I have gone on long rants. Stood strong in heated arguments. I have stood up for black men and black women, and those of a different hue.
I have posted hashtag after hashtag, the names change, the storyline doesn't.
I have cried, and been frustrated. Wondered about my sweet baby boy, and husband. Father and Brother.
I am tired of explaining, and intellectualizing. It is not my job to get you to see me, us, as HUMAN. Humanity is basic, it's the least you can do. So I won't anymore. I am not coddling anyone's willful ignorance. Not when we have access to the same books, the same Google.
I do not have to prove that I am worthy, that my family deserves to live. I don't owe you anything. I don't have to first demand that inner-city violence stop before lives are valued everywhere.
I don't owe you anything.
Just stop shooting us.
I have posted hashtag after hashtag, the names change, the storyline doesn't.
I have cried, and been frustrated. Wondered about my sweet baby boy, and husband. Father and Brother.
I am tired of explaining, and intellectualizing. It is not my job to get you to see me, us, as HUMAN. Humanity is basic, it's the least you can do. So I won't anymore. I am not coddling anyone's willful ignorance. Not when we have access to the same books, the same Google.
I do not have to prove that I am worthy, that my family deserves to live. I don't owe you anything. I don't have to first demand that inner-city violence stop before lives are valued everywhere.
I don't owe you anything.
Just stop shooting us.