On Justice.

I've thought long and hard about how to put into words the emotions that I've sat with for years. It's not perfect, but here it is:

It's hard to understand and hard to know where I fit - this has always been a struggle for me. I've been labeled both not 'black enough' and not 'white enough'. I've been privy to both privilege and hate. And while that is frustrating for me, it's been immensely enlightening. I've learned to live with compassion and empathy above all else, and I strive to make that a reality for those around me.

We're living in a rebellion. And unfortunately this is not new. We've struggled to find equality since this country has been established. The depth of sadness and frustration I feel watching people like me, like my family, like my friends, being grossly mistreated (for years I might add) is inexplicable. But what may be worse, is seeing people around me, people who claim to care for me and my family and the well being of others, choose ignorance over enlightenment. Refusing to understand or to dig deeper as to why we're in the place we are today.

It's not because we haven't tried to do things 'the proper way'. It's not because we want to see destruction. It's because we've exhausted all the options, gone down every avenue with the hopes of eradicating the deep rooted hate that exists in the hearts of so many in this country.

So yes, protests are scary. Seeing shop windows broken and stores on fire is scary. (Most of which are a result of a separate group of individuals- not the protesters).

But if watching black people be killed senselessly doesn't scare you more than that, you have work to do.

#blacklivesmatter #saytheirnames