Black People Want Change.

Let me sound this out for you all. BLACK 👏 PEOPLE 👏 NEED 👏 MORE 👏 THAN 👏 YOUR 👏 WORDS👏

Talk is cheap. And there is very real, visceral psychological, emotional, and bodily harm caused by racism in this country.

Are you a person who I can rely on behind closed doors? When your racist family and friends are saying/doing fucked up things?

Are you a person that amplifies black voices and advocates for our lives beyond Facebook?

Are you willing to do your own emotional work and learn from the READILY AVAILABLE RESOURCES online/offline?

Do you engage in conversations with POC and actually HEAR US? If so, what have you learned, and how are you fostering understanding, empathy, and compassion with the people around you?

Are you teaching your children about racial injustice? Helping them to embrace the cultural differences without fear and derision?

Are you willing to face your own implicit bias and how it impacts your perception of Black people? Then having done so, are you willing to challenge yourself to do better?

How are you standing up for us? There are a myriad of ways to do so. You can prevent racist and sexist jackasses from holding office by voting. What is the racial achievement gap in the schools that your children attend? Are those gaps being addressed by the school district? Why not? Use your platforms, bear witness, and speak up when you see injustice. Confront your City Council or Mayor.

Embrace diversity and race. See our color, accept it, appreciate it, and learn from our differences.

TALK ABOUT R A C E. There is no reason for our country, as ethnically diverse as America is, to remain so appallingly ignorant - willfully or otherwise.

Do something.

DO SOMETHING.

I cannot afford to rely on your words alone. My nephews, mom, brother, and sisters cannot afford to rely on your words alone. My future children cannot afford to. There is too much at stake.

I no longer have the capacity to placate you. I am unbothered by your discomfort because you don't give a damn about how it feels to be a descendant of the enslaved Africans who quite literally built this country from its inception. A descendant who is still fighting for civil rights, protections, and the freedoms that you have gained from their hard work.

We want real solutions. We want a pivotal change that will rock this country to the core and dismantle the illusion of white supremacy and the unjust systems put in place by really fucked up people who didn't consider the humanity of blacks.

If it has to be burned down in order to evoke that change, thunder fire you and this country.