connect and find unity within each other.

Tables that hold no judgement and tables that hold no condemnation.

Let us bond over what we do share, appreciate what we don't, and love everything in between.

Let us speak our minds with respect, listen to others sincerely.

Let us love boldly and loudly. Let us scream love rather than screaming hate.

Let us put down our pride, put down our naivety, put down our offenses and harshness.

Let’s build each other up rather than tear down.

Let’s celebrate what makes us different, rather than build walls that divide.

Let’s do what we can to make people feel included.

To make people feel valued.

Join me.

I know we all hold it.

It is within grasp for each of us.

Let's find the love.

So that the question will no longer be “where is the love?”

But, “how much can we possibly love?”