Black Lives Matter

...

She was 16 when her application for her first job was denied because the color of her skin was "unattractive" and "doesn't fit the look we want representing this store".

He was 25 when a shop owner accused him of stealing because the color of his skin was "as dark as his intentions."

They were 5 when they first recognized that someone was being mean to their mom. Why? She's loving, she's confident, she's a superhero. But all that man saw was the difference in their skin color. Now they're 33 and try everyday to be as strong as their mom was in that moment.

He was 59 when he was arrested for using a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. The cop arresting him remained kneeling on his neck despite his pleas to breathe, and other cops looked on and did nothing to stop it. George Floyd died of asphyxiation because a bad cop saw a criminal in a black man with a family he wanted to go home to. He was one of hundreds whose lives were cut far too short by the people who vowed to protect them.

You take an oath to "protect and serve" but you're not protecting anyone. And who are you serving if not just yourself? You harm innocent people just wanting to make a difference because you fear for your lives, but what of the lives of the people you harm? They want the world to change and sitting on your hands doesn't work. They want to be heard but you're not listening.

The color of a person's skin doesn't make any one person better or worse than another. Black is not inferior. Black is strong. Black is beautiful. And black is tired of being treated as lesser.

So while you stand in your armor shooting tear gas and plastic bullets at protesters as if they threatened the whole universe, please think who you're fighting and what you're fighting against.

Racism makes a person ugly from their core. You can see it on their face, sense it from their heart. It's hideous and has no place on this planet we call home.

We ally with our fellow humans regardless of color in hopes that soon all hearts will be beautiful once more, and you realize that we are all equal in this world.

Please remember that Black Lives Matter.

Art by sacree_frangine